Far-right leader’s hate: Ruling party’s enabled Islamophobia in Sweden

Mikail Yuksel, the founder and the leader of the Nyans party says the inappropriate and unpleasant comments stirred emotions among the wider Muslim community.

On Monday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson denounced the leader of the country’s far-right party, the Sweden Democrats’ (SD), Jimmie Akesson, after the politician called for mosques to be levelled.

Kristersson, whose coalition government does not include the SD but depends on its backing, criticised Akesson's remarks as "disrespectful" and went on to say that they are "a polarising way of expressing oneself."

"It gives a bad image of what Sweden stands for internationally," Kristersson told local media.

On Saturday, Akesson pushed for mosques to be seized and levelled during his speech at his annual party conference.

He called for the "confiscating and tearing down mosques where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic, anti-Semitic propaganda or general disinformation is being spread."

According to reports, Akesson is said to have been "disturbed" by anti-Israeli demonstrations and Swedish media support of Palestine. The far-right politician went as far to claim that protests were emerging from mosques, leading to calls for their demolition.

The former SD prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, called on Kristersson to condemn Akesson's remarks and to sack SD members in ministerial cabinets.

Nevertheless, Akesson remarks are having an impact, say officials in Sweden, amid what they describe as a trend of anti-Islam sentiment in the Scandinavian country.

Mikail Yuksel, the founder and the leader of the Nyans party, which he describes as "Muslim-friendly" has hit out at Akesson's remarks.

While calling them "inappropriate" and "unpleasant," he says that they have also "stirred emotions among Muslims and Muslim organisations."

A prominent Swedish Iman, Salahuddin Barakat, has also warned about the remarks, calling them "very dangerous".

"We interpret them as a direct threat against Muslims and as a part of a continuous effort to increase islamophobia and hatred against Muslims," Barakat tells TRT World, "Many muslims feel threatened both by direct attacks in the aftermath of such vilification."

Barakat believes there are scant few direct measures by the Swedish government to combat "the fast spread of islamophobia that is infesting Swedish society and that is often instigated by Swedish politicians in the highest levels".

"Without a doubt this is a part of prevalent Islamophobic sentiment in larger society and that some political parties are abusing in a strategic manner to serve populist political agendas," Barakat says.

Yuksel acknowledges that the country’s leader, Kristersson has condemned Akesson's remarks. But, he insists the Prime Minister "continues to work with his party and give them influence."

The leader of the Nyans party sees a wider trend within Sweden's ruling party that he believes points to anti-Muslim sentiment and distrust.

"The prime minister's own party wants to ban the hijab in school and wants to ban foreign funding of mosques in Sweden. Even the Diyanet (Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs). The Prime Minister's closest friend and MEP Tomas Tobe has said that Diyanet is conducting espionage in Sweden," Yuksel tells TRT World.

Earlier this year a report said the Swedish government had failed to prevent religious based hate crimes.

According to data from the National Crime Prevention Council, Muslims experienced 51% of all hate crimes against a religious group.

Due to what Barakat regards as the normalisation of Islamophobia, politicians like Akesson and "his ilk can spread hatred without any real consequences," describing it as " systematic strategy" by the far-right politician and the SD. Politically says these kind of remarks "will have real effects on Muslim lives," noting "reports about Muslim children experiencing hate in schools or women being attacked in the streets".

Amid the outpouring of far-right discourse in the Scandinavian nation, Yuksel has concerns for the community.

"Muslims are very vulnerable in Sweden. Akesson's views are dangerous, but he has no power to implement his extraordinary policy. His role is to put forward extreme proposals which are then implemented by other parties," he says.

Yuksel acknowledges that the Social Democratic Party (SPD) were the first to propose closing a mosque in Sweden and deporting the imam.

"They have already closed many Muslim schools and been active in hunting Muslims with several Islamophobic proposals. They also do this by getting Muslim votes in the election."

According to reports, the SD is said to have a Nazi ties, while last year it became the second-biggest party in parliament after a general election.

In a press release shared that was also shared with TRT World, the Islamic Association in Sweden outlined how the SD's anti-Muslim policy has "real consequences for the country's mosques."

The organisation's, Director and Imam, Mahmoud Khalfi said there is already a strong threat to Mosques, adding the far-right politician has increased it. He fears it could lead to another mosque shooting, similar to New Zealand's Christchurch in New Zealand where 51 people were killed.

“Swedish Muslims have long been a bat in the debate about integration, migration and multiculturalism,” Khalfi said, calling on the government to peruse a policy to protect Swedish Muslims from hate and terror attacks.