Blast rocks Malmö’s Jewish community center

An explosion struck a Jewish community building in the southern Swedish city of Malmö early Friday morning, Swedish media reported. The blast caused no injuries.

“There has been an explosion. Something has detonated – we are certain of that,” police officer Erik Liljenström said to local paper Sydsvenskan.

While the front door was damaged, the building itself was not.

Local police brought two men in for questioning after their car was seen by witnesses leaving the area at a high speed following the explosion.

Malmö’s Jewish community was previously the target of anti-Semitic attacks. Earlier this year, a rabbi was physically assaulted and in 2010, a group of Jews were attacked by Swedish Muslims during a peaceful protest in support of Israel.

In August, several hundred kippa-wearing Jews and non- Jews marched in Stockholm in solidarity with the city’s persecuted Jews.

It is time Swedish authorities defended the rights of their Jewish citizens, said World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder following the explosion.

“For a number of years now, Malmö has been a hotspot for anti-Jewish activities,” Lauder said.

“There is real fear among the Jewish population of Malmö, and it is growing – not least because not a lot has been done to address the issue,” he added.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed solidarity with the 700-member Jewish community in Sweden, attacking Malmö’s mayor for “continued indifference, the ban on cameras... and the lack of police presence” which allowed the attack to occur. The center also warned that the blast could “set a precedent” for more sophisticated explosive attacks.