Malmo terminates Arab Book Fair amid revelation of antisemitic texts

"The reason is that the association that organizes the book fair has violated the cooperation agreement with Ibn Rushd."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Swedish flag is seen at Gamla Stan, the Old City of Stockholm, Sweden, May 7, 2017. (photo credit: INTS KALNINS / REUTERS)
The Swedish flag is seen at Gamla Stan, the Old City of Stockholm, Sweden, May 7, 2017.
(photo credit: INTS KALNINS / REUTERS)
The Swedish city of Malmö has decided to terminate its partnership with the Arab Book Fair after it was revealed that the fair was featuring and promoting antisemitic texts.
"Ibn Rushd terminates cooperation with the Malmö Arab Book Fair," the city of Malmo said, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. "On 28 October 2020, The Ibn Rushd Study Association decided to suspend cooperation with the Arab Book Fair."
"The reason is that the association that organizes the book fair has violated the cooperation agreement with Ibn Rushd," it concluded.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center commended the decision.
The government was alerted to the antisemitic texts after the center penned a letter to Swedish Prime Minister Steafan Lofven, notifying him of their presence.
"It has come to our knowledge that visitors to the book fair's website are offered to buy antisemitic literature, which is completely unacceptable," said Malmö's cultural director Pernilla Conde Hellman at the time. "It goes against everything we stand for – and we therefore choose to immediately terminate the cooperation... and hope that other contributors such as the Swedish National Council for Culture will do the same."
"The City of Malmö has contributed SEK 150,000 [USD 17,000] in project support to the Arab Book Fair," the cultural director added. "We will review whether we can reclaim the already paid support."
Following the suspension, Dr. Shimon Samuels, director for International Relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said that he was satisfied with the city's decision but "urged the Malmö municipality to investigate who originally agreed to this generous support and take appropriate measures to ensure that sponsorship for any form of hatred is never repeated."


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