Swedish Muslims have slammed the government for failing to combat discrimination, submitting a report to the UN with a list of proposed measures, such as setting up an inquiry into the abuse of Somali migrants in the tiny town of Forserum.

"Forserum really showed what proportions Islamophobia as well as Afrophobia can take when an entire town looks on as people have their human rights violated," Kitimbwa Sabuni told The Local on Friday.

Sabuni edited the report submitted to the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the Network of Swedish Muslims (Nätverket Svenska Muslimer i Samarbete), a cooperation of several different associations, in which representatives said Sweden was failing to tackle discrimination against Muslims.

The report estimated there are 350,000 Muslim Swedes, making it one of Sweden's biggest minorities.

It asked the government to order an inquiry into how local authorities failed to help Somali migrants, some of whom were too afraid to let their children go to school after suffering verbal and physical abuse. "Not everyone partook in the abuse, but many silently witnessed it and the authorities were passive," Sabuni said.

The report also urged research into prejudices that ethnic Swedes who convert to Islam face, in many cases from their own families. "We're talking not only about excommunication, but also threats and violence that many converts tell us about," Sabuni said.

One father, based in the US, reported his daughter to the FBI, which led to her being questioned by the Swedish intelligence service Säpo.

In another case cited in the report, a Swedish woman who became pregnant with her partner of Middle Eastern origin was beaten by her family. "They told her they would 'rip the Arab out of her belly' among other threats," Sabuni said. "These are examples of honour crimes in ethnic Swedish families, even though the term 'honour crime' is usually reserved to people of non-Swedish origin."

The list also asked that the government probe the effects of Sweden anti-terror law, including the extended surveillance rights of the security agencies. It noted that out of 26 known arrests using the 2003 law change, all cases targeted Muslims. Only two people were subsequently charged.

"As it is only Muslims who are detained on these flimsy grounds, the question of whether the terror law is a 'race law' must be asked," read the report, which also proposed a "Truth Commission" that would have the power to look into specific cases.

It also mentioned housing segregation as a problem that could in part be solved by allowing Islamic banking, which forbids interest rates, which could unlock flat and house ownership for many Swedish Muslims.

The report also addressed how Muslims were represented by the Swedish media, urging that greater attention be paid to how Swedish news channels report on matters pertaining to the minority community. As an example, Sabuni referred to Sverges Television (SVT) debate programme Debatt on Thursday night featuring the topic "Repression of women among Muslims".

"What kind of headline is that? And it's on public service television," he said. "As though women's lack of access to education and not being able to support themselves wasn't a problem in Sweden and other western European countries only 50 years ago, and that economic and social development weren't the keys, rather than religion, to their emancipation."

A further recommendation in the report was to foster a more diverse recruitment base for journalists working for the public broadcasting. It suggested that "Sveriges Television (SVT) remove the discriminatory ban on newscasters wearing headscarves."

Additionally, the report asked that the government gives funds to Muslim congregations to secure their safe operations. It also cited statistics that showed that per capita, Muslims receive less funding through community association funding than other groups.

The report concluded that Islamophobia had "been allowed to creep into the political mainstream," a comment that irked Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag.

"I think that's incorrect," he told Sveriges Radio (SR). "The big difference between the Swedish government and say Denmark or the Netherlands is that we are crystal clear when it comes to distancing ourselves from racism and xenophobia."

The Local, 8 March 2013

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Swedish blue-collar workers increasingly sympathize with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrat party, an opinion poll review showed on Friday.

Members of the unions within the Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO, the umbrella blue-collar union organization in Sweden, still in large part support the opposition left-of-centre Social Democrat party.

However, the Sweden Democrats have now surpassed the Moderate Party, which leads the current government coalition, to become the second most popular political party among LO members, a review of opinion polls ordered by Sveriges Television (SVT) showed.

"One in six LO members would vote for the Sweden Democrats if we went to the polls today," Sifo pollster Toivo Sjörén commented on the findings. "Immigration has been in spotlight so we see increased Sweden Democrat support not only within LO but within other groups."

The review looked at opinion polls conducted in the autumn of 2012 and over the holiday season. About 4,800 people were surveyed.

The Local, 8 February 2013

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A Swedish lawmaker once seen as a future leader of the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party announced Sunday he was quitting parliament and the party after a racist scandal.

Erik Almqvist, 31, was one of three party officials caught on film hurling racist abuse at two men, arming themselves with iron bars after a heated argument outside a fast-food restaurant, and calling a woman who tried to intervene a little "whore".

"No, this is not your country, it's my country," Almqvist is seen telling one of the men in the clip.

Almqvist, who had been the party's economic affairs spokesman, stepped down from that position in mid-November when the Expressen newspaper published excerpts of the two-year-old video clip, filmed by the party's justice spokesman Kent Ekeroth on his cell phone.

On Sunday Almqvist said he was leaving the party immediately and would resign from his seat in parliament once it reconvened after the Christmas break. He will be replaced in parliament by Anna Hagwall, 59, the Sweden Democrats said.

"This has been an incredibly difficult and weighty decision for me. I realise that my behaviour that night two-and-a-half years ago has hurt both the party and me as a politician," Almqvist said in a statement on Sunday. "I have decided, after consultation with the party, to resign from both parliament and the party," he said.

Ekeroth meanwhile announced after the film clip emerged in November that he was taking a temporary break from his position as justice spokesman, but he remains a member of parliament.

Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Aakesson recently announced a purge of racist and "extremist" elements in the party.

Recent polls have suggested that the party has been unharmed by the scandal, with its support hovering around 10 percent. The party entered Sweden's parliament in 2010 after winning 5.7 percent of the vote.

AFP, 30 December 2012

Update:  See "'You won't get rid of me': Almqvist", The Local, 31 December 2012

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A 15-year-old boy mailed the Sweden Democrats seeking the party's view on Islam for a school project and received a link to a website showing close up photos of mutilated, decapitated and burned bodies.

"I was shocked. I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to his mail. I can't describe the feeling, the photos were so horrible," the student, named as Johan, told the Svenska Dagbladet daily.

The teenager was tasked with writing a project about Islam and was told to gather information and attitudes to Islam. He mailed an address on the Sweden Democrats website intended for "general questions about the Sweden Democrats or the party's national policy" and received a reply from Ted Ekeroth, a Lund county councillor.

Ekeroth sent Johan the link which he explained shows victims of Islamic terrorism in southern Thailand. The photos include bloodied bodies and body parts including close ups of severely burned corpses and beheaded torsos. The link was attached in response to a question from the 15-year-old on whether the Sweden Democrats think the media presented a balanced view of Islam.

Ekeroth explained in a mail to SvD that he had warned Johan about the shocking images, adding that he had no idea whether the photos were genuine.

Sweden Democrat spokesperson Martin Kinnunen has described the material on the website as "unsuitable" and said that it was a mistake for Ekeroth to have sent it.

Kinnunen denied that the incident constitutes a breach of party leader Jimmie Åkesson's call for a zero tolerance policy on racism, but said that Ekeroth would no longer be tasked with answering the party's correspondence.

The Local, 24 November 2012

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Some 6,000 members of the Sweden Democrats will be receiving an anti-Islam newspaper at the end of the month, courtesy of the party. "Dispatch International is a paper that plays an important role in the societal debate," MP and editor in chief for the Sweden Democrat paper SD–Kuriren, Richard Jomshof, told local paper Sydsvenskan.

The publication, which is connected to the Swedish anti-Islam group "Freedom of the Press Society" (Tryckfrihetssällskapet), recently featured an article where a professor argues that the Muslim call to prayer should not only be seen as that but also as a threat. The Freedom of the Press Society has previously also posted anti-Semitic comments on its Facebook page.

As the paper will be sent together with the existing Sweden Democrat publication, the party will pay for postage. "There are many connections between us and the Freedom of the Press Society, both personal and ideological. The paper will be sent as a supplement to our paper, so it won't cost a lot extra," said Jomshof to Sydsvenskan.

Jomshof told the paper that he doesn't think that sending the publication along with the Sweden Democrat paper is in any way in breach of the party's recent zero-tolerance policy against racism. "The newspaper can hardly be seen as racist. Not all Muslims are of the same race," Jomshof told the paper.

The Local, 22 November 2012

The International Free Press Society which publishes Dispatch International is headed by Lars Hedegaard, the notorious Danish Islamophobe who was convicted of inciting racial hatred as a result of an interview in which he described Muslims as morally depraved rapists. Last year a former member of the IFPS board, James Cohen, was appointed head of the English Defence League's Jewish Division.

For further background, see Torbjörn Jerlerup, "Dispatch International: CounterJihad publishes a paper", Loonwatch, 6 September 2012

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Banking on concerns of immigration and rising unemployment, far-rightists are gaining popularity in Sweden, amid expectations of becoming the third party in the country’s coming election.

"Immigration is topping the agenda and this benefits the Sweden Democrats," Carl Melin, polling head at United Minds, told Reuters Monday, November 12.

Opinion polls have shown that the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) is growing in popularity in the Scandinavian country. A survey by United Minds pollsters in Aftonbladet newspaper published on Monday showed that SD has about 11 percent support, double its showing in the 2010 election.

Other polls in the last few weeks showed a similar trend. An October poll by Ipsos, published in Dagens Nyheter newspaper showed the SD at 8.5 percent. "We may be entering a recession and this is a good breeding ground for parties like the Sweden Democrats," said Johanna Laurin Gulled, a polling manager at Ipsos.

The SD is notorious for anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant campaigns. Immediately after their electoral win in 2010, the SD started working on imposing a moratorium on building new mosques in the Scandinavian country. The party, whose manifesto describes Muslims as "seriously jeopardizing the Swedish nation", has also sought a ban on the face-veil and halting immigration from predominantly Muslim countries.

It opposes a panel recommendation that all major religions should be given equal time in lesson plans, saying Christianity should maintain a special status.

OnIslam, 12 November 2012

Update:  See "Sweden Democrats in crisis over racist film", The Local, 14 November 2012

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"Ban Islam in Sweden and deport those who persist in believing in the religion", said Pär Norling, group leader of the Sweden Democrats (SD) in Bollnäs, in an interview with national broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT).

The neo-nazi Swedish Resistance Movement (Svenska Motståndsrörelsen) marched in the central Swedish town of Bollnäs earlier this summer, after a controversial rape case had rocked the community. On Saturday they marched again and anti-racist protests were held nearby.

Swedish Democratic Norling said he disapproves of Nazism, but by and large considers it a by-product of immigration. He also agrees with the neo-nazi movement that Islam has no place in Sweden. "That can exist elsewhere but in Sweden it doesn't fit in," he said to Sweden's national television SVT. When asked what ought to be done with those who still want to believe in the religion, despite it being banned, Norling responded: "Then the solution is deportation."

This is the second time in just days that Swedish Democratic politicians have landed themselves in hot water. 

On Friday, the Swedish Democrat Sven-Erik Karlsson commented on the harassment Somalian families have been suffering from teens in the town Forserum, in southern Sweden, saying that all Swedish municipalities ought to have gangs to harass refugees. After the furore that followed, Karlsson resigned his position on Saturday.

The Local, 26 August 2012

See also Inte rasist, men..., 25 August 2012

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Standing for 'freedom and truth' in Stockholm – one British thug and two American nuttersA Stockholm rally by European and U.S. far-right groups seeking to create a global "counter-jihad" movement attracted fewer than 200 people on Saturday who were outnumbered by anti-racist protesters. Police said the rival demonstration was kept apart from the far-right rally and drew a few hundred people, a small number of whom were detained.

The far-right rally was organised by groups including the English Defence League (EDL) which has been a driving force behind a handful of similar events, most recently a Danish rally in March. The EDL gained international attention through anti-Islamic fanatic Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway a year ago and who referred to it admiringly in a manifesto on the Internet. The group has denied links to Breivik.

Support has grown in European countries for populist, nationalist and anti-immigration movements and in Sweden the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats won seats in parliament for the first time in 2010. However, previous attempts by European far-right groups to join forces have foundered amid splits and feuding over ideology and leadership.

Nottingham University's Matthew Goodwin, an expert on British far-right militant groups, said the Stockholm meeting was of strategic importance despite the modest turnout. "The attending are quite significant figures within the anti-jihad movement. It signifies the strengthening links between counter-jihad groups and anti-Muslim groups within Europe and the United States," he said.

EDL leader Stephen Lennon, who also calls himself Tommy Robinson and who founded the group three years ago, said the meeting was about sharing resources and coordinating strategies.

"It's about sharing ideology, sharing resources, work together in any way we can over the next 12 months in order to highlight the truth, the truth about Islam," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Stockholm rally.

Pamela Geller, a leader of groups Stop Islamization of Nations and Stop Islamization of America, said the movement was planning to hold a conference in New York on September 11. "It's very important that it goes global because what we are fighting is a global ideology," she said.

Reuters, 4 August 2012

See also "War rhetoric at anti-Muslim meeting", Expo, 4 August 2012

Sounds like the "First Worldwide Counter-Jihad Action" turned out to be a bit of a flop. Still, that hasn't prevented Geller from hailing it as a milestone in history:

Today heralded the dawning of a new era of cooperation between pro-freedom groups in Europe, the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

Freedom fighters from around the world converged in Stockholm to stand with one voice against oppression, tyranny and fascism.... several hundred people braved the Leftist thugs and the police barricades, and joined us, unbowed and resolutely determined to stand for freedom and truth.

When Robert Spencer and I got out of the car, the crowd started applauding, and so many people came up to us to express their gratitude for our work – it was humbling and gratifying....

All in all, today was a key turning point in this ugly and vicious war that we find ourselves engaged.... We made great strides in forging a true and lasting transatlantic (and transpacific as well) counter-jihad alliance. This is just the beginning.

British Freedom party leader Paul Weston addresses the massed ranks of the worldwide counter-jihad movement

Make that two British thugs and two American nutters

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