Hundreds of protesters wearing yarmulkas, Stars of David and other
Jewish symbols marched through a predominantly Muslim neighbhorhood of the
Danish capital of Copenhagen, in a march against antisemitism late last week.
Demonstrators included both Jews and non-Jews, and were protesting an
alarming rise in antisemitism in the country which, like the rest of Europe,
has seen simmering antisemitism boil over during the past few weeks as Israeli
forces battle terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Rasmus Yarlov, a Copenhagen city councillor said he joined the march in
protest of the fact that the situation in Demark had gotten so bad that Jews
were forced to hide their identity to avoid being attacked.
“We need to show that
Jewish symbols and Jewish clothing is part of the streets in Copenhagen and
should be allowed to move around freely, and not be seen as something that is
abnormal and does not belong in the streets,” he told CCTV-America news.
The choice of a Muslim neighborhood was due to the fact that the vast
majority of antisemitism attacks in the Scandinavian country were committed by
members of the growing Muslim immigrant community. Across Europe, rising antisemitism
has been largely fueled by Muslim extremists, and the deadliest antisemitic
attacks – such as the 2012 Toulouse Massacre and the recent shooting at the
Brussels Jewish Museum – have been committed by radical Islamists.
European Muslims have often been accused of making no distinction
between opposing Israeli policies and antisemitism. And the small group of
Muslim pro-Palestinian protesters who turned out as part of a counter-protest
appeared unfazed by the fact that their actions – aimed at a march protesting antisemitism
– illustrated just that.
Counter-protesters, wearing keffiyehs and waving PLO flags, branded the
march “provocative”, with one woman claimed “that these people
are supporting the genocide down in Palestine and that is definitely
unacceptable.”
Jewish community leader Jonatan Sousa, strongly disagreed with the
assertion that the protest was provocative.
“No, it is definitely not
provocative. calling this provocative is provocative in and of itself,” he
said.
“I’m not doing anything
wrong! But the wrongfulness here is that I have to be scared. Somehow, walking
with Jewish symbols I should have to be scared – that is the wrong thing, that
is the provocative thing.
