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Monday, November 03, 2014 Sweden Saves the Middle East Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog On Thursday, Sweden finally solved all the problems in the Middle East by recognizing the State of Palestine. For decades all the instability in the region had been blamed on the lack of a PLO state. Foreign policy experts stood in line to tell us all that the only thing that could end terrorism in the Middle East was a terrorist state.  It was a plan so crazy that it was bound to either work or kill a lot of people. Mostly...

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden's new left-leaning government on Thursday recognized a Palestinian state — a move that comes during increased tensions between Arabs and Jews over Israel's plans to build about 1,000 housing units in east Jerusalem. The European Union member became the third Western European nation, after Malta and Cyprus, to do so, reflecting growing international impatience with Israel's nearly half-century control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said Sweden, fulfilling a promise it had made when the Social Democratic-led government took office earlier this month, made the move because Palestine...

One day after the Swedish government officially recognized the state of Palestine, members of the Parliament, Riksdagen, disagreed on whether this decision was right or “immature”. The leftist government, which took office only a month ago after winning national elections in September, on Thursday (30 October) became the first European country to recognize the state of Palestine. This prompted Israel to recall its ambassador to Sweden to Jerusalem on the same day. The country also threatened that further cuts to the two countries’ diplomatic relations can be expected. Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sweden “needs to understand that relations...

Sweden has now become stuck with a fictitious and non-existent State of Palestine wallowing in an Ikea la-la-land Sweden Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom’s announcement on 30 October that Sweden has recognized the State of Palestine elicited a response from Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman that will surely go down as one of the most memorable diplomatic quotes of 2014: “It is too bad that the government of Sweden has chosen to adopt the measure that does a lot of damage and has no benefits. Sweden must understand that relations in the Middle East are much more complicated than self-assembly furniture...

Political Correctness: The perils of multiculturalism and open borders have reached critical mass in Sweden. There are Muslim enclaves where postal, fire and other essential services — even police officers themselves —require police protection. A police report released last month identifies 55 of these "no-go zones" in Sweden. These zones are similar to others that have popped up in Europe in recent years. They formed as large Muslim populations emigrating to politically correct and tolerant European states refuse to assimilate and set up virtual states within a state where the authorities fear to tread. Soeren Kern of the Hudson Institute...

The situation in the gang-controlled no-go zones of Sweden is deteriorating rapidly. Cars are torched practically every day in the ghettos, and Sweden holds the unflattering world record for the highest number of school fires. Despite being a small country of less than 10 million citizens, a 2012 study showed an average of one school being burned per day in Sweden.

With well over 100,000 more Muslims arriving every year, Sweden is changing rapidly. There is no chance that the country can integrate so many Islamic refugees and immigrants, and as a consequence, they create their own settlements with their own values.

On Thursday, Sweden finally solved all the problems in the Middle East by recognizing the State of Palestine. For decades all the instability in the region had been blamed on the lack of a PLO state. Foreign policy experts stood in line to tell us all that the only thing that could end terrorism in the Middle East was a terrorist state. .... It was a plan so crazy that it was bound to either work or kill a lot of people. Mostly it’s done the latter. .... Sweden’s new Palestine not only dispensed with elections, routing the business of...

Sweden on Thursday became the biggest Western European country to recognize a Palestinian state, and Israel swiftly reacted by withdrawing its ambassador from Stockholm in protest. Coming during increased tensions between Arabs and Jews over Israel’s plans to build 1,000 housing units in east Jerusalem, the move by Sweden’s new left-leaning government reflects growing international impatience with Israel’s nearly half-century control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and its blockade of the Gaza Strip. …

The announcement by Sweden’s new prime minister that his government plans to extend recognition to a “Palestinian” state raises major questions in both international and United Nations law. Israelis are frequently asked: “Why is Israel opposed to recognizing a Palestinian state? Detach yourselves from the Palestinians like the French detached themselves from Algeria and the two states will live in peace with each other as was originally envisaged under the 1947 Partition Resolution...”

The shape of things to come on planet "progressive."

Sweden's new center-left government will recognize the state of Palestine in a move that will make it the first major European country to take the step, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Friday. U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki called Sweden's decision "premature," citing the need to first resolve final status issues. The UN General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012 but the European Union and most EU countries, have yet to give official recognition. "The conflict between Israel can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international...

Sweden’s new prime minister said Friday that his government will recognize a Palestinian state, a move that drew praise from Palestinian officials. In a declaration listing his government’s priorities, Social Democratic leader Stefan Lofven told lawmakers that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be resolved through a two-state solution requiring “mutual recognition” and a will from both sides to co-exist peacefully. “Therefore Sweden will recognize the state of Palestine,” Lofven said. …

THE narrow victory of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party in Sweden’s elections last Sunday marked a broad shift in its politics. But a new coalition government is unlikely to reconsider one of the country’s most challenging policies: its response to the Syrian civil war. Sweden has taken an open-door approach to people fleeing the conflict, accepting more Syrians than any other European country. Never mind that Sweden has double-digit youth unemployment. That there have been riots in immigrant neighborhoods in Stockholm...Or that the Swedish Migration Board, which handles asylum seekers, needs a drastic budget increase — almost $7 billion —...

Johan and Alejandra are the kind of Swedes the IMF has been warning about - piling up debt to keep up with an ever-rising property market and fund a lifestyle of travel, maids and nights out. The couple plan to buy a flat in Stockholm for 5 to 6 million Swedish crowns ($724,000 to $869,000), initially with an interest-only bank loan, among other spending plans. "I may travel, I may want to invest in a new business," said Alejandra, who runs a cafe in the city centre. Less than a month away from a general election, there are no votes...

A Swedish politician resigned following sharp criticism after he wrote on Facebook that “Jewish pigs” are responsible for mass murders in Gaza, according to the English language Swedish website The Local.Omar Omeirat, Social Democrat candidate for the town council of Filipstad, central Sweden, gave a speech in the town on Friday evening advocating diversity and openness. On Saturday he sang a very different tune. “The entire Muslim world is sitting and watching while our brothers and sisters in Palestine are slaughtered by the Jewish pigs,” Omeritat wrote on his Facebook page, according to The Local. “May Allah strengthen those who...

Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson kept to familiar themes in his summer speech on Saturday, focusing on Islam, immigration and crime. Swedish party leaders traditionally hold summer speeches on their home turf during the holiday season and Saturday was the turn of the Sweden Democrats' Jimmie Åkesson. A crowd of a few hundred people had gathered in Åkesson's home town of Sölvesborg in Sweden's far south to hear the 35-year-old launch the party's push towards the general election in September. Following a sweeping review of the current global conflict zones, Åkesson shifted focus to Islam. "Islamism is the Nazism and...

Tonight the immigrant population in Stockholm’s suburb of Rinkeby was awakened by riots. Around 200 people took part in throwing stones at the police; cars were set on fire and shoots were fired.

Sweden's left-of-centre Prime Minister Stefan Lofven says he will call snap elections after his minority government lost a budget vote less than three months after coming to power. He said a new poll would take place on 22 March. ... The Sweden Democrats became the country's third largest party, with 13% of the vote, and is demanding a reversal in Sweden's liberal immigration laws, which party spokesman Mattias Karlsson has condemned as an "extreme immigration policy". Sweden has offered permanent residence to all Syrians fleeing the conflict and has the highest rate of asylum applications per capita of any EU...