Anti-semitism has become so bad in Malmo, the Swedish city where the hit television drama The Bridge is set, that it contributed to actor Kim Bodnia’s decision to quit the show.
Bodnia, who plays Danish detective Martin Rohde, left fans of the Danish-Swedish drama devastated when he dropped out of the third series, leaving Saga Norén, his character’s eccentric, neurodivergent Swedish counterpart, to find a new Danish sidekick.
The easy-going, charismatic Rohde had been hugely popular with fans of the gritty Nordic Noir drama.
At the time Bodnia, who is Jewish, put the decision down to a difference of opinion with scriptwriters, but in an interview with Israel’s Walla! website last week, he cited worsening anti-Jewish sentiment across the Oresund Bridge in Sweden.
“It’s growing, and especially in Malmo, where we shot The Bridge in Sweden, it’s not very nice and comfortable to be there as a Jewish person,” he told the Walla! portal.
“When they didn’t have the script right I could say, ‘no, I don’t feel so safe there’. It’s not funny. It’s growing. We have to deal with it every day and we have to fight against it.”
Jewish people in Malmo have long complained of growing harassment in the city, where 43 per cent of the population have a non-Swedish background, with Iraqis, Lebanese and stateless Palestinians some of the largest groups.
The Jewish community centre in the city is heavily fortified, with security doors and bollards on the outside pavement to prevent car bombs.
Read more at Daily Telegraph
