After Quran, request filed with Swedish police to burn Torah outside Israeli embassy
Self-described free-speech advocates submit 3 requests to burn religious texts in what will likely spark further global uproar after Quran was burned outside a mosque in Stockholm
Three requests to burn religious texts, including a Torah book, have been submitted to police in Sweden by self-described free-speech advocates in what would likely spark further international uproar a week after a Quran was burned outside a mosque in Stockholm in a similar demonstration.
Local police confirmed to Sweden’s national public broadcaster on Wednesday that it had received an application from an individual in his 30s to burn a Jewish and a Christian Bible outside Israel’s Embassy in Stockholm on July 15 as “a symbolic gathering for the sake of freedom of speech.”
Another request to burn a Quran “as soon as possible” in Stockholm was submitted by a woman in her 50s.
Police did not immediately rule out either request, saying every application is reviewed on an individual basis.
Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman expressed his dismay over the request, tweeting: “I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Koran, the Torah or any other holy book. This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped.”
Police allowed the demonstration to take place in Stockholm last week, citing freedom of speech after a court overturned a ban on Quran burning.
Sweden’s government on Sunday condemned the Quran burning, calling it an “Islamophobic” act after a call for collective measures to avoid future Quran burnings was issued by the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
The 57-member body met at its Jeddah headquarters to respond to last Wednesday’s incident, in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book, filled some pages with bacon and set several others alight.
“The burning of the Quran, or any other holy text, is an offensive and disrespectful act and a clear provocation. Expressions of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Sweden or in Europe,” the Swedish foreign ministry said.
At the same time, the ministry added that Sweden has a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration.”
Countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco have summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest at the Quran burning incident.
Swedish police had granted Momika a permit in line with free speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over “agitation against an ethnic group,” noting that Momika had burnt pages from the Islamic holy book very close to Stockholm’s largest mosque.
AFP contributed to this report.
