Israel’s ambassador to Sweden has condemned the current weekly anti-Israel protests in Stockholm, claiming they feature “open acts of antisemitism.”
“It’s the same centuries-old stereotypes and blood libels, repackaged by replacing ‘Jews’ with ‘Zionists, Ambassador Ziv Nevo Kulman said. “Authorities tolerate ‘freedom of expression’ being abused to promote hate and incitement against a national minority.”
His words were prompted by a specific protest performance in Odenplan Square, Stockholm, over the weekend.
The graphic performance featured a man in a mask designed to look like a religious Jew, drenched in blood and killing a Palestinian woman and then cutting a baby from her womb and slitting its neck. A person dressed as an IDF soldier wearing a sign saying “FASC” [fascist] aided him.
The Jewish figure bears some resemblance to Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Other protesters carried banners reading “Children are being killed in Gaza,” “Schools and hospitals are being bombed,” “Stop the attacks on Lebanon,” and “End food shortages.”
Slaughtering babies is a common motif in the weekly performance protests in Stockholm.
The Jerusalem Post found multiple examples, each featuring similarly gratuitous blood-drenched Jewish figures slaughtering children and women in keffiyehs.
Other prominent motifs are nooses and mock hangings; in fact, mock executions are staged weekly.
Stockholm protests evoke blood libel
Commenters on social media have suggested that such performances evoke the ancient blood libel – the false, antisemitic accusation originating in the Middle Ages that alleges Jews murder non-Jewish children to use their blood for rituals.
Antisemitism denial is also prominent. One poster last week read “Palestinians’ blood – Zionists are shedding – is Semitic blood. Who’s the antisemite?”
This is a common fallacy. The term “antisemitism” was coined in the 19th century specifically to mean prejudice or discrimination against Jews, not against all Semitic peoples.
While defendants of such protests will claim that they are targeting Israelis and not Jews, a quick scan of the main protest organizers reveals that they make no such distinction.
Mahmoud Talat, a key figure in the weekly Stockholm performances, frequently posts on Instagram, “The Jews stole our land,” for example.
Much of the pro-Palestine activity in Sweden is coordinated by the Hamas-linked group Samidoun, which is also closely tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
In February, NGO Monitor reported that Samidoun was expanding its operations in Sweden and organizing nationwide demonstrations that promoted “armed resistance.”
Samidoun has chapters in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö that organize and participate in demonstrations and protests across Sweden.
“Swedish authorities should investigate Samidoun’s activities, affiliations, and operations in Sweden in light of its ties to EU-designated terrorist organizations, its promotion of “armed resistance,” and its glorification of the October 7 massacre,” NGO Monitor said.
The Post contacted the Swedish Security Service for comment but had received no answer by publication time.