Are 40 Percent of All Swedes "Anti-Semites?": Anatomy of a Statistical Flim-Flam

Anti-Semitism does exist in Sweden, but it has been strongly exaggerated in this report, most of whose conclusions are highly questionable. This is especially clear when the authors of the report explain that sometimes criticising the state of Israel could be regarded as anti-Semitism.

Similarly, Swedes are tarnished with the anti-Semitism brush for concurring with a statement about a Jewish conspiracy controlling the U.S. and that the Jews killed Jesus, without knowing what they are concurring to.

The results and interpretations of this report are dubious, and questions arise as to why it was commissioned and how it has been utilized in the press. The combination of questionable methodology, far-fetched interpretations and several references to old anti-Semitic stereotypes that barely are known these days, suggests that the report and most of its findings should be dismissed.

The study, "Antisemitic images and attitudes in Sweden," was conducted by Henrik Bachner and Jonas Ring and is a report on their finding from a postal questionnaire sent out to 3,000 Swedes. The research was funded and commissioned by Living History Forum and the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

The Living History Forum (LHF) is a Swedish government body and research centre founded in 2003 with the expressed aim of fighting racism and the prevention of genocide by examining and teaching history. Göran Persson, the current Swedish Prime Minister and fervent pro-Israeli supporter, was the driving force behind its establishment. LHF's main activities include teaching high school students about the Nazi extermination of the Jews and the study of anti-Semitism. The Bachner and Ring report is a reflection of current LHF research priorities, where the study of anti-Semitism is a priority. Note that although there are many more Muslims (250,000-300,000) than Jews (18,000-20,000) in Sweden and although anti-Muslim hatred is more prevalent than anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim hatred doesn't feature as a research priority.

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