Join in Solidarity with Malmö's Embattled Jewish Community

"...Ever since I came here people have been shouting 'F***ing Jew' and 'Heil Hitler' at me."                                                                 - Rabbi Shneur Kesselman, Malmö, Sweden  May 17, 2012 Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city was once a haven for Holocaust survivors. In 2012, its rabbi and his family suffer continual anti-Semitic abuse and hate attacks which Malmö’s police ignore. At the same time, Malmö’s powerful mayor, Ilmar Reepalu scapegoats Jews as loyal only to Israel. Instead of protecting the small Jewish community, he denies any responsibility for the outrageous situation, dismissing criticism his record as the work of the "Israel lobby".  The Simon Wiesenthal Center has called out Reepalu’s bigotry and stood with Malmö’s tiny embattled Jewish community. In the last few years, the SWC has: • Met with Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask in Stockholm in 2010 to express our concerns for the Jewish citizens of Malmö    • Confronted Mayor Reepalu in a face-to-face meeting, and also met with Malmö’s Police Chief Ulf Sempert (middle) and other senior officials   • Issued a travel advisory to Malmö urging extreme caution as a result of the failure of Malmö’s officials toprovide basic protection to its Jews—the travel advisory remains in place.   • Urged measures be taken against rampant anti-Semitism in Malmö during an address in Prague delivered to the 56 country Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)   • Helped secure government funding for Swedish Jewish institutions to better protect the community from potential terrorist threats    • Briefed the US State Department Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism in Washington, DC and in Malmö prior to her meeting with Malmö’s mayor • Published articles and op/ed pieces on the situation in Malmö in blogs, through social networking, and in newspapers and publications around the world     • Screened the Center’s Academy Award™-winning documentary, Genocide to community activists in Malmö • Participated in a seminar at Malmö University on "Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia" which prompted a heated debate   • Distributed Swedish language brochures of the Center’s Top Ten Anti-Israel Lies  All of this has been accomplished against the backdrop of meetings with Jewish, Muslim, and Roma community leaders, city officials, and Malmo’s Police Chief.

Americans Losing Free Speech to Islam

Acting on a tip from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), police shut down a private event in a rented room that was promoting the American constitution and the “American Laws for American Courts” legislation initiative.

Amid calls of “What about free speech?” the Allegan Police Department entered the room in the middle of the event and ordered it shut down.

Police originally gave as their reason for the shut-down the appearance of Kamal Saleem, a former Muslim terrorist who converted to Christianity and who was a featured speaker at the event.  However, the chief of police later admitted to a reporter that he was acting on no specific threat or danger being posed by the event.

The event was located in the Allegan High School auditorium which had been rented by Willis Sage, an Allegan County commissioner.  Sage is the author of “Constituting Michigan – Founding Principles Act,” which would require Michigan public schools to teach the history and constitution of the United States.

No specific threat of violence was received by either the City of Allegan
Kamal Saleem
, the police department, the Allegan Public School District or the Allegan Public High School.

However, school officials had notified police that they had received a letter complaining about the event from Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR - Michigan.  The letter asked the school to cancel the event despite an existing contract.

CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism funding trial in U. S. history, U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation.

A civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR- MI), its Executive Director, the City of Allegan, the Allegan Police Department and the School District for violating the constitutional and contractual rights of the event organizers and participants. The lawsuit was filed for the plaintiffs by the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Law Center commented, “It’s amazing how much clout CAIR has with the political establishment of both parties in Lansing [Michigan’s capital] and throughout Michigan and the nation -- this, despite the fact that CAIR has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial, and the FBI’s  former chief of counter terrorism noted that CAIR, its leaders and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups.


Richard Thompson
“Press accounts make it clear that an indictment naming CAIR as a defendant in the Holy Land Foundation trial was squelched by Attorney General Holder’s office despite vehement objections by FBI agents and the federal prosecutors in Dallas.”

The purpose of the event was to inform the public about the importance of honoring the United States Constitution, to recognize the internal threat to America posed by radical Muslims and the dangers to American society posed by the imposition and insinuation of Islamic (sharia) law.

Saleem has spoken at numerous high schools and universities, Christian churches and Jewish institutions across the nation.  He has also spoken at the U. S. Air Force Academy, Michigan’s State Capital and Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.  At no time before or after the Allegan event has an event where he has spoken been shut down by law enforcement.

Commissioner Sage had notified the Allegan police chief ten days before the event and invited him to check out the background of Saleem, which he never did.

In addition to Sage, plaintiffs in the case include Michigan State Representative David Agema, sponsor of the “Restriction of Application of Foreign Laws Act,”, which bans the use of foreign laws including sharia by courts and administrative bodies of the State when those laws conflict with fundamental rights protected by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Michigan.

CAIR is an outspoken opponent of the act.

The American Laws for American Courts act is designed to protect American citizens’ constitutional rights against the infiltration and incursion of foreign laws and foreign legal doctrines, especially sharia.

Foreign laws are frequently at odds with U.S. constitutional principles of equal protection and due process, and freedom of religio
n, speech and assembly. They typically enter the American court system through the principle of comity (mutual respect of each country’s legal system). Granting comity to a foreign judgment is a matter of state law. Most state and federal courts will grant comity unless the recognition of the foreign judgment violates an important public policy of the state.

The “American Laws for American Courts” act has been passed into law in Tennessee, Louisiana and Arizona. To find out more about the law, a Forty Minute Course is available online.