The professor: “How does the synagogue stand on Netanyahu's war?”

Published 2 December 2024 at 17.17

Domestic. Philosophy professor Torbjörn Tännsjö is now requesting that the organized Jews in Sweden clarify their stance on Israel's ongoing war and crimes against humanity.

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In a debate article in Svenska Dagbladet, Torbjörn Tännsjö, professor of practical philosophy at Stockholm University, points to what he believes is a double standard in the view of religious communities responsibility.

The background to the debate is Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed's (KD) comment that “extremism has no place in religious environments” in connection with media reporting on a prayer for a slain Hamas leader in Gothenburg's mosque.

“But it must apply in all religious environments?”, Tännsjö asks rhetorically and states that the charter of the Jewish congregation in Stockholm states that the congregation must “protect the connection with the state Israel”.

He believes that this creates a problematic connection between the congregation's members and the government of Israel, which, according to Tännsjö, commits crimes against international law and likely genocide in Gaza. Despite this, there are very few Jews in Sweden who have criticized the Israeli warfare.

“How should Jews in our country relate to the matter? Should they explain? Should they distance themselves? It depends on what you mean by Jews. But if by that you mean, not members of an ethnic group, but members of a Jewish congregation in our country, represented by the Jewish Central Council, they should explain themselves. Yes, the synagogues should explain themselves,” writes Tännsjö.

The professor also refers to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which recently described the situation in Gaza as ethnic cleansing “before the curtain”.

Torbjörn Tännsjö demands that the Jewish Central Council and the congregations they represent answer these questions:

* Does the council and all its members recognize Palestine's right to exist as an independent state according to the 1967 borders? As you know, the Knesset in Israel has decided that it does not accept Palestine's national claim.
* Do you condemn Israel's occupation of Palestine? Do you condemn the theft of Palestinian property? Do you condemn violent excesses against people in occupied territory?
* Do you condemn Israel's violation of international law in the war in Gaza, with tens of thousands of children killed as a bloody result?
* Do you, like the ICC, demand that Netanyahu be arrested and investigated by international court for violations of international law in Gaza? Or do you share the assessment made by Israel's ambassador, that the decision is absurd?