Sweden: Islamists Spreading Hate Against Sweden

Below is a translation of an article by Sophie Löwenmark in the Swedish daily, Expressen. The article tells how many Swedish imams and other Islamist activists in the country are spreading hate against the country and its institutions through a campaign of disinformation against the country's social services. One example is that Swedish social services want to take custody and care of Muslim children in order to convert them to Christianity.

The article is translated from Swedish by Fousesquawk. 

 https://www.expressen.se/ledare/sofie-lowenmark/radikala-islamister-hetsar-mot-socialtjansten/

Sophie Löwenmark

Radical Islamists incite against social services

Posted February 4, 2022 at 16:59

Caption: Raad al Duhan speaks disparagingly about Swedish democracy, social services, and LVU (Laws for special provision for care of young people) on Tiktok.

Sweden kidnaps Muslim children claimed in a massive disinformation campaign. The anger is fueled by radical Islamists and can lead to acts of terror.

In closed groups on social media that gather tens of thousands of members, conspiracy theories and pure hate against Sweden flow. A common allegation is that Muslim children are taken into custody to convert them to Christianity and that LVU is used as part of a war against Islam. Such rumors are also spread mouth to mouth and are raised in some mosques and associations.

In Sweden, there are large groups that are susceptible to such disinformation. Those are people who have a poor knowledge of Swedish, low level of education, low knowledge of Swedish society, and live in areas where no native Swedes reside.

But those who spread rumors also take advantage of the fact that many people have a strong religious conviction. Lies that social services can take custody of children solely on grounds of the family's Muslim faith naturally, cause both fear and anger.

It is a golden opportunity for radical Islamists. The Islamist propaganda apparatus is always looking for information that can create widespread anger. It matters little if it involves a caricature of the Prophet or a law whose real purpose is to protect vulnerable children. They use whatever they can to counter integration and to radicalize people. 

In the current campaign, some of the so-called "deportation imams" are heavily involved. This involves persons who are judged to pose a threat against the country's security, but who are still in Sweden since their deportation order has not been enforced. Gävle imam, Abo Raad and Västerås imam Fekri Hamad, for example, are very active in issues on social media. Abo Raad also spoke about LVU in his last Friday sermon. 

His son, Raad al Duhan, received extensive attention last year after I revealed that he started a relationship with an Ekot reporter who reported on his deportation case. He is also active in the issue, (and) on Tiktok, he speaks disparagingly about Swedish democracy, social services, and LVU.

More well-known names from the Radical Islamist environment in Sweden are also acting and trying to bring others along in their hate against democracy and the secular Swedish society through spreading lies about social services.

"Unfortunately, nothing indicates that the large anger towards Sweden will diminish by itself"

At the same time, an extensive campaign against Sweden is in progress from the Middle East. Arabic hashtags with disparaging opinions about Sweden have become viral on Twitter. Rabid Islamists in countries, like Egypt, Qatar, and Jordan put up clips filled with hate and conspiracy theories on platforms with hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of followers.

Sweden's alleged violations against Muslims are put into evidence through occasional, personal cases that are incorrectly rendered. Talk is beginning of a boycott of Swedish goods. The campaign is not totally different from what we have earlier seen against Denmark and France, among others.

There are large risks here. If large groups in Sweden lose trust in the authorities, that in itself can become system threatening.

But there is also a possible jihadist threat. In France, investigators talk about "atmospheric jihad". That doesn't involve terror groups, like earlier, who train, finance, and order acts. Instead so-called "entrepreneurs in anger" spread views that Islam or Muslims have been violated and identify individuals who are responsible. On that information, one or several perpetrators can then act with violence.

The beheading of the teacher Samuel Paty and the knife murders of three people in a church in Nice are two examples of this atmospheric jihadism. In both cases, the perpetrators had no connections to Islamist organizations, and neither of them acted under orders. They acted on their own on the message that someone else had spread about alleged injustices against Islam's Prophet.

In the current campaign against Sweden, people have already called for acts of violence, such as burning down social (service) offices. The people behind such posts can well be harmless figures who are writing in the heat of the moment. But in such an explosive situation, there is a risk that messages can lead others to action.

Unfortunately, nothing indicates that the large anger towards Sweden will diminish by itself.

Sofie Löwenmark is a freelance columnist on Expressen's opinion page. Read several of her writings here.