In Malmö, a rabbi and an imam are working to overcome integration

“WE, THE Jews and Muslims in Malmö, have only one thing to say to one another: Salaam, Shalom.”

Those were the words chosen by the Jewish and Muslim communities for their public declaration in the southern Swedish city of Malmö last month, inspired by an earlier advertisement in the Daily Telegraph in the UK.

Five years ago, the city — home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Sweden — was grappling with antisemitism. As Mayor Ilmar Reepalu was criticised for failing to confront soaring reports of hate crime, many Jews said they were leaving Malmö for good.

Last month’s advert, published in the Swedish daily Sydsvenskan, was part of an effort to project a different image for the city.

“We, the Jews and Muslims living in Malmö, are uniting against any display of discrimination, hatred, prejudice and xenophobia,” the advertisement read.

“We are convinced this is the only way forward for a shared, better and safer future in the city of Malmö. Shabbat Shalom, Eid Mubarak.”

It was signed by Malmö’s Jewish and Muslim communities as well as Amanah, a project aimed at building trust and better relations between the two.

Amanah’s Israeli co-director Moshe David Hacohen, 38, started the organisation with local prominent imam Sala- Imam Salahuddin Barakat (left) and Rabbi Moshe David Hacohen

huddin Barakat after moving to Malmö from the West Bank settlement of Tekoa with his family in the spring of 2017.

His explicit mandate was to both serve as the city’s rabbi and foster dialogue with the Muslim community.

Since then, he and Imam Barakat have visited dozens of schools and organised text-based learning nights covering topics relevant to both faiths — such as circumcision and rules relating to food. “We didn’t want people to think that our initiative was carried out by individuals without the backing of the larger communities,” he said.

“For this reason, after Salahuddin and I came up with the idea of an ad similar to the one published in the UK, we brought it before the boards of the

Jewish and Muslim community groups.

“After all the work we have done together, they approved it without thinking twice.”

He also attended an iftar, the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast of every evening.

But not everything has gone smoothly: an invitation for Rabbi Hacohen to speak at a major Eid celebration attended by over 10,000 people was rescinded after some protests.

“Some people call me naïve and think that I should be more demanding,” the rabbi said.

“I believe it is crucial to understand how difficult it is for many Muslims to accept someone like me, not only a rabbi, but an Israeli, a settler even.

“We still have a long way to cover, but it is important to acknowledge the progress we are making.”

Difficult for Muslims to accept a settler like me