LarsDencik 13 Antisemitisms in theTwenty-First Century Sweden and Denmark as Forerunners? Abstract: This article deals with antisemitism in Europe and post-Holocaust Swe- den and Denmark specifically. The idea that it is always “the sameold antisem- itism” that pops up and “shows its ugly face” does not find support in this study. Instead, we distinguish between three different kindsofcontemporary antisem- itisms: Classic antisemitism, Aufklärungsantisemitismus,and Israel-derived anti- semitism. Our findingssuggest that each of these antisemitisms is inspired by dif- ferent underlying “philosophies,” and thatthey are carriedbydifferent social groups and manifested in different ways. In the Scandinavian countries today, we find that there is less classic anti- semitism, much more Aufklärungsantisemitismus,and arelatively strongerpres- ence of Israel-derivedantisemitism. In our analysis this specificallyScandinavi- an pattern of antisemitisms is closelyrelated to the highlydevelopedprocesses of modernization in the Scandinavian countries on the one hand and the rela- tively large numbers of recentlyarrivedimmigrantsfrom the Middle East on the other. This appears to implythat antisemitism based on racial prejudices is losing ground, as is antisemitism basedonreligious convictions. However,ac- cording to the European Union Agency ForFundamental Rights (FRA)inAnti- semitism: Overview of Data Available in the European Union2007–2017 (Luxem- bourg: LuxembourgPublications Office of the European Union, 2018), the incidence of violent antisemitic attacks seems to be on the rise. These typically emanate from small pockets of individuals in the population who share an image of all Jews being accomplices to whatever the State of Israel does. Considering how the processes of modernization operate it is assumedthat other countries in Europe will follow asimilar trajectory.Rationalization, secu- larization, and individuation will also come to penetrate these societies and weaken notions of “race” and “religion” as springboards for antisemitism. Thus, tendencies towards Aufklärungsantisemitismus will be strengthened. If in- tegrating and getting rid of the marginalization and condescending treatment of its newlyarrived Muslim inhabitants does not succeed, Israel-derivedantisemit- ism can be expectedtothrive.The pattern of antisemitismsinDenmarkand Swe- den might be apreview of what antisemitisms in twenty-first-century Europe could come to look like. OpenAccess. ©2020 Lars Dencik, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110634822-015 234 LarsDencik Keywords: Antisemitism; Aufklärungsantisemitismus; brit milah;Denmark; Euro- pean Agencyfor Fundamental Rights; Holocaust;immigration; modernization; shechita;Sweden. It is sometimes said thatJewsare likeany otherpersons – just more so.Whenit comes to modernantisemitism,the Scandinavian countriesare likewise just like anyother Europeancountry – just more so.Donot misunderstand!Itis not that thereismoreantisemitism in the Scandinavian countries todaythan in Europe in general – indeed,the oppositeappears to be thecase – butrather thatongoing transformationsinthe patterns of antisemitism, changes which have to do with deeper tendencies in social andpolitical developmentsinEu- rope – have gonefurther in the Scandinavian countries than they have in Eu- rope in general. Antisemitism is always amatter of prejudices aboutand animositytowards Jews. But antisemitism is still not acoherentand stable body of attitudes about Jews. Reviewingthe historyofantisemitism in Europe we findthat antisemit- isminsomeepochswas mainlybased on religious ideas,withJewsbeing seen as traitors whodid notbelieveinJesus of Nazarethasthe Messiah and whoshouldbeblamedfor having killedhim;inother epochsantisemitism wasinstead fedbypoliticalideas,withJewsbeingseen as strangerswho did not belongtothe people with abirthright in theirnation-state; we also have epochs when the idea of Jewsascontrollers, abusers,and exploitersofthe economy surfacedasthe predominant form of antisemitism; the Shoah that de- stroyed European Jewry in thefirst part of the twentieth century was, however, mainly based on racist biological ideasofJewsasadegeneratepeoplewhose veryexistenceconstitutedadisease within thehumanbody. Accordingly, this racist ideacommanded theJew be extinguished – both individually andasa people. Behind these diverse aspectsofantisemitism there usuallylies amental con- struction of aJewish conspiracy of some kind.Evenifitmay not be quite obvious to the antisemite what Jews are reallyupto, how they actuallykilled the Chris- tian Messiah, infiltrated the nations of the world, run the world economy, or are in fact araciallydegenerate people, etc. – just this, the very fact that this is ob- scure, makes the antisemite even more convincedthat somehow there must be some kind of asecret (world) conspiracy behind it all. So, what is the predominant imageofasecret Jewishworldconspiracy in the Scandinavian countries today? Hereare two background examples: 1. Late at night on 15 February 2015,abat mitzvah party took place in the Jew- ish culturalcentre wherethe main synagogue is also located in Copenhagen. 13 Antisemitisms in the Twenty-FirstCentury 235 About eighty people, most of them teenage girls, were celebrating that one of their friends had passed the symbolic threshold to become afullyindepend- ent and responsible memberofthe Jewish community.Aspart of what are now considered necessary regular security measures whenever aJewish event takes place, thirty-seven-year-old Dan Uzan was acting as avolunteer guard outside the buildingswherethe festivities took place. Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, atwenty-two-year-old Danish citizen with Palestinian pa- rents,suddenlyappearedand tried to getinto the Jewish culturalcentre be- hind the synagogue. Dan Uzan, unarmed but responsible for security at the entrance, blocked his path. The attacker,armed with loadedguns, shot him in the head at close range. Dan Uzan died. Afew hours later El-Hussein was shot dead by aDanishpolice tactical unit. It is thought thatthe attack might have been acopycat of the Paris attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and akosher supermarket about a month before. El-Hussein might have learned of those Paris attackswhile in- side aDanishprison, wherehewas servingatwo-year sentence. He had been released from prison onlytwo weeks before his attacks. There was a suspicion that he mayhavebecome radicalizedinprison like the men be- hind the Paris attacks.¹ The headofDenmark’sprison and probation service reported that authoritieshad noticed changes in his behaviour in prison and had alerted the intelligenceservices. 2. On the evening of 9December 2017,inGothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, aJewishyouth organization held a Chanukah party.About forty per- sons wereinabuilding adjacent to the synagogue whentwelve masked men threw Molotov cocktails into the synagogue courtyard and ranaway. By chance, the fire wasnoticed and put out before anyone was injured. Some time later the police succeeded in arrestingthreemen: atwenty-two-year- old Palestinian from Gaza; atwenty-four-year-old Palestinian, and anine- teen-year-old Syrian.They wereasylum seekers in Sweden: the latter two had been granted permanent residencystatus as refugees, while the man from Gaza had had his application for asylum rejected.Incourt they were all subsequentlyconvicted of comittingahate crime. Apparentlytheir attack on the synagogue had been provoked by the fact that President Trump had afew days previouslyannouncedthat he had ordered AngeliqueChrisafis, “CharlieHebdo Attackers:Born,Raisedand RadicalisedinParis,” The Guardian,12January 2015, ‹ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/12/-sp-charlie-hebdo-at tackers-kids-france-radicalised-paris ›. 236 Lars Dencik that the US embassy be movedfrom TelAvivtoJerusalem, and thus by im- plication had alsoofficiallyrecognizedJerusalem as the capital of Israel. Demographics Before continuingweneed to clarify some demographic factors.One relevant fig- ure in this context is the absolute and relative numberofJews in the populations in question:² Table13.1: Jewish Population in Some Scandinavian Countries. Country Core Jewish Population Jews per , Population Greater Jewish Population Denmark , . , Sweden , . , Thenumber of JewslivinginFinland, with apopulation of 5.5million, andin Norway,withapopulationof5.3 million,istodayconsiderably lowerthanin thetwo previouslymentioned countries.There areslightlymorethanathou- sand peopleineachofthese countries whocould be regarded as belonging to acoreJewishpopulation.Ascan be seen above,the proportion of Jewsas part of the population of theNordiccountries is verysmall.InDenmark and Sweden it is aboutthe same as in today’sGermany, lower than in France,Hun- gary,the UK,Belgium,and theNetherlands,but higher than in Poland,Spain, Italy, andAustria. TheScandinavian countries, although similar in some significant respects, nonetheless followed verydifferent trajectoriesthrough the Shoah. In Norway close to 40 per cent of the twothousand onehundredJewslivinginthe country at thetimeperished under theruleofthe Nazi-collaborator Vidkun Quisling. At theend of September 1943,the Danish Jewslearned that they toowould be per- secuted.Inanunprecedented anduniquerescue operation,almostall of them, slightlymorethanseven thousand, managed to escape to Swedenwhere they were then well received.Inthe 1930suntil the outbreak