Rector Hamid needs to be lured, not spit on

There is always a lot of pressure from the equivalent of those who wanted to award Astrid Lindgren the Nobel Prize for Literature. They want Greta Thunberg to be the Swede of the year, every year. But if one thinks now that the prize is not to name saints.

Yes, I was president of the jury that nominated Hamid Zafar, recently graduated from acquaintance to infamous, for Swede of the Year 2018. That was then, that. And before you start screaming: we look for disgust in your closet. Those we asked said there was nothing there. They were wrong.

And the people? How do they manage to sit at home in the evenings, make up weird aliases, and vent their subconscious on the swampy audiences? Despite interesting work. Despite the great success. Despite the accolades.

All that and still: “Sionisthundar”, “Sodomizing”, “Juver”. Anti-Semitism, homophobia and misogyny in the same sad union as always.

And the people?

The two most common responses: Social media easily turns into an ugliness contest. And we have had a large immigration from Muslim countries with strong anti-Semitic traditions.

And of course. Ten years ago, the Forum for Living History measured what they call “constant anti-Semitism” in Sweden. For the population as a whole, five percent belonged to that group. Among those who counted themselves as Muslims, it was 39 percent. Most of the people who know something about the matter expect the situation to get worse since then.

If you express your hatred of Jews online, it is not Israel’s fault, it is not Islam’s fault, it is not the fault of the Swedish integration policy, but the choice of an individual responsible for his actions.

Sweden is lousy at dealing with this imported anti-Semitism. There is an evasive or even apologetic tone, because Muslim immigrants are perceived as a weak group. In this way, anti-Semitism spreads to all Muslims who do not hate Jews.

But Muslims are also individuals. They are responsible for their choices. Being an enemy of the Muslims does not automatically make you an enemy of the Jews. Islam is as little as Christianity an excuse for anti-Semitism. If you express your hatred of Jews online, it is not Israel’s fault, it is not Islam’s fault, it is not the fault of the Swedish integration policy, but the choice of an individual responsible for his actions. If you have a good education and are well integrated into society, the responsibility is even greater.

Hamid Zafar seems to have a long way to go to accept that. He blames “youth”, despite being an adult, or “conservatism of values”, as if anti-Semitism had something to do with it. It’s disappointing. Zafar was a person who spread hope. He has ruined it.

But even the reactions to the reveal are chilling.

Of course, the municipality of Mullsjö could not keep Zafar. How should Jewish parents in Mullsjö feel safe sending their children to school? But otherwise: It took about an hour after the disclosure of the first lawsuit that Zafar was subsequently deprived of the Swede of the Year award. It’s a pretty revealing thought in all its gestural ridiculousness.

In a kind of Victorian new order, many seem to think that the solution to Zafar’s trampling is to erase him from society now, retroactively, and in the future. Isolate him so that he cannot spread an immoral infection. And then continue as usual.

It’s more about twitter storm crisis management, or signaling activities, than the problem itself. Because we don’t access growing anti-Semitism through social distancing. On the contrary, we have to fight it closely.

If we want to know what the people are about, we can actually demand that Hamid Zafar do his part to answer the question. Needs to be pulled instead of spit out.