2023-09-20 01:10:47
Desecration of the Koran
At the UN, Muslim leaders attack Europe
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was the first at the United Nations to denounce these “intolerable” attacks in Europe supposedly against Islam.
Updated September 20, 2023, 03:10
Recep Tayyip Erdgoan at the UN podium on September 19, 2023.
Leaders of Muslim countries – Turkey, Iran, Qatar – took advantage of the platform of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to attack European countries, notably Sweden, where ” vile” desecrations and burning of copies of the Koran.
An Iraqi refugee in Sweden, Salwan Momika, sparked a wave of international outrage in June by burning and trampling the Koran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on the first day of Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims across the world.
Iraq requested his extradition from Sweden last week. The latter condemned the desecration of the Koran while emphasizing the prevalence of freedom of expression and assembly on its soil. The government of neighboring Denmark presented a bill at the end of August to ban the burning of Islam’s holy book.
For his part, President Erdogan has been putting pressure on Sweden for months to take measures against these desecrations, in a context of strong tensions between the two countries: Ankara ended in July, after 14 months of blockade, by lifting his veto on Sweden’s accession to NATO. Turkey criticizes Stockholm for supposed leniency towards Kurdish activists who have taken refuge on its soil.
During his speech before the UN General Assembly in New York, the Turkish head of state estimated that “racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia” in European countries that he did not cited, had reached “intolerable” thresholds. Accusing “populist politicians in many countries of continuing to play with fire”, Recep Tayyip Erdogan further judged that “the despicable attacks in Europe against the Koran (…) were darkening the future” of the Old Continent.
In a speech that was also very harsh against the American enemy and the West in general, conservative Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi assured that “the fire of disrespect would not destroy divine truth.”
Kissing the Quran
The leader of the Shiite Islamic Republic held up a copy of the Koran several times which he kissed with his lips before placing it on the desk. “The Islamophobia and cultural apartheid that we can observe in Western countries — ranging from the desecration of holy books of the Koran to the banning of the hijab in schools — and many other regrettable discriminations, do not relate to human dignity,” criticized Ebrahim Raïssi, without mentioning either Sweden or France.
Ebrahim Raïssi is at the UN at a time when Westerners are showing their solidarity with the Iranian people, a year after the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini who provoked massive demonstrations.
For his part, the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose wealthy Gulf state is an ally of the West, affirmed that “the Koran was too sacred to be desecrated by an idiot”.
(AFP)
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