Paul Brill

One of the most striking moments of Sweden’s election campaign came during Monday night’s televised party leaders’ debate, when Simona Mohamsson, leader of the Liberal Party and Sweden’s Minister for Education and Integration, appeared wearing a Star of David. Mohamsson was born Simona Mohammed. Her father is Palestinian and her mother Lebanese, from a Shia Muslim background. That made the gesture especially powerful. Mohamsson explained her choice: “I wear the Star of David for the children who do not dare to in today’s Sweden.” She confronted the Left Party over revelations that its MPs had sent letters of support to Palestinian prisoners convicted of terrorist attacks killing Israelis. “I think the Left Party needs to be held accountable for sending love letters to Hamas and spreading fear on our streets,” she said. Her comments followed repeated controversies involving Left Party politicians spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and expressing support for terrorist groups. Since October 7, pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Sweden have featured antisemitic rhetoric and expressions of support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas, the PFLP and Hezbollah. In the months after October 7, the country recorded nearly five times as many antisemitic hate crimes as during the same period a year earlier. A survey of Swedish Jews found that more than four in five felt unsafe wearing Jewish symbols, while nearly half had discussed leaving Sweden because of antisemitism. Against that backdrop, Mohamsson’s Star of David became a pointed act of solidarity with Sweden’s embattled Jewish community: she chose to wear the very symbol many Swedish Jews now fear to display.