There is something to the idea that history repeats itself. This week, for Danish cartoons, read Swedish article. For anti-Islam, read anti-Semitic. For blasphemy, read blood-libel.
But spurious patterns can be stretched too far. Will we also see the Western world now unite behind Sweden as it staunchly defends its “freedom of expression” while they condemn Jewish thin-skinnedness?
Will right-wing US elements rush to reprint the Swedish Aftonbladet article, which alleged that Israeli soldiers harvested Palestinian organs for profit, in a stand for “freedom”?
Will Jews worldwide now boycott Swedish goods from IKEA to Volvo? Burning effigies of ABBA?
Probably not.
The Swedish government has so far taken the same position that the Danish government did on the cartoons. The country, say ministers, has a free press and while the government condemns such expressions of anti-Semitism, there is nothing it can or will do.
Do not expect other Western countries to issue the same ringing endorsements of this Swedish position, however, as they did for the Danish position. Perceived anti-Semitism is a far worse crime in the West than perceived anti-Islamic positions. Also, Western governments have far more effective Jewish lobbying groups to deal with than Islamic pressure groups.
No doubt, Western governments will now hope that the whole issue will go away quietly. It is a potentially very embarrassing situation in which they will only come out bloody and bruised. They will probably want Israel to let this thing go quietly into the night.
Thankfully, the current right wing Israeli government is not about to play nice. Israeli officials, who have milked all things Jewish to the full in an attempt to underline its argument that Israel must be free of non-Jews, are enraged and are demanding an official apology from Sweden.
A clutch of articles about Sweden’s role in World War II, in which the country stayed neutral even if it accepted thousands of Jews fleeing Europe through Denmark, can now be expected, as well as more of the same on eugenics, a kind of racial purification ideology originating in Sweden that was taken further by Nazi Germany.
Israel will want to embarrass Sweden, and its success or otherwise in doing so will affect, again, the West’s relations with the Muslim world. It will be interesting to watch.
