Swedish police arrest two after explosion rocks Jewish building
Published September 28, 2012
(JTA) – Swedish police have arrested two men in connection with an explosion that rocked a Jewish community building in Malmo.
The explosion took place early Friday morning, according to Fred Kahn, chairman of the board of Jewish community of Malmo.
“There was an explosion and someone also threw a rock at the windows at the entrance to the community house,” he said.
The two suspects are 18 years old and have no prior criminal record, according to the daily Skånska Dagbladet,
The paper quoted Erik Liljenstrom, a commander of the Malmo police force, as saying the two men are being interrogated. Police also have studied the area of the explosion and beefed up security around Jewish institutions, Kahn said.
“We are shocked by this incident, which was definitely a deliberate attack,” he told JTA. “The community has upped its security arrangements, but we are continuing as usual. The Jewish kindergarten is going to stay open and all services will continue.”
Covering additional security costs will come at the expense of social and cultural activities, Kahn told the Swedish daily.
In 2010, an explosion outside Malmo’s only Orthodox synagogue shattered the buildings windows. Malmo Jews say they are routinely harassed in the city of 300,000 residents, which has a large immigrant community from the Middle East.
Ilmar Reepalu, the mayor of Malmo, told the Swedish daily of the attack, “It is disgusting and terrible when things like this happen,” he said.
Hannah Rosenthal, the Obama administration’s outgoing special envoy for combating anti-Semitism, has accused Reepalu in the past of making “anti-Semitic statements.”
Reepalu has advised Jews who want to be safe in Malmo to reject Zionism. He also has said that the Jewish community had been “infiltrated” by anti-Muslim agents and has denied that Muslims perpetrated the attacks on Malmo Jews.
On Sunday, dozens of Jews from Denmark visited Malmo to express their solidarity with the city’s Jewish community.
Click here for complete coverage on the 2012 elections from JTA.
Click to write a letter to the editor.
This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.
