Dear society,
Yes, I'm talking to you there with the white fair skin that burns in the sun. Yes, I'm talking to you that get tanned by just someone mentioning the sun. Yes, I'm also talking to you with dark skin that also gets attacked because of something you were born with. We have a problem.
Yesterday some people decided that they don't like jews and because of this they went to the only jewish school in Stockholm and painted antisemitic propaganda on the school walls and this morning kids had to come to a place where they are suppose the be safe and see how there are people out there that don't respect them for who they are. I'm not talking about adults here having a discussion, I'm talking about kids aged 13-15 being exposed to the cruelty of people that clearly don't have enough common sense to keep their respectless thoughts to themselves and even if they feel they have the need to express their opinions they have to do it in a way that doesn't take them anywhere. You would think that in a country where we now-a-days are fighting so much for equality that we have gender neutral changing rooms and a word that is neither he or she, we would also be respecting people for their religion, ethnicity and right to go to school and feel safe but it seems like that isn't the case.
It's not the first time a child is exposed for antisemitic propaganda. Personally I had to find it painted on my house wall and carved in to my car even though that is the place I should feel the safest. I had friends being called names because of their religion and the constant need to defend yourself every time something happened to other jews.
Now this is happening to a school where jewish kids already often feel different walking around in the corridor with a hebrew book whilst the non-jewish classes are wondering who these people are that eat in their own canteen. I'm not saying these kids feel uncomfortable because of this but it is the feeling of always being different that makes it horrible to see that this hatred seem to happen repeatedly and the society seem to close their eyes to it.
Nothing is wrong, we all accept each other. As a Swedish Jew living in England I often get the question "why did you leave Sweden, it's such a great country". Let me tell you something, it isn't and I think this is the proof that I'm right. Being Jewish in Sweden is a constant battle against anti semites, racists, pro-palestinians, atheists and the list goes on and on. It's the battle of always trying to come up with a good argument for why I'm jewish apart from the fact that it's how I've been raised.
It seems like the children are growing up in a society where it is more important to think that a boy can wear pink than thinking that people have the right to live their lives according to their religions, faiths, political ideology or after the snail in my backyard as long as it doesn't harm anyone else.
But how can we let it go this far? Maybe we actually need to go back to the root of the problem which in my opinion is lack of understanding. We still grow up being taught about religion in the way that it seems like we are all a group of weirdos performing strange rituals like throwing goats of a cliff, as it said in one religious studies book. There is a lack of respect for anything that is different than the 'normal Swede' and we seem to be afraid to deal with it.
So yes society, we have a problem and the problem is you. The problem is you letting people close their eyes to reality and think everything is ok. The problem is you not dealing with the Swedish National Party growing bigger. The problem is you not realising there are bigger problems in the world that need to be sorted out before we can move on and deal with smaller problems. But most of all, the problem is you not realising that this happening is the proof that we can aim to be an equal country but until people stop hating and abusing everything that is slightly different from what they know, we will actually never become the Sweden you think we are.
More information about what happened in Sweden today
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4497373,00.html
Yes, I'm talking to you there with the white fair skin that burns in the sun. Yes, I'm talking to you that get tanned by just someone mentioning the sun. Yes, I'm also talking to you with dark skin that also gets attacked because of something you were born with. We have a problem.
Yesterday some people decided that they don't like jews and because of this they went to the only jewish school in Stockholm and painted antisemitic propaganda on the school walls and this morning kids had to come to a place where they are suppose the be safe and see how there are people out there that don't respect them for who they are. I'm not talking about adults here having a discussion, I'm talking about kids aged 13-15 being exposed to the cruelty of people that clearly don't have enough common sense to keep their respectless thoughts to themselves and even if they feel they have the need to express their opinions they have to do it in a way that doesn't take them anywhere. You would think that in a country where we now-a-days are fighting so much for equality that we have gender neutral changing rooms and a word that is neither he or she, we would also be respecting people for their religion, ethnicity and right to go to school and feel safe but it seems like that isn't the case.
It's not the first time a child is exposed for antisemitic propaganda. Personally I had to find it painted on my house wall and carved in to my car even though that is the place I should feel the safest. I had friends being called names because of their religion and the constant need to defend yourself every time something happened to other jews.
Now this is happening to a school where jewish kids already often feel different walking around in the corridor with a hebrew book whilst the non-jewish classes are wondering who these people are that eat in their own canteen. I'm not saying these kids feel uncomfortable because of this but it is the feeling of always being different that makes it horrible to see that this hatred seem to happen repeatedly and the society seem to close their eyes to it.
Nothing is wrong, we all accept each other. As a Swedish Jew living in England I often get the question "why did you leave Sweden, it's such a great country". Let me tell you something, it isn't and I think this is the proof that I'm right. Being Jewish in Sweden is a constant battle against anti semites, racists, pro-palestinians, atheists and the list goes on and on. It's the battle of always trying to come up with a good argument for why I'm jewish apart from the fact that it's how I've been raised.
It seems like the children are growing up in a society where it is more important to think that a boy can wear pink than thinking that people have the right to live their lives according to their religions, faiths, political ideology or after the snail in my backyard as long as it doesn't harm anyone else.
But how can we let it go this far? Maybe we actually need to go back to the root of the problem which in my opinion is lack of understanding. We still grow up being taught about religion in the way that it seems like we are all a group of weirdos performing strange rituals like throwing goats of a cliff, as it said in one religious studies book. There is a lack of respect for anything that is different than the 'normal Swede' and we seem to be afraid to deal with it.
So yes society, we have a problem and the problem is you. The problem is you letting people close their eyes to reality and think everything is ok. The problem is you not dealing with the Swedish National Party growing bigger. The problem is you not realising there are bigger problems in the world that need to be sorted out before we can move on and deal with smaller problems. But most of all, the problem is you not realising that this happening is the proof that we can aim to be an equal country but until people stop hating and abusing everything that is slightly different from what they know, we will actually never become the Sweden you think we are.
More information about what happened in Sweden today
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4497373,00.html
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