Swedish radio asks whether Jews are responsible for antisemitism, later apologizes

From a Swedish Radio interview with Israeli Ambassador Isaac Bachmann:



She doesn't even ask if Israeli actions or "Zionists" are responsible for antisemitism - she is asking whether Jews are!

The ambassador replied appropriately, comparing her question to asking if women are responsible for rape.

From TheLocal:

On Tuesday, a journalist for Sveriges Radio (SR) asked ambassador Isaac Bachman on air: "Are Jews themselves responsible for the progression of anti-Semitism?"

The ambassador appeared shocked by the suggestion, and replied: "I purely and simply reject the question."

When the journalist asked "Why?", Bachman said: "There was no reason to ask this question."

The station removed the programme from its online archive and issued a full apology.

Here is the apology:

Israeli Ambassador Isaac Bachmann was a guest in this afternoon's Studio Ett. He put forth an interesting reasoning of the causes of the growing anti-Semitism, but was asked an unfortunate question of whether Jews has a personal responsibility.

We apologize for the question. It is misleading and blames both individuals and a vulnerable group.

The Jewish community has suffered terrible terror and have all our sympathy.

An editorial apology was broadcasted at the end of Studio Ett's transmission.

We have received questions about how the interview will be saved, so therefore this clarification:

We have chosen to publish an edited version of the interview on our website. It is an unusual step, but we do not wish to contribute to the formulation being further circulated.

The original transmission is saved according to the usual procedures which among other things means that it is transferred to the Royal Library.

Anne Lagercrantz, director Dagens Eko
Klas Wolf-Watz, director P1 morning and Studio Ett
Magnus Westberg, producer Studio Ett"

(h/t Bjorn, Erik)