Dan Park
Dan Park is a Swedish artist who has been convicted of inciting hatred.
He has also been involved in anti-Islam organising within the counterjihad movement as part of Pegida Swerige, an off-shoot of the PEGIDA movement that started in Germany.
Contents
Activities
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Race hate convictions
Park was convicted of defamation and inciting hatred against an ethnic group in August 2014 and served time in jail. The case related to nine posters, displayed in the Malmö art gallery Rönnquist & Rönnquist, owned by his associate and Pegida Swerige founder Henrik Rönnquist. The images displayed included black men with nooses around their necks and suggestions that Roma community leaders condoned crime. According to The Guardian, Park has several similar convictions.[1]
The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) observed that such images 'reinforce deeply ingrained negative stereotypes of Black people and perpetuate power structures within European societies, leading to high levels of discrimination' and 'send the message that racist prejudices are socially and legally acceptable.'[2]
Danish Free Press Society
ENAR also noted that after Park was convicted of inciting racial hatred in Sweden, his cause was taken up by the Danish Free Press Society[2], run by key counterjihad activist Lars Hedegaard. The organisation set up a website to sell some of Park's 'art' and sought to have them displayed in an exhibition in Copenhagen.[3]
Pegida Sweden
Park was reportedly an organiser of a poorly attended Pegida Swerige demonstration that took place in Malmö on 9 January 2015.[4]
He also spoke at a Pegida Sweden demo in Malmö on 27 June 2015, where he called Islam "a foreign religion" and claimed - as the video (right) shows that "Islam is a reality-denying and hateful ideology where homophobia, Jew-hatred and contempt for women are the pillars, and which is spread globally through violence by its followers." Park further stated that "Islam has been compared to Nazism and the similarities are striking" and unfurled a banner reading "Islam = fascism". He wore a yellow star pinned to his jacket, presumably in an offensive attempt to equate Islam with Nazism and himself as an opponent (or as he sees it 'victim') of Islam with Jews victimised by the Nazis.
Affiliations
Notes
- ↑ Swedish artist sentenced for 'racist' art, The Guardian, 22 August 2014, accessed 13 February 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Is art becoming the ultimate refuge of racism in Sweden and Denmark?, ENAR, 8 October 2014, accessed 13 February 2015
- ↑ Justin Cremer, Danish group selling 'racist' Swedish art, The Local, 1 October 2014
- ↑ Thousands gather to oppose Pegida demo, Radio Sweden, 9 February 2015
