Tomatoes lobbed at Sweden’s foreign minister during parliamentary debate

Protestors threw a bag of tomatoes and red onions at Sweden’s foreign minister during a debate on Stockholm’s position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Thursday, local media reported.

Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard was returning to her seat after speaking at a parliamentary debate on why Sweden had abstained in the United Nations General Assembly vote on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, when “a ruckus” started in the public gallery, lawmaker Ann-Sofie Alm told the AFP.

A bag containing the vegetables was thrown in Stenergard’s direction, landing two rows behind her, the tabloid Aftonbladet reported.

The minister fled the chamber when she heard the noise, and the debate was temporarily suspended.

“It must be possible to have a parliamentary debate without having things thrown at you. It is fundamental to democratic discourse,” Stenergard wrote in a text message to Aftonbladet, thanking all those who had offered their support in the aftermath.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned the incident: “I am proud that Sweden has a competent and upright foreign minister who represents the government’s line on the conflicts in the Middle East. No one should be allowed to threaten her or throw objects at her.”

“We have helped the security guards to remove people from the scene,” a police spokesperson said, adding that two women aged 45 and a man aged 35 were suspected of disrupting the debate.