The attack in Copenhagen

One of the many canals

This weekend in Denmark, one person was killed at an event celebrating free speech and three police officers were wounded. Danish police believe that the target may have been Lars Vilks, an artist who has received death threats for drawing images of the prophet Muhammad. Just hours later, a Jewish man, Dan Uzan, was shot in the head and two police officers were wounded in a shooting in front of Copenhagen’s Krystalgade synagogue. 

Uzan was part of a security patrol guarding the synagogue while a bat mitzvah took place inside. Danish police shot later shot and killed a man by the Noerrebro train station whom they assume was the perpetrator in both attacks. Two other men were arrested in connection to the attacks and remain in custody.

The Copenhagen attacks are an eerie echo of those that took place last month in Paris that killed 17

Tivoli Garnes

people. Twelve were killed when two gunman opened fire at the satiric French magazine Charlie Hebdo, and four others were shot in a kosher grocery store in eastern Paris by a lone gunman who also killed a policewoman in an earlier incident. 

All three of the perpetrators were influenced by radical Islamist ideology The JCPA condemns these brutal and senseless terror attacks and extends our deepest sympathy to the victims and to their families. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured, and we wish them a swift recovery. We also denounce the precipitous rise in violent anti-Semitic activity in Europe and elsewhere in the world and call on global leaders to take action to avert terrorist attacks on Jewish individuals, communities and institutions.  At the same time, we reiterate our dedication to freedom of speech and expression and our unqualified support for those who risk their lives every day to uphold this inalienable right.  In response to these terrible incidents in Denmark the JCPA has issued a statement condemning the acts:

The Little Mermaid

JCPA condemns attacks in Copenhagen’s Krystalgade Synagogue. Another community falls victim to the recent rise of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) issued the following statement regarding the latest attack on a Jewish community in Europe. Since the start of the new year, two groups have found themselves targeted in Europe: satirists and Jews. First in Paris and now in Copenhagen, two of the foundational values of Western-style democracies have come under attack. The first is the freedom to identify openly and without fear as part of a religious or ethnic minority group; the second is the freedom of expression that permits satirical commentary about such groups. “These attacks are not just attacking these individual communities, but the very foundations of freedom of expression, tolerance and security that we have come to expect in Western

style democracies” said Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.  “There is never justification for attacks on innocent people and we are particularly upset about attacks based on anti-Semitism. The JCPA community stands united with the victims, their families, and all of European Jewry during their hour of need” said Susan W. Turnbull, chair of the JCPA . “We hope that this recent attack will galvanize the world to take the steps needed to stem the tide of such violence and work towards a more tolerant future” Said Turnbull.

JCPA is the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community, serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 16 national and 125 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations.

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IT WAS LITTLE DENMARK WHO GAVE AN EXAMPLE OF DIGNITY TO THE WORLD BY SAVING ITS JEWISH POPULATION BY SENDING THEM TO SWEDEN.  THIS WAS DONE UNDER THE AUSPICES OF KING CHRISTIAN X.

Christian X remained in his capital throughout the occupation of Denmark, being to the Danish people a visible symbol of the national cause after refusing to accept a Nazi-friendly puppet regime. Until the imposition of martial law by Germany in August 1943, Christian's official speeches reflected the government's official policy of cooperation with the occupying forces, but this did not prevent his being seen by the Danish people as a man of "mental resistance." During the first two years of the German occupation, in spite of his age and the precarious situation, he nonetheless took a daily ride on his horse, "Jubilee," through Copenhagen, unaccompanied by a groom, let alone by a guard. He did this in order to demonstrate that he had not abandoned his sovereign rights in the face of the occupation AND ALWAYS WEARING A STAR OF DAVID PATCH IN SOLIDARITY TO HIS DANISH SUBJECTS OF JEWISH ANCESTRY.

King Christian X and Jubilee

King Christian used to ride daily through the streets of Copenhagen unaccompanied while the people stood and waved to him. One apocryphal story relates that one day, a German soldier remarked to a young boy that he found it odd that the king would ride with no bodyguard. The boy reportedly replied, "All of Denmark is his bodyguard." This story was recounted in Nathaniel Benchley's bestselling book Bright Candles as well as in Lois Lowry's book Number the Stars. The contemporary patriotic song "Der rider en Konge" (There Rides a King) centers on the king's rides. In this song, the narrator replies to a foreigner's inquiry about the king's lack of a guard that "he is our freest man" and that the king is not shielded by physical force but that "hearts guard the king of Denmark.

During World War II Christian X became the hero of a number of myths about his defense of the Danish Jews. The story which became best known says that the King showed his support for the Jews by wearing the Star of David when riding in the streets of Copenhagen.  This myth dates back to World War Two, specifically to a political cartoon, in a Swedish newspaper on 10 January 1942 by the prominent anti-Fascist Norwegian artist Ragnvald Blix and spread across the USA by Danish-American propaganda efforts, but gained a second youth in 1952 with its retelling in Leon Uris novel and film Exodus. The myth has been read as a metaphor for the general warm relation that existed between Danes and the Danish Jews, but in the recent biography of the King by the court historian prof, Knud J. V. Jespersen, there is substantial evidence that the King actually suggested the idea of everyone wearing the yellow star should the Danish Jews be forced to wear it.also supported by the king's personal diary, where the following entry can be found:

When you look at the inhumane treatment of Jews, not only in Germany but occupied countries as well, you start worrying that such a demand might also be put on us, but we must clearly refuse such this due to their protection under the Danish constitution. I stated that I could not meet such a demand towards Danish citizens. If such a demand is made, we would best meet it by all wearing the Star of David.

In addition, he helped finance the transport of Danish Jews to unoccupied Sweden, where they would be safe from Nazi persecution, thus saving thousand of Jews who otherwise would have been sent to the death camps.