Press Release
The Assimilation Policy Reveals the Government's True Islamophobic Face

On Tuesday evening, November 21st, the Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, said during an open question period in Gothenburg that ‘Israel’ has the right to genocide before correcting himself and changing it to self-defense. It happened on the same day that the government appointed an investigator who would review the possibilities of removing foreigners from the country due to flaws in their way of life in what they call an honorable way of life, as well as being able to revoke residence permits for other reasons as well. A week earlier, DN reported that Swedish values, according to proposals from the government, will become a requirement for new arrivals and asylum seekers in order for them to be able to take part in grants and other compensation. On Saturday, November 25th, Svenska Dagbladet reported that Jimmie Åkesson, party leader of the government support party Sweden Democrats, wants to see an immediate stop to the construction of new mosques and that he wants to demolish mosques where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic or anti-Semitic propaganda is spread.

In recent years, Sweden has caught the world's attention as one of the world's most Islamophobic countries due to the repeated burnings of the Quran in Sweden and the kidnapping of Muslim children by the social services. In a statement, published on November 24th on the Government Office's website, the Prime Minister tried to cleanse himself of his clumsy mistake when he rightly called "Israel's" actions genocide instead of self-defense. In the same statement, he writes in a hopeless attempt to free himself and his government from their anti-Islamic policy: "Sweden is, by some, wrongly pointed out as an Islamophobic country and as a country that does not respect religion or its practitioners."

Sweden and the current government de facto conduct an anti-Islamic policy and have done so openly and shamelessly for at least the last ten years, neither the prime minister's miserable attempt to absolve himself of his responsibility nor the government's pathetic attempt to accuse all critics of running a disinformation campaign against Sweden can save them.

In the midst of an ongoing genocide, the Swedish government has shown its unequivocal support for the bloody bombing by the terrorist Jewish entity that occupies the lands of civilian men, women and children. The same governments that for years pursued a policy to combat what they call "honour oppression" which means forbidding Muslim families to raise their children according to Islam, the government now, paradoxically, wants to demand from Muslims an honourable way of life in order to remain in Sweden. The only difference is how you define honourable living. When the government wants to use honour repression against Muslim families to force them to assimilate, that the government considers it fine, but when Muslim parents want to raise their own children according to their beliefs and preserve their identity, that deserves jail time. The hypocrisy of Swedish politicians knows no bounds and proves the falsity of their dishonest ideals of freedom!

The government's proposals to remove foreigners who do not adopt Swedish values and the requirements for Swedish values in order to receive grants are a practical expression of the Prime Minister's and Deputy Prime Minister's statements in August that those who cannot accept freedom of expression have chosen the wrong country and meant by that to accept the burning of the Quran. The same opinion was expressed by the Minister for Gender Equality, Paulina Brandberg, when the government presented the proposal and then said: "if it is something other than these democratic values that you desire [...] then this is simply not where you should live". This is the government's unambiguous anti-Islam assimilation policy that buries the so-called ideals of freedom. It is a crystal-clear identity policy that actually confirms the claim that the prime minister dishonestly tried to deny, that Sweden is a country that does not respect religion or its followers.

That the government is in bed with an avowed Islamophobic party that regularly makes Islamophobic statements and incites Muslims proves its Islamophobic attitude. Just two days ago, the government's partner, Jimmie Åkesson, said he wanted to demolish mosques that spread homophobic or anti-Semitic propaganda. The hypocrisy gets a face when the statement comes from a party leader whose party is teeming with homophobes and anti-Semites. The statement also comes at a time when Muslim mosques are being bombed into ruins in Palestine by the Zionist occupation for which the government has expressed its unreserved support. The government's concession to the Sweden Democrats only proves that they are accomplices, especially when just a month ago the Liberals wanted to classify synagogues as objects of protection. The clear message to the Muslims of Sweden is that everyone's rights must be preserved except yours.

It is unworthy of the Swedish people to be represented and led by a shameful and hypocritical government like this, which uses the votes of the Swedish people to crack down on the Muslims in the country and pursue its aggressive assimilation policy. The government's actions are an expression of weakness in the face of the intellectual and ideological strength of Islam which can solve the problems of the world. It is an attempt to mislead the Swedish people from coming into contact with Islam. It is the responsibility of the Swedish people to hold the authorities accountable for their anti-Islam policies.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Sweden