Well, poetic justice is something of an understatement. The Swedish tennis association was trying to one up the racist creeps in Dubai who wouldn’t let a woman Israeli play in their recent championship. The Swedes forced the Israeli tennis team to play without a public audience in their Davis Cup match with the Swedish national team in Malmo, putatively to avoid a rerun of the Munich Olympics or similar disaster.
In actuality it was a display of despicable anti-Semitism by a country in fear of its growing Muslim minority. The blogger Ice Viking explains it on his blog with this quote from Swedish minister Jen Orbach: “We must be open and tolerant with Islam and the Muslims, because when we will become the minority, they will be so toward us.”
Says it all. But no matter. Israel defeated the seven-time Davis cup winning Swedish team 3-2! One of the Israeli tennis players, Andy Ram, has an interesting article about the tie in Malmo on Ynet – Sad moment in Sweden.
Israel shows bad sportsmanship in its victory in Davis Cup against Sweden. Deliberately annoying players and psyching them is unfair.
bluemnts, whatever the Israelis did, and I do not know if they did anything, it is nothing by comparison to Sweden’s shameful anti-Semitism.
The whole Swedish phenomenon is interesting. In the other European countries with large Muslim immigrant populations, it is my understanding that the Muslims are either living on the dole or are filling menial occupations like taxi driver or food shop employees. I know that Britain has many Muslim doctors and nurses but they are having trouble with these people refusing basic hygiene measures, such as scrubbing arms in surgery because the females refuse to expose their arms. I wonder how a modern economy survives with a poorly educated replacement population. I guess we will see in Sweden and the Netherlands as they seem to be the first to succumb.
Minister Orbach assumes that if Sweden is tolerant with Muslims then Muslims, when they become the majority, will be tolerant with Swedes.
I wonder what on earth, except perhaps naive optimism, causes him to think that.
Minister Orbach is a fool.
@Alex Bensky:
You’d think that the Swedes of all people would know all about danegeld. (Sweden collected its share of “danegeld”, too.)
Mostly I’m thinking that political functionaries everywhere, like Orbach, are worried mostly about today, a little bit about tomorrow, and not at all about next year.
Message to Jen Orbach – and what evidence have you ever seen that a Muslim majority will treat you any differently than a Muslim minority?
And more to the point, who cares about how a Muslim population treats the ethnic Swedes? Given the circumstances surrounding the tournament it’s not like there are any principles involved here. And we might get a few good doctors and engineers out of the deal.
You all are sound and fury signifying nothing. If you are so angry with Muslims and Swedes do what I do and call their embassy (202 467 2600) and complain. It works with Russians, Iranians and the Israelis (I like to call the Israelis about Jonathan Pollard).
I like the way glenn and the rest of you all dismiss whole categories of people because some of them displease you.
“I like the way glenn and the rest of you all dismiss whole categories of people because some of them displease you.”
Really, honest-to-God? Then you’ll love the way I dismiss all the antisemitic nitwits like yourself.
Gary I actually called the Swedish Embassy and complained about Sweden’s treatment of the Israeli tennis team. What did you do except commit the same sin you accuse me of against those you disagree with. I do some small thing everyday to combat discrimination anywhere I find it especially when friends do it like Israel.
The issue with neocons is that they brook no criticism and pretty soon you all will be all alone with your hate. [Projection alert.-ed.]