A Jewish cemetery in the Danish city of Aalborg has been vandalised amid the Jewish holiday of Pesach, or Passover, Danish Radio reported.
The cemetery was littered with dolls doused in red paint, and propagandistic flyers were scatted around. The flyers bore a reference to a website admittedly associated with the Nordic Resistance Movement, a pan-Nordic movement banned in, among other nations such as Finland for being "revolutionary and militant".
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, and security around Jewish interests and venues across Denmark, such as synagogues, has been elevated.
— presse fotos (@pressefotosdk) April 4, 2021
Henri Goldstein, the chairman of Denmark's Jewish Community, emphasised that the flyers dispersed in Aalborg suggested that Jewish Passover bread is mixed with Christian blood, which he dubbed a "completely insane", yet "classic conspiracy theory".
Goldstein underscored that while no Danish Jews have suffered physical harm, such incidents stir up great insecurity and fear of physical violence.
"Historically, a lot of anti-Semitism with a physical outcome has started with, among other things, vandalism against cemeteries and Jewish shops", Goldstein explained. "The vandalism at the cemetery around Passover is simply as classic anti-Semitism as it can be. We have seen this for centuries in Europe", he added.
Goldstein suggested today's anti-Semitism comes from three wings: the extreme right, the extreme left, and Muslims, adding that it is less important where it comes from than it happening at all.
The act of vandalism was strongly condemned by Danish politicians. Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup called it "outrageous and deeply shameful".
The Conservatives spokesman, Naser Khader, ventured that anti-Semitism is "making a comeback" and called on the government to speed up its action plan against it.
Social Liberal legal spokesman Kristian Hegaard called the attack "blunt" and "totally incomprehensible".
The Danish People's Party demanded a tougher penalty framework for this particular type of vandalism, suggesting that the perpetrators also clean up after themselves.
It is far from the first time that Jewish buildings and shrines have been vandalised in Denmark. Last year, two men were convicted of vandalising 84 Jewish gravestones in Randers. One of the men in question was associated with the Nordic Resistance Movement.
