Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Stockholm over the weekend alongside a disturbing antisemitic display that has sparked outrage and debate.
The performance, staged during a pro-Palestinian protest, featured a masked figure resembling a religious Jew, with visual similarities to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, portraying the killing of a Palestinian woman, cutting a baby from her womb and slaughtering it.
Disturbing antisemitic display: Jewish figure tears Palestinian baby from mother’s womb, kills it
The display was accompanied by chants described as antisemitic, and quickly drew widespread attention on social media in Sweden.
Demonstrators gathered in Odenplan Square to protest Israeli policies, including plans to annex parts of the West Bank and ongoing strikes in Lebanon. Protesters carried signs reading “Children are being killed in Gaza,” “Schools and hospitals are bombed,” “Stop the attacks on Lebanon,” and “End the starvation.”
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Hate display in Stockholm: Ben-Gvir depicted tearing a baby from a Palestinian woman’s arms
Rana Kadri, a protest activist, told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency that she views Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories as part of a broader “Greater Israel” plan. She also criticized what she described as international silence regarding Israeli policy, including a recent Knesset decision related to the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, condemned the demonstration.
“Open acts of antisemitism, week after week on the streets of Stockholm,” he said. “The same centuries-old stereotypes and blood libels, repackaged by replacing ‘Jews’ with ‘Zionists.’ Authorities are allowing the abuse of ‘freedom of expression’ to promote hatred and incitement against a national minority.”
Organizers of the protest defended the display, saying it falls within the bounds of political free expression and is not directed at any religious or national group, but rather reflects criticism of policies.
Last month, hundreds of people also protested against Israel in central Stockholm, where another controversial display depicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Nazi SS uniform, portrayed as a