When the Syrians in Sweden are told to “Go home”, we as Jews know what it means

“You should see this as a good opportunity to go home,” wrote Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of the Swedish Democratic right wing nationlist party, to Swedish Syrians who celebrated al-Assad’s fall. We recognize the rhetoric. In the 1930s, “go home” simply meant “judenfrei”, writes Rabbi Moshe David HaCohen.

Published in Swedish in Dagens Nyheter. 10.12.21

A few years ago, the Jewish communties in the Nordic countries signed a joint statement against Koran burnings. They warned against abusing the expression “freedom of expression” when the real purpose was discrimination based on hatred. “Where you burn books, you soon burn people”, quoting the German writer Heinrich Heine. We must learn from our own history of persecution and the tendencies in society to single out “the other”, which led to the Holocaust.

There were those who criticized our terminology and argued that it was not right to compare, since the historical background and the current threat situation were two completely different things. Our answer was that it was not about numbers, but rather about the intention to distinguish a group from the rest of society in order to justify prejudice. It is gratifying that a month ago the Malmö district court sentenced Rasmus Paludan to prison for incitement against a ethnic group.

…it was not about numbers, but rather about the intention to distinguish a group from the rest of society in order to justify prejudice.

Nevertheless, the trend continues and even increases. During the Nazi doctrine of the 1930s, European Jews were slowly forced out of society, from their professions, from public parks, benches and theaters. Despite being fully integrated into their communities, despite being born and living in their respective countries for hundreds of years, they were told that they should “go home to Palestine”. Adolf Hitler proposed an agreement with the Zionist movement to “send all the Jews home”. “Go home” had a simple meaning: “We want to get rid of you”, or simply: “judenfrei”.

“Go home” had a simple meaning: “We want to get rid of you”, or simply: “judenfrei”.

But since the Jews were well integrated, it was not so easy. In Germany, as in Sweden, their passports were stamped and Jewish names were added to distinguish them. You never belonged here, you are different, go back home. We all know how it ended 80 years ago. When the plans for forced emigration did not work, other ways were found to become “judenfrei”.

In Europe, we have promised ourselves that it must never happen again. And while anti-Semitism reaches new heights, another group is also targeted and told to “go home”. Our society is polarized, and discrimination in all its forms has been accepted and rationalized. The fear of and blaming of the other has been made the norm.

In Europe, we have promised ourselves that it must never happen again. And while anti-Semitism reaches new heights, another group is also targeted and told to “go home”.

Many of the Syrian refugees who made it to Sweden had no choice. Those who stood up to the tyrannical dictator Bashar al-Assad were either killed, imprisoned or forced to flee for their lives. And now, thank God, they can finally decide for themselves what is right for them.

For some there is the opportunity to reunite at home in Syria with other family members in exile, from Turkey, Sweden and the many other countries they fled to, and to begin the heartbreaking search for missing relatives. It is something every Jewish family that survived the Holocaust knows all too well, from the time after the war when offices were opened all over Europe and Palestine, newspapers were filled with lists of those found, those killed, and those missing – as in many cases still missing.

But other immigrants from Syria, especially in the younger generation, see Sweden as their homeland. They know Swedish better than Arabic. Leisure time, sports holidays and coffee are a natural part of their identity, in the same way as for others who consider themselves “truly Swedish”. They want to find a balance between their identities as Syrian Arabs and the Swedish home where they were born. Today, for the first time, they can consciously choose Sweden as their home.

It is a process that may take some time, and the majority society must show patience and empathy.

After the Holocaust, Europe promised “never again”. We in the European Jewish community clearly stand up to Jimmie Åkesson and want to warn society against the expression “go home”. We know what it means, we recognize the rhetoric, the discrimination, the hatred. It is whoever uses such language that should not be welcomed in the inclusive society that is our common hope and our future. “Never again” must European society allow this to be normalised.