The attack on a Copenhagen synagogue \u2013 and the public reaction to it \u2013 has been illuminating. It also raises echoes from Danish and Jewish history, in ways that are not encouraging.<\/p>\n
Of all the many incidents during the Holocaust when non-Jews acted righteously, one of the most notable and successful was the evacuation of Denmark\u2019s Jews in 1943. The Danish resistance, aided by throngs of ordinary Danes, mobilized a flotilla of fishing boats to convey Danish Jews to Sweden, thus saving 99 percent of Denmark\u2019s Jewish population at a time when other Jewish communities in Europe were being annihilated.<\/p>\n
This extraordinary example of dangerous sacrifice in defence of Jewish people and basic humanity has rightly given the Danish people a special place in the narrative of opposition to Nazism. The narrative, at times, has gotten out of hand, as with the debunked story that the Danish monarch, King Christian X, himself donned a yellow star as an act of solidarity when the Jews of his country were ordered to affix the signifying marker to their clothing. In fact, Denmark\u2019s Jews were among the few in occupied Europe not required to wear the yellow star. This story may not have been true, but the underlying message of Danish solidarity with the Jewish people against the Final Solution is undeniable.<\/p>\n
It might have been expected, therefore, that Denmark would live up to its reputation in the aftermath of the recent terror attacks that wounded five police officers and killed two civilians \u2013 Finn Norgaard, a 55-year-old filmmaker who was attending a free speech symposium that was the gunman\u2019s first target, and Dan Uzan, a 37-year-old congregant serving as security at the city\u2019s Grand Synagogue.<\/p>\n
In a heartening show, 30,000 Danes gathered on Feb. 16 for a vigil to commemorate the two terror victims. The current monarch, Queen Margarethe II, expressed condolences and restated her country\u2019s commitment to the values \u201cthat Denmark is based on.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, a number of concerning responses cast a shadow over the fine words and deeds of these Danes.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called the murders a \u201ccynical act of terror,\u201d but then offered this ponderous and contradictory observation: \u201cWe don\u2019t know the motive for the attacks but we know that there are forces that want to harm Denmark, that want to crush our freedom of expression, our belief in liberty. We are not facing a fight between Islam and the West, it is not a fight between Muslims and non-Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n
The motive for the attack could hardly have been clearer. First, attempt mass murder at an event explicitly dedicated to free expression then, for good measure, head over to a synagogue to kill some Jews. The actions of the perpetrator betray the motives in the most obvious manner imaginable. It is baffling that the prime minister should have chosen to cast question on the motive. And while it is widely held that the actions of violent radical extremists do not represent a universal trait of Islam, it still rings odd to hear the leader of a country in such a situation tack on a declaration about what the incident is not<\/em>, while offering no specifics about what is at the root of the attack.<\/p>\n Far more disturbing was the veneration given to the perpetrator. The funeral for Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, who police say was responsible for both attacks and who police shot and killed, was attended by an estimated 500 people. One organizer said the turnout was a sign of support for the family of the gunman, not an endorsement of his actions, but the crowd of hundreds at the funeral of a murderer of this sort is not a good sign.<\/p>\n Moreover, flowers were left at the scene of El-Hussein\u2019s death, as is the mania these days anytime a tragedy strikes. These were later removed \u2013 by masked men chanting who said their actions were based on the fact that Muslims (like Jews) do not mark the passing of people with flowers.<\/p>\n These weird and disheartening reactions stand in contrast with the uplifting story of the moment \u2013 the \u201ccircle of peace\u201d that took place last weekend in Oslo, Norway, in which 1,000 Norwegian Muslims and their allies encircled a synagogue in an act of solidarity and protection.<\/p>\n Similarly, the involvement of a Muslim figure with a history of antisemitic rhetoric drew some criticism, though organizers pointed to his participation as a sign of progress and that change is possible even among radical extremists and fundamentalists, and those who espouse hate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The attack on a Copenhagen synagogue \u2013 and the public reaction to it \u2013 has been illuminating. It also raises echoes from Danish and Jewish history, in ways that are not encouraging. Of all the many incidents during the Holocaust when non-Jews acted righteously, one of the most notable and successful was the evacuation of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[801,3296,3295,3294,1774],"class_list":["post-10959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-ji","tag-antisemitism","tag-denmark","tag-helle-thorning-schmidt","tag-queen-margarethe-ii","tag-terrorism"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}