News & Comment
Swedish Election: The “Dark-Brown” Theme is at Play

News:

While Danish politicians have a long summer vacation, and the void they have in the media almost makes you feel as if it is acceptable to be Muslim and live here, politicians in Sweden are preparing for election in September, and here the “dark-brown” theme is predicted to at the top of attention.

Comment:

Sweden has for many years, both in the Nordics and abroad, been known for their welcoming and liberal approach to immigrants in general and refugees in specific. It was therefore no surprise that during the recent “refugee crisis” in Europe, Sweden was a preferred destination for many, and they were welcomed. These things are probably about to change.

For many years, some of the more political observant among us have been saying that Sweden is going to become like Denmark, when it comes to immigrants and especially Muslims; groundlessly hateful and intolerant. There were many critics of this prediction who either could not or did not want to realize the fact that we were right. However, in this upcoming election, immigrants referred to as the “dark-brown” theme is going to be one of the top issues. As the election campaigns and political debates take off, there are clear signs that many parties have moved their prior stances in the fight for voters. Voters that, as in other European countries, are becoming more and more concerned with immigrants and especially Muslims.

Some left-wing liberal commentators admit that there are quite a few similarities between the political climate and rhetoric in Sweden today and in Denmark in the 2000’s, but at the same time they claim that Sweden is still not there yet. Our claim is that they will be in a very short time.

This development is not linear progressive, and Sweden does not need another 18 years to come to where Denmark is today when it comes to Muslims (see e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/world/europe/denmark-immigrant-ghettos.html). We live in a globalized world where physical borders cannot and do not hold back ideas and thoughts, nor anti-Islamic propaganda.

Sweden is without a doubt, believe it or not, moving to be a country just like its neighboring Denmark. The question is where will Denmark be at that time.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Junes Kock