The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Los Angeles-based human rights organization, has taken the unusual step of issuing a travel advisory about security concerns in Sweden because of growing anti-Jewish discrimination.

“We reluctantly are issuing this advisory because religious Jews and other members of the Jewish community there have been subject to anti-Semitic taunts and harassment. There have been dozens of incidents reported to the authorities but have not resulted in arrests or convictions for hate crimes”, said two Wiesenthal Center representatives in a statement.

They added that “a contributing factor to this decision has been the outrageous remarks of Malmö mayor Ilmar Reepalu, who blames the Jewish community for failing to denounce Israel. Malmö attracted criticism during last year’s Davis Cup tennis match against Israel. The city authorities decided to segregate Israeli players from the competition because of a mass demonstration of roughly 6,000 leftwing and Muslim protesters against Israel. Amir Haddad and Andy Ram, Israel’s top tennis players, had to compete against their Swedish opponents in an empty stadium. Commentators said the authorities capitulated to anti-Israeli mob violence rather than defend the right of bias-free sport events.

The advisory aimed at Jewish travelers urges extreme caution when visiting southern Sweden. Full story.