Following the burning of the Quran outside a mosque in the Swedish capital of Stockholm on 28 June, police in Stockholm reportedly received three new applications to burn a Torah scroll and the Bible in front of the Israeli embassy in the country.
The Stockholm police acknowledged on Wednesday, July 5, that they had received a request from a man in his thirties to burn a Jewish and a Christian Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm as “a symbolic gathering for the sake of freedom of speech.” Moreover, another request to burn a Quran “as soon as possible” was made in Stockholm by a woman in her fifties.
Both requests have not yet been rejected outright by the police, who maintained that each application is being considered separately.
Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman expressed his shock at the recent developments and remarked, “I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Quran, the Torah or any other holy book. This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped.”
“We have condemned the burning of all religious books, it is really a disgrace,” responded Aron Verständig, chairman of the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities.
Last week, when a judge overturned a prohibition on Quran burning asserting freedom of speech, police allowed the protest to take place in Stockholm.
However, the instance was denounced as “Islamophobic” by the country’s government. “The Swedish Government fully understands that the Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims. We strongly condemn these acts, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government,” the foreign ministry commented.
The ministry further added that Sweden had a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression, and demonstration”.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has its headquarters in Saudi Arabia, has called for joint action to prevent further incidents of this nature. The 57-member body gathered at its Jeddah headquarter to discuss the event in which Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, stepped on the Islamic holy book, filled part of the pages with bacon, and lit several pages on fire.
Sweden’s Ambassadors have been summoned by countries like Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco in protest over the event.
Salwan Momika received permission from Swedish police in accordance with the country’s free speech laws, but later on, officials declared they had launched an inquiry into “agitation against an ethnic group” after learning that he had burned Quran next to Stockholm’s biggest mosque.
