Praise in Arabic-language comment sections in Sweden after the Sydney terror attack, together with celebrations on Swedish streets after October 7, 2023, paint a dark picture of the new Sweden. Samnytt has reviewed the reactions following the terrorist act in Sydney, where a wide range of tributes could be found, with the terrorists described as “heroes” and “fantastic.”
After this weekend’s mass murder connected to a Jewish celebration in Sydney, international condemnations and official statements of grief and solidarity quickly followed. At the same time, a different conversation grew, one that mainly unfolded outside the established media and instead took shape in social media.
SEE ALSO: VIDEO: 16 killed at Jewish celebration on a beach in Australia
The foundation Doku, which scrutinizes Islamism, has—like Samnytt—reviewed the reactions after the attack, showing how Jew-hatred quickly made its way into comment sections and posts. In some circles, the attack was not met with condemnation but with open praise, schadenfreude, and statements legitimizing the violence. Jews were described as legitimate targets, and the attack was presented as understandable or even desirable.
“To hell, and may the same happen to the rest of the descendants of apes and pigs”
“Happy Hanukkah ????”
“Rest in ???? zios”
“May God avenge you and take you all. Blessed be the one who did this.”
Many of these reactions occur in Arabic-language contexts. There, the victims were reduced to symbols, and their Jewish identity itself became a target. Instead of focusing on individual perpetrators and their responsibility, the hatred was directed at Jews as a whole, regardless of the individuals’ political views or links to Israel.
SEE ALSO: The terrorist attack: Suspected father and son—swore allegiance to IS
In parallel with the praise, conspiracy theories spread. It also became clear how claims that the attack was staged or manipulated gained traction, often with recurring elements of classic anti-Semitic rhetoric. Jews or Israel were accused of being behind the attack themselves to gain sympathy or political advantage.
“Fantastic from our Arab brothers”
Samnytt has gone through comments on Arabic-language news sites’ accounts with Arabic senders. Here are some of the comments (we have relied on Facebook’s translation feature and therefore refer to it in case the translation is incorrect):
A recurring feature in the reactions is how language is used to shift responsibility. Instead of clearly condemning the violence, the focus is moved to alleged underlying causes. Terror is described as a reaction, consequence, or response to other events. The effect is that the act itself is relativized without having to be defended openly.
“May God avenge you and take you all”
The Doku foundation also notes in its reporting that a man involved in Gaza demonstrations mocked one of the victims in Sydney. The following appears in their reporting:
A man active in the pro-Palestinian movement in Malmö fills his Facebook feed with posts about the attack, referencing ‘occupation media,’ a term he often uses. His first post is followed by several positive comments wishing for a higher death toll. A woman praises the perpetrator and writes, May God avenge you and take you all. Others thank god, and those posts get laughter emojis. ‘Only twelve rotting corpses?’ asks a man, getting the response: ‘Hope it’s 2000 next time.’
And continues:
In another post he puts up a picture of one of those shot, Arsen Ostrovsky, who survived the attack and whose face is covered in blood. He is a lawyer who works against antisemitism and warned as recently as two weeks ago of its alarming rise in Australia following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks.
In additional posts that Samnytt has seen in the comment sections on Swed24 and Alkompis, the following can also be read about the terrorists and the Sydney attack:
“I think what they saw of the genocide in Palestine and Gaza is without consideration and without punishment. That’s what caused them to act. The answer is Netanyahu and his army.”
“The sweetest manhunt. [‘Manhunt’ here is a term referring to an extrajudicial hunt by a crowd, often fueled by rumors, anger, or moral outrage, with people acting as judge and executioner without waiting for due process or verified facts.]”
SEE ALSO: “A Sweden meant to burn”—Muslim hate campaigns in the country’s ethnic online undergrowth
“I do not rule out that the stinking Yahoo [code for Jew, Editor’s note] and Mossad are behind this attack indirectly, to win sympathy after having shown the world, especially the West, their criminal truth.”
“He is a student of jurisprudence and Islamic law, so it is normal to become a terrorist because jurisprudence and legislation encourage him to hate, to hate and jihad against non-Muslims.”
Well-known pattern
This pattern is well-known and extends far beyond the reactions after the Sydney attack. When the artist Lars Vilks died in a car crash with his police bodyguards, there was celebration on Arabic-language news sites, in comment sections, and on social media—both in Swedish and Arabic.
SEE ALSO: Muslims in Sweden celebrate Lars Vilks’s death: “Burned like a rolling pig”
Many thanked Allah for Vilks “being burned.” Others expressed themselves with words like “may he burn in hell and may his family suffer greatly.” Comments such as “God is great, fuck his mother and those police officers who died, time to celebrate” also appeared.
When Hamas carried out its pogrom on October 7, 2023—with the murder, rape, and kidnapping of Jewish civilians in Israel—the support for violence took physical form in Sweden as well. The same evening, people gathered in Swedish cities to celebrate.
SEE ALSO: Palestinians in Sweden praise the terror: “Oh Allah – tear them apart”
Car convoys drove through cities with honking horns and flags. Fireworks were set off while images of killed families and destroyed homes spread across the world.
Again, these were not military targets or combatants being celebrated. What was celebrated was violence directed at Jewish civilians. Despite this, the events were mostly met with silence or cautious wording. Police interventions in the chaos on the streets were few, and public debate quickly shifted to other topics than the massacre itself.
Since then, Palestinian demonstrations have rolled out in virtually all Swedish cities. They have often been recurring and extensive, with slogans, flags belonging to terrorist organizations, placards, and statements directed at Jews as a group. Although many of these expressions against Jews are perceived as threatening or as incitement against an ethnic group, the police have rarely intervened.
SEE ALSO: Dagerlind: SVT’s unclear reporting about Jew-hatred in schools became utterly incomprehensible
In left-governed Stockholm, society’s adaptation has become especially apparent with passive police conduct despite widespread public disorder. On several occasions, public transport has been rerouted to make demonstrations possible. Bus lines have been redirected and areas cordoned off.
For many Jews, the situation is perceived as a clear signal. At the same time, it is pointed out that society’s institutions and the media to some extent adapt to new influences, while Jew-hatred in, for example, demonstrations and Arabic-language news sites goes unchecked without clear consequences.
SEE ALSO: Muslims in Sweden celebrate the terrorist act: “Well done—the world got rid of dirt and waste”
The review of reactions after Sydney shows how quickly antisemitism is activated when Jews are subjected to violence. The hatred does not always appear as direct threats or slogans. It often manifests as rationalizations, conspiracy theories, and language that make the violence seem less unequivocally condemnable.
SEE ALSO: MP-top silent as Lars Vilks’s death mocked—now Hirvonen reports Samnytt to police
The fact that similar expressions also appear in Sweden, far from the geographical center of the conflict, has led to discussions about how such utterances should be understood and dealt with. The reactions after the events in Sydney, as well as after October 7, have by several experts been described as signs of a broader societal development in the Western world. Jew-hatred is often placed into larger political or international contexts, which some actors say can affect how the phenomenon is noticed and addressed.
SEE ALSO: Shocking figures: 4200% increase in mosques in Sweden—in less than 25 years
The reactions in Arabic-language comment sections in Sweden are not only about the terrorist act in Australia or the recent war against Hamas in Gaza. They reveal a deeper pattern behind the praise and relativization, rooted in the propaganda that has been spread for a long time in the migrants’ countries of origin and which they now have brought with them to the Western world.
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