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| Saskia Pantell |
Saskia Pantell is Director of the Zionist Federation of Sweden. She
appeared earlier this week at a meeting of the European Parliament
delegation for relations with Israel in Strasbourg where she spoke about
anti-Semitism in Sweden.
She
has denounced anti-Zionism as a form of anti-Semitism and has
participated in numerous initiatives in Sweden, including the Kippah
Walk, in which Jews and non-Jews wear kippot in defiance of increased
anti-Semitism in the country.
"Anti-Zionism
is anti-Semitism," Pantell explained, stating that Judeophobic comments
are being "disguised as merely being critical of Israel."
Her
appearence at the European Parliament delegation was met with
objections from two Swedish MEPs, Marita Ulvskog of Sweden's Social
Democratic party and Bodil Valero of the Green party who feared a "one-sided criticism against Sweden."
They
sent a letter to European parliament president Martin Schulz in which
they wrote : "Considering public statements made by Ms. Pantell on
Sweden in the past, unopposed criticism could be expected" at Pantell’s
address on Sweden-Israel relations before members of the parliament’s
Delegation for Relations with Israel.
A
spokesperson for the delegation, which is chaired by Italian MEP Fulvio
Martusciello, denied claims the forum was biased, adding that Margrete
Auken, a Danish Greens MEP, expressed her party’s views on the subject
at the event.
Sweden’s
relations with Israel have deteriorated since Sweden became the only EU
country to recognize a ‘’state of Palestine’’and since Swedish Foreign
Minister Margot Wallstrom made controversial statements relating to the
conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The
Swedish government, headed by the left-wing Social Democratic Party
under Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, is known for its staunch support of
the Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel.
In
an interview in November with Swedish television network SVT2T, hours
after the Paris attacks on November 13, Wallström said that "to
counteract the radicalization we must go back to the situation such as
the one in the Middle East of which not the least the Palestinians see
that there is no future: we must either accept a desperate situation or
resort to violence," suggesting that the attacks were rooted in the
frustration of Muslims in the Middle East.
In
December, she criticised Israel before the Swedish parliament for what
she claimed were extrajudicial executions of Palestinian attackers.
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