Sweden’s Malmo allocates $2 million to protect its Jewish community

JTA — The Swedish city of Malmo will allocate some $2 million to initiatives to protect its Jewish community from anti-Semitism.

Malmo, a city where one third of the population hails from Muslim countries, is home to several hundred Jews and has dozens of anti-Semitic incidents annually.

Among the initiatives proposed by the city’s officials are educational programs in schools to uproot racism against Jews, promotion of Jewish culture, and a study to gauge the public’s perception of Jews, Ynet reported.

The government is planning to hold an international conference on fighting anti-Semitism in Malmo and plans to open a Holocaust museum in the Swedish city.

Police cordon off an area after four people were shot and injured on an open street in central Malmo, in southern Sweden, on June 18, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / TT News Agency / Johan NILSSON)

The population of the Swedish city has dropped over the past 10 years from 3,000 to 1,500, according to the report.

In June, two philanthropists – one Jewish and one not – donated more than $4 million to security for Jews in Malmo.