«In the last two decades, Israel has been indiscriminately attacked by European governments while the European press routinely distorts information coming from the Middle East. The Swedish press has been at the forefront of this trend».

This is a statement of Zvi Mazel, the former Israeli Ambassador to Sweden.

The tittle of this article is not chosen by me. «The Swedish Emirate» It was first used by The Wall Street Journal on the 10th of March this year. This was the headline on the occasion of the Swedish nation bowed down to muslim terror, and the David Cup tennis match between Sweden and Israel erupted in Islamic inspired public violence in the city of Malmø.

After that tennis match, common sense have ran off the cliff in Sweden.

More from former Ambassador Zvi Mazel:

«What is worrisome is not so much the fact that the Swedish government refused to condemn it, but that it saw fit to censure their own ambassador in Israel who had very properly rejected this loathsome piece. I think they have crossed a red line».

«Aftonbladet has a long history. It was started in the 1830s, and during the Holocaust it was very pro-Nazi. After the war it began calling itself a social democratic newspaper, while keeping a very critical attitude against the West, especially the US and Israel. They sell close to 1.5 million copies every day, making it an important and influential newspaper in Sweden»

«The Swedish government has tried to hide behind the veil of freedom of the press. But I say in very clear terms: There is no press freedom in Sweden.About 80 percent of the newspapers there, especially the four national papers in Stockholm and hundreds of papers in the countryside, which set up the tone in Sweden, are connected in some way to the Social Democrat movement and the trade unions. Both of them are anti-Israel. There is a kind of dictatorship of the Social Democrats over the press in Sweden»

False claim of press freedom.

«This is by no means a bold, investigative press. When there are corruption issues or problems, they are mentioned briefly and then left to disappear. No investigation ever takes place. So when Foreign Minister Carl Bildt speaks of freedom of press, I beg to differ».

«It is true that governments should not intervene in other countries’ internal affairs. But we live today in a different world, where the media reign supreme. Transmission of news is instantaneous. This has led governments to intervene in other countries in issues connected to foreign policy. And Israel has experienced this more than any other country».

Source: Multiple media sources.

Wall Street Journal: «Sweden presents Israel as a pariah nation»

This is from the article published on 10th of March 2009.

Now the tennis ball is in Sweden’s court, where the city of Malmö banned fans from attending last weekend’s Davis Cup tie against Israel. Malmö cited “security concerns” for playing the match behind closed doors. Anti-Israel demonstrators clashed with the police outside the stadium — throwing stones and fire crackers — but nothing the officers couldn’t handle.

Public support for the protests coupled with TV pictures of a depressingly empty stadium were meant to send the message that — in the words of the Malmö mayor — the Jewish state is not “just anybody.” Sweden presented Israel as a pariah nation that must be quarantined.

Israel’s demonization as an apartheid state and worse has become common in the Nordic country. Like Dubai, Sweden may want to reconsider its general attitude toward Israel — not just in sports. It’s unbecoming for a society that claims to rank among the most tolerant.