Sweden: The Swedish Church and Israel

Anna-Karin Hammar

For many years, the Swedish Church has been more of a left-wing political entity than a religious one. Among the various woke issues they have embraced is support for the Palestinian cause and the BDS movement. In this article by Johan Westerholm in Ledarsidorna, a prominent member of the Swedish Church (and the Social Democratic Party), Anna-Karin Hammar, is quoted as linking Israel and necrophilia! That's taking intersectionalism to a new level.

The article is translated by Fousesquawk. Note that the FB insert is not translated since it appears in English when you click the link.

Increasingly brutal debate within the Swedish Church about the State of Israel

By Johan Westerholm

The former member of the Social Democrats in the  (Swedish) Church Council, the priest, Anna-Karin Hammar, says in a Facebook post that the State of Israel has developed a form of state necrophilia. Hammar, with the weight she has in the Church and the party, testifies to a brutalisation of the debate about Jews in general and the existence of the State of Israel in particular. 

Anna-Karin Hammar is one of the Swedish Church's most influential power-holders and public debaters. She represents the Social Democrats and is engaged in the work of the Swedish Church, among other things, during the past term as a member of the Uppsala Diocese Church Council. Hammar also ran for archbishop when her brother, KG Hammar, resigned prematurely. 

The Church Council has long been a power within the Social Democrats, and among its members are names like Jesper Eneroth, vice-chairman for Faith and Solidarity, former minister Margareta Winberg, Faith and Solidarity's former chairman Peter Weiderud, and political science professor Ulf Bjereld. Former prime minister Stefan Löfven's wife, Ulla Löfven, is also a current member of the Church Council.

Hammar is driven by a strong commitment to Palestinian Arabs in that she has joined those who believe that they are a separate people. In spite of this, they do not meet the criteria to be called a homogeneous group of people.

Hammar is a driving force in support of the BDS-movement (Boycott-Divest-Sanctions), which is built upon the so-called Cairo Declaration, calling for a global boycott against the State of Israel. In Sweden, the BDS movement has the strongest support in the Swedish Church. Especially the former archbishop, Antje Jackelen, and priests Anna-Karin Hammar (S-Social Democrats) and Gunilla Hallonsten have spoken out in support of the movement.

Hammar has previously attempted to replace the Swedish Church's commemoration of the Night of Broken Glass with a commemoration of the Naqba instead. In 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs-about half of the pre-war population of the Palestine Mandate-fled from their homes or were driven out by Zionist militias during the 1948 Palestine War-also called the Naqba.

Hammar currently compares the State of Israel with a state-developed culture of necrophilia. Necrophilia is a sexual orientation or paraphilia that involves a compulsive sexual attraction to or actions with dead bodies. The word comes from the Greek "nekros" (death) and "philia" (love/affection).

Hammar writes in a post on Facebook that:

"I also consider it an action for the Palestinian people to read about what it's like to be a Jew after the destruction of Gaza by people fighting to save Judaism in Israel from brutalization and necrophilia........"