Fernando Guevara writes:

I am wondering if the Danish media coverage that I have experienced during the past month addresses the same Denmark in which I have spent that time period. Is there another Denmark?

Street environment, October-November 2023

I have participated in several demonstrations in support of the civilians of Gaza/Palestine over the past several weeks. There are more such demonstrations than I can account for.

One thing that really struck me about those I participated in was the feeling of human warmth, and the unity between peoples of different faiths, nationalities and cultures. While I am not speaking for the crowds (the largest I joined comprised perhaps 30,000 people), I will say that the only racist remarks I heard came from one person who burnt a Quran. His slurs were not directed at Jews. Yet, an entire scenario of widespread hatred directed at Jews is prevalent in the Danish media.

Media environment, October-November 2023

In general, the trend is to stoke the flames of fear that Jews are now persecuted again in Denmark. Following such allegations, almost without fail media ”coverage” moves seamlessly into accusing the ”Gaza demos” of causing the alleged persecution. Alternatively, the ”war” is said to have caused the persecution. The war is framed either as the Gaza war or the Israel-Hamas war.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and many other politicians, claim to have witnessed that hatred of Jews is back in the streets of Denmark, and that anti-Semitism is ablaze. They say that Jews are living in fear; that they hide their Stars of David; that they keep their children home from school. ”The hate is back,” said the prime minister. She denied contributing to the polarisation in the past month, in which she and the whole political establishment has only attended events supporting/commemorating Jews, and events supporting/commemorating Israeli civilians exclusively. They did not attend any event in support or commemoration of Palestinian civilians.  

The prime minister says Denmark can be proud of its help to Jews during World War II, but now we are again facing a choice (her word). On 9 November Ritzau quoted her: ”It is now. It is in these days, weeks and months we determine whether posterity, again, will be proud of Denmark.”

Earlier that day, Frederiksen had announced that she will be ordering an investigation into whether ”Gaza demos” in Denmark are calling for terrorism. She said the demonstrations here are ”nourished” by the ”conflict”, and that the demonstrations clearly show there are “persons in Denmark” who have not embraced Danish values.

Leading up to the 85th commemoration of Kristallnacht in Copenhagen, the Danish media was full of reports of anti-Semitism ”flaring up” and waves of anti-Semitism rolling in over Europe and Denmark (for instance, Politikken, one of the main Danish dailies, 9 November 2023). For those who might be new to the term, Kristallnacht was the night of 9-10 November 1938 during which Jews and their property were attacked by Nazis in Germany. Some 90-100 Jews were killed that night, and many thousand were arrested and later sent to concentration camps. Also, thousands of Jewish businesses, synagogues and properties were attacked, by window-smashing and other destruction. The words ”Never again” is a central statement at commemorations of horrors like Kristallnacht.

According to Danish media, many hundreds of people participated in Kristallnacht commemorations, including Prime Minister Frederiksen. On 9 November Politikken lauded Danish politicians who were planning to join. Politikken, further, had a cartoon at the top of the front page on that day depicting a man in a criminal matter. It was clear that the man in the drawing was intended to be perceived as Muslim.

Kristeligt Dagblad, a publication that claims to be concerned with ethics and the Christian faith, regularly reports on the dangers of Arabs and Muslims. It has recently reported that Israel has gone ”historically far” in its search for truths around hospital-bombings. On 9 November 2023 Kristeligt Dagblad had a large Star of David on the front page and a number of items (also on the front page) covering anti-Semitism. For instance, one item alleges that 25 per cent of Danish Jews have witnessed a Jew being verbally or physically attacked by an anti-Semite in the past 12 months. These are the things Kristeligt Dagblad’s writers tell their readers. What will they tell Christ, if they meet him?

Lingering questions

• Is it a Christian value to stoke the fears you are purporting to allay?
• Is it a Danish value to use Jews as human shields against criticism of government wars on humanity?
• Is war and genocide the same thing?
• Is Hamas a country?

While it is true that at all the demonstrations I joined we called for an immediate cease-fire, I wonder: does the fact that this terrifies the government and its media make us terrorists?