Skeptical of editorial’s claims

To the editor,

I must congratulate you and The Press for the thoughtful editorial of December 4 on the Scandinavian countries in general and the visiting Swedish Prime Minister in particular. Your discussions of their standards of living, life expectancy (probably due to better health care), management of criminals, treatment of women, and preservation of the environment tend to put to shame our current U.S. political and social policies.

Unfortunately, you do not provide specific instances of the stated “… increase of anti-Semitism in Denmark, Norway and Sweden…” There are anti-Semitic people, and probably a few anti-Semitic politicians in each of these countries, although probably fewer than in most of Europe. And, of course, anti-Semitic acts in any country are most reprehensible.  However, I have not been aware of anti-Semitic statements or actions by any of the Scandinavian governments or their leaders. In recent times there have been a number of news items from these (and other) countries critical of the policies of the current Israeli government. I am Jewish, and have been a very strong supporter of the State of Israel from its birth. Yet, in recent years I have been disappointed that so many Israeli policies have been needlessly provocative, aggressive, and not in the interests of the Israeli people or of peace in general.  I trust you are not making the common mistake that criticism of particular actions of the current Israeli government is equivalent to anti-Semitism.  Of course, I may have missed actions or official statements by one or more of these governments that are truly anti-Semitic; if so, it would be best if these were specifically cited by the Press for all to see and evaluate.

Gerson T. Lesser, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine
NYU School of Medicine

The editor replies:

While anti-Semitism has risen all over Europe, it apparently is not yet pronounced enough in Scandinavia to create headlines in most mainstream U.S. outlets.

But a Google search of the terms anti-Semitisim and any of the countries traditionally considered part of Scandinavia yields a nearly endless list of articles from Jewish and other outlets that are carefully watching this troubling trend.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has reported on Danish and Swedish medical associations’ recommendations to ban ritual circumcision (Jan. 26, 2014). The Local Sweden has documented recent incidents of anti-Semitism, such as death threats against an Orthodox rabbi in Gothenburg (Nov. 21, 2014). The Jerusalem Post reports that the speaker of the Knesset has had occasion to tell parliamentarians gathered in Oslo to stop targeting Israel (Sept. 7, 2014). The list goes on.