A leader in the Jewish community of Norway has come under fire after she attacked the Chabad Lubavitch movement as right-wing, misogynist and “anti-democratic".

Anne Sanders, the head of the community in Norwegian capital Oslo, said the Chassidic group “represents a more distant side in religion than we are able to accept.”

In an interview with a Norwegian newspaper, she added that the values of the group, which has been present in the city for four years, were “completely different to the average. It's a movement which mixes religion and politics and has an anti-democratic structure.”

Sanders also attacked the “inferior role” of women in the movement and its perceived right-wing policy on Israel, complaining: “We are busy with democracy, with volunteering and with being socially responsible, and this conduct is completely destructive towards the environment.”

Local Chabad Rabbi Shaul Wilhelm said Sanders had put local Jews in danger: “We have been feeling very uncomfortable since the article was published, and so far no one has taken these remarks back. Comparing Jews to radical Islam in a country with some 100,000 Muslims is terrible, especially when there is not a lot of sympathy for Jews and Israel in the media."

Submitted by andie531 on Wed, 2010-03-17 07:13

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