Two appear in court over Gothenburg attack

TWO MEN appeared in court on Tuesday suspected of arson on a synagogue in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city, over the weekend.

The Molotov cocktail attack took place while a group of Jewish youths held a party in the adjacent community building. It caused a blaze in the synagogue’s courtyard but no damage or injuries.

Molotov cocktails were also hurled over the weekend at the Jewish cemetery in Malmö, Fredrik Gellberg, a spokesman for the city’s Jewish community, told the JC.

There was no permanent damage there, either.

A third man who was arrested in connection to the Gothenburg attack has been released but remains a suspect in the investigation, Swedish website The Local reported.

The two attacks occurred during a tense weekend in Sweden, with protests around the country against US president Donald Trump’s move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

In Malmö and in the capital, Stockholm, pro-Palestine protesters chanted antisemitic slogans and set Israeli flags on fire.

Aron Verständig, president of the Official Council of Jewish Communities in Sweden, said many Jewish community members, particularly from Gothenburg and Malmö, have been in touch with him in the past couple of days. Many feel upset and saddened by the weekend’s events, he said.

Speaking to the JC before a meeting with Sweden’s culture minister, Alice Bah Kuhnke, Mr Verständig said: “Lots of journalists are calling me and it feels like we are in the midst of a media cycle now that keeps repeating itself whenever there is an intensification of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“That tends to lead to antisemitic incidents here in Sweden.”

Mr Verständig said he was still hopeful that this time might be different because Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven had issued a tough statement condemning antisemitism.

“Swedes in general are not antisemitic. The problem lays mainly among people with roots in the Middle East, in countries where there is state-sanctioned antisemitism,” Mr Verständig said.

Regional police chief Erik Nord said that “many of us are thinking along the lines of this being part of the reaction to events in the Middle East”.

Mr Nord, who has worked on security matters in Gothenburg for nearly 20 years, said that Jewish groups face multiple threats: from Islamists, right-wing extremists and left-wing movements.

“I would say that the most frequent threats are those that come from militant Islamists. That is my impression,” Mr Nord said.

There was an increased police presence around Jewish buildings in Sweden, such as synagogues, schools and community centres, following the attacks.