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for Kiddush after Sabbath morning services. For them, Sweden is a country where the police
will protect us, where violent protests and shouting in the streets by anti-Israel protesters will
not be met with sympathy or understanding by fellow Swedes, whom they have lived among for
generations.

The concern of these Swedish Jews is
that the community should remain loyal

to Israel, but at the same that it try to
stay away from vocal and public support
of it, which is not in our interest. For
some, those in this group are no more
than cowards. According to their
critics, their position amounts to an
unwillingness to question the simplified
and one-sided version of human rights
embraced by the political

Recent Pro-Israel demonstration in Malmo, Sweden establishment.

Despite its small size - we are fewer than 20,000 - the contemporary Jewish community in
Sweden is a mosaic of people from many different countries and backgrounds. It is not easy to
arrive at a consensus regarding how we should present ourselves vis-a-vis the Swedish public
and government.

At the same time as we ourselves try to figure out our own positions, we are also aware of the
need to choose a path that will not invite hostility and violence from groups that don't share
the traditional non-violent political culture of Sweden. Free speech may be on our side, but it
does not stop the harm done to our sense of security and safety as Swedish Jews, should it
inspire violent crime directed at our minority.

As we contemplate the image of our synagogues burning, something that almost happened in a

small town in south Sweden last weekend, the future itself seems to be going up in flames. We
look at our children and wonder if they will continue to be able to see this as their home,
something we have taken for granted. Seeking a refuge, we may find ourselves turning toward
Israel, but would nonetheless consider it a defeat to have to leave the country we have been
part of now for generations.

There are those who cannot sleep at night in fear of a repetition of the Holocaust, and those
who stand guard outside the community buildings at night, for fear of arsonists. The Jewish

community is under pressure from within and from the outside.

Anders Carlberg is president of the Jewish Community of Gothenburg, Sweden.

HaSicha Shelanu: For those of you who have yet to see it, check out the iton that the
Workshop 58 Tzevet Kiyum Meshutaf have just put out about the conflict. To see it, go to the
habonimdror.org.il home page. You can also check out the new forum topic if you want to
comment.