I have been blogging about being a new Jewish resident of Malmö since March 2012. My inaugural column began by noting that the international Jewish media have their eye on Malmö because at that time, my inbox and Facebook wall were overflowing with links to such articles on a daily basis. My general response became:  We’re Here. We’re Jews. Get Used to It. | Jewschool.In my frequent travel to international gatherings of Jews, I grew accustomed to more of the same. When I mention that I live here, invariably somebody asks me how it feels to live in “such an anti-Semitic city.” I try to explain that Malmö is in fact a vibrant, multi-cultural city that unfortunately also includes some anti-Semitic (and racist, and Islamophobic) people who say and do egregious things. Then I would add that the media have not done this city any favors by accentuating the negative.

So imagine my delighted surprise when a recent e-mail message with the subject heading, “Malmö!” did not contain more questions regarding anti-Semitism. Rather, the queries were about what Open Skåne is doing to confront these problems, with a request for updates about the status of our organization and its projects.

The seeds of this inquiry were planted last year. I spoke about the early stages of this initiative to various North American Jewish groups, and several rabbis and other community leaders became interested in our efforts to increase social cohesion here. One rabbi, in a Yom Kippur sermon devoted to the burning issue of rising European anti-Semitism, mentioned our work. He highlighted a recent conference called Mötesplats Skåne at which Sheikh Salahuddin Barakat, Reverend Anders Ekhem, and I spoke about Muslims, Christians, and Jews working together in Skåne.

Another colleague asked whether I would agree that the best response to the presence of anti-Semitism is not to hide behind locked doors, but to band together with like-minded people of all backgrounds to promote the values that we share. I replied that I could not agree more; that this is what the work of Open Skåne is all about. And this is only the beginning.

Rebecca Lillian

Project Manager, Open Skåne