“Yarmulke March” planned for Copenhagen to protest anti-Semitic violence

“Yarmulke March” planned for Copenhagen to protest anti-Semitic violence

For years we have been documenting the rise of anti-Semitic violence in Europe masquerading as anti-Zionism, in a coalition of Islamists and Leftists in places like Malmö, Sweden.

Copenhagen, Denmark also has this history, so much so that the small (6,000-8,000) Jewish community all but stopped showing Jewish symbols in public. In 2012, the Israeli Embassy advised Israelis visiting Denmark not to wear a Yarmulke (aka Kippah or skull-cap) or other similar religious symbols in public.

The threat on the streets continues, with a Jewish school in Copenhagen just this month forbidding its students from wearing yarmulkes in public:

A Jewish school in Denmark informed parents that its pupils are no longer allowed to wear religious symbols near school grounds.

The private Caroline School in Copenhagen informed parents of the policy in a recent letter, the Jyllands-Posten daily reported Friday. The letter said it was not permissible for students of the 7th, 8th and 9th grades to leave school premises if they are wearing visible Jewish symbols….

Hansen also said the move was “pure preventative.” He added: “I know there has been an increase in the number of Jews who have been accosted over the summer in connection with the conflict in Gaza.”

When actor Seth Menachem traveled recently in Denmark and Sweden, his group encountered numerous acts of anti-Semitism:

But the trip was tainted by a twinge of unmistakable anti-Semitism, which lingered in the air almost everywhere we went. I traveled with Shmuly, a religious Jewish friend with a long beard and a yarmulke. He’s a gregarious guy, and like me, he loves to meet all kinds of people. But his visage drew stares — some curious, some angry. And as the night grew longer, and the people grew drunker, even in reserved Sweden, anti-Semitic cries rang out in the streets. In Stockholm, it mainly took place at the bus stop near our Sheraton hotel. One night it was some Somalian Muslim girls in hijabs, who instead of helping us with directions, turned to us and seethed, “Put a dick in your ass!”

Another night it was a group of Arabs who stared at us as we passed. A tall man raised a fist in the air and shouted, “Fuck Israel!” When we ignored it, he persisted — “Fuck Jews!”

In Copenhagen it was more of the same, including a Palestinian woman who shouted “Heil Hitler”:

In Copenhagen it was more of the same — only it wasn’t solely Muslims who confronted us. Danes wanted to know where we stood on the Israeli-Gaza conflict, and they weren’t shy to ask. I don’t mind a healthy debate, but this was loaded. Our answers were irrelevant. They wanted an excuse to rage, and in a country with very few Jews — especially ones so easily identifiable — we became the perfect victims….

But on our last night, the small restaurant was quiet. While my pizza was cooking, Shmuly waited outside…. I heard yelling so I quickly ran out to make sure all was okay. “You stole my land,” she told him, and I took out my phone to film the diatribe. Oddly, not only did she give me permission to film her when I asked, she repeated her rant for the camera, raising her arm in a Nazi salute as she recited Heil Hitler over again. After she went back inside, I went in to check on my pizza. She directed her anger at me, but when I responded her more volatile friend screamed, “Shut the fuck up!” I took out my camera again. I wanted to document what people have been denying is happening. I wanted to document it in case anything went wrong. And then she ran over to me and slapped the phone out of my hand. The glass shattered on the floor, and she ran out of the shop to get her boyfriend.

Here’s the video:

(The woman in the video was identified on Facebook by a Danish politician who objects to the rising anti-Semitism)

The situation is so bad in Copenhagen that conservative politicians are organizing a Yarmulke March in protest, Conservatives organize protest march against the jew smear campaign (translation via Google Translate):

The Conservative leader at the City Hall has called for a protest march on Nørrebrogade where participants will wear Jewish symbols in response to increasing harassment of Danish Jews.

Thursday evening, a group of politicians move down through Nørrebrogade wearing a skullcap and other Jewish symbols to respond to a growing number of reports of assaults and harassment of Danish Jews.

The leader of the Conservatives in the City Council at City Hall, Rasmus Jarlov (K), which is behind the initiative.

‘Jewish symbols and dress have just as much right to be on the streets, such as the Islamic headscarf. It must all accept and get used to. We want street space back from the people who hate and harass Jews who unfortunately have been quite a few examples in the recent past, “says Rasmus Jarlov in a written comment….

The Jewish Society in Denmark, according to Berlingske registered 29 physical, verbal and virtual attacks on Jews, since the Gaza conflict flared up in early July.

The march depends in part on whether police will provide protection (translation via Google Translate):

– We want street space back from the people who hate and harass Jews who unfortunately have been quite a few examples in the recent past.

– Jewish symbols and dress have just as much right to be on the streets, such as the Islamic headscarf. It must all accept and get used to.

So says the conservative Dane Rasmus Jarlov, along with SF MP Lisbeth Bech Poulsen planning to take a trip up and down the Nørrebrogade Thursday or Friday depending on police commitment.

In 2012 A similar march took place in Malmö.

It didn’t change a thing.

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