2023-07-14 19:37:23
In a decision that sparked Israeli condemnation, the Swedish police allowed a gathering of three people burn a copy From the Bible and a copy of the Torah in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm Saturday.
According to the request sent to the police, the organizer of the movement said that the aim of burning these two copies is to respond to the burning of a copy of the Qur’an in June in front of a Stockholm mosque, which sparked anger among Muslims. The gathering is expected to take place on Saturday between one and two in the followingnoon, local time.
In contact with the French news agency, the Swedish police confirmed that the permission was not granted on the basis of an official request to burn religious books, but rather on the basis of holding a public gathering during which an “opinion” will be expressed in accordance with the constitutional right to freedom of assembly. However, allowing the gathering to take place drew strong condemnations from Israel and Jewish organizations.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “I denounced the burning of the Holy Qur’an for Muslims of the whole world, and today my heart breaks at the idea that the same fate awaits the Torah, the eternal book of the Jewish people.” For his part, the head of the World Zionist Organization Jacob Haguel considered that the issuance of a similar permission does not fall under “freedom of expression, but rather anti-Semitism.”
On June 28, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, Silwan Momica, burned pages from a copy of the Qur’an in front of the largest mosque in Stockholm on the day of Eid al-Adha.
This incident sparked condemnatory reactions in the Islamic world, and summoned Muslim-majority countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, the ambassadors of Sweden in protest.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning acts of religious hatred such as the burning of the Koran, although several countries considered it endangering freedom of expression.
France 24/AFP
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