March 29, 2024

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Tack så mycket, Asaf

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2017/05/tack-sa-mycket-asaf.html

By Daphne Anson

 

So that strange conglomeration of Israel-hating lefty female politicians and their stooges in a once envied and enviable land called Sweden have been up to their weird tricks again.  As widely reported, their agency the Swedish Institute, on the hunt for political incorrectness and “hate speech”on Twitter, included Israel’s ambassador to Stockholm in their dragnet.

To quote one well-known media outlet:

“In addition to the private Twitter account of Isaac Bachman, the Israeli ambassador, and his embassy’s official account, blocked accounts included that of the award-winning journalist Magda Gad of the liberal Expressen daily, the lawmaker Jimmie Åkesson of the nationalist Sweden Democrats party, and the well-known novelist Jonas Gardell, who is a well-known activist for gay and transsexual rights in Sweden.

Bachman, who has used harsh language in criticizing of Sweden’s policies on Israel, took to Twitter to protest the block, which he noted was not extended to Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have laws discriminating homosexuals and women, and which fund purveyors of anti-Semitic hate speech. Now, that #Israel ‘s MFA and ambassador are blocked – #Sweden is much safer in reading Iran and others, that were not blocked.@SweInstitute https://t.co/C87XzwTikb  — Isaac Bachman (@isaacbachman) May 16, 2017

The blocks prompted criticism in local media on the Swedish Institute, which was accused of silencing critical debate about Sweden and imposing unnecessary limitations on free speech to preserve a far-reaching definition of political correctness. The Swedish Institute neither published a full list of those blocked nor offer those affected recourse to challenge the decision.

While it apologized for any wrongful block, the Swedish Institute in its statement defended the use of the tool to achieve what it called an improved atmosphere online.

“The Swedish Institute in the past has given its moderators permission to block users but last week it happened on a larger scale” with the intention not only of stopping alleged hate speech but also preventing it, the statement read. “The blocks contributed to increased security on the account and to a significant improvement in dialog,” the statement continued. “But the institute also sees the need to examine the question of freedom of expression and the use of authority” in this context. (See more here)

As the above comments indicate, not all Swedes are affected by the anti-Israel/antisemitic virus so prevalent in their governing circles and on social media. 

And a special thank you to the author of the following tweet:

Meanwhile, in this account of Swedish duplicity concerning a Malmö mosque Judith Bergman asks “When did the Swedish population vote to become a Qatari protectorate?”

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