Amidst the ongoing war between the State of Israel and Hamas, activist Salwan Momika expressed his solidarity with the Jewish nation by stepping on the Quran and waving the Israeli flag.
The incident took place in the Swedish capital of Stockholm on Saturday (21st October). Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden, was also seen kissing the Israeli flag and trampling a copy of the Quran with his foot.
A video of the incident has now gone viral on social media.
Idag förklarar jag min solidaritet med det stora #Israel#Stockholm #salwan_momika #سلوان_موميكا pic.twitter.com/3m8577g5Io
— Salwan momika (@salwan_momika1) October 21, 2023
A day earlier on Friday (20th October), Salwan Momika announced, “Tomorrow I will raise the Israeli flag, declare my solidarity with Israel and burn the Quran and the Palestinian flag in Stockholm.”
Imorgon kommer jag att hissa den israeliska flaggan, förklara min solidaritet med Israel och bränna Koranen och den palestinska flaggan i Stockholm.🌺🇮🇱❤️ pic.twitter.com/qWQtg1R8tM
— Salwan momika (@salwan_momika1) October 20, 2023
On June 28 this year, the Swedish Police gave the Iraqi refugee permission to burn the Quran at a demonstration outside the largest mosque in Stockholm. The development came ahead of Eid-al-Adha after a Swedish court struck down the police’s ban on Quran-burning demonstrations.
As a result, the Houthi movement in Yemen banned imports from Sweden. Houthi-run TV channel Al Masirah quoted the trade Minister as saying, “Yemen is the first Islamic country to ban imports of Swedish goods after its violations and desecration of Muslims’ holiest.”
He called upon other Islamic nations to ban imports from the Scandinavian country. The Houthi trade Minister also said that imports from Sweden were limited and that the ban had a symbolic value. He also said that it was the least thing that they could do to protest against the burning of the Quran.
Earlier in January 2023, Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burnt a copy of the Quran next to the Turkish embassy in the country’s capital prompting Turkey to halt discussions with Sweden about its NATO membership.
