"I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of burning more holy books in Sweden, whether it is the Quran, the Torah or any other holy book. It is clear that this is an act of hatred that must be stopped," said Israel's ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, following reports in Sweden that Swedish activists have filed a request to burn a Torah scroll in front of the Israeli embassy in the Swedish capital of Stockholm on July 15.
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In January, an Egyptian writer with Swedish citizenship submitted a request to burn a Torah scroll in front of the Israeli Embassy - as a protest against the burning of a Quran in Sweden – but then the event was canceled, likely due to pressure from Israel and other factors, including the activities of the country's Muslim leadership.
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An activist during a demonstration in which he burned a Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden
(Photo: AFP)
Media in Sweden reported there several new requests to burn holy books were submitted to the police - two in Stockholm and one in Helsingborg in the south of the country. One of the requests is to burn a Quran and two of the requests are looking for permission to burn the Torah scroll in front of the Israeli Embassy. The request to burn the Torah is justified by the fact that it is a "symbolic step for freedom of expression" and a response to the burning of the Quran in Sweden.
Last week, an anti-Muslim Iraqi refugee, a member of the extreme Sweden Democrats (SD) party, received permission from the police and burned a Quran wrapped in pork in front of the Great Mosque in Stockholm. This caused great outrage in the Muslim world and led to fierce protests against the Swedish government, including Turkish opposition to Sweden joining NATO.
Stockholm police confirmed that it had received the three new applications and claimed that it examines each application separately to determine whether it meets the required conditions.
"Our view is that this may not be aimed at any specific religion, but that it is part of freedom of expression and the debate that is currently underway," a police spokesman said. The fear in Israel and in the Jewish community is that due to the fact that the police allowed the burning of a Quran, they will not be able to prevent the burning of a Torah.
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Police have received requests to burn a Torah scroll in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Israel is working through diplomatic channels to prevent the burning of the Torah. What works in Israel's favor in this case is that the Israeli embassy also opposed the burning of the Quran in front of the mosque.
The president of the Conference of Rabbis of Europe, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, called the burning of holy books a "heinous act that recalls dark periods in the bloody history of the European continent. The German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine warned in the past that where holy books are burned, people will also be burned. The Swedish government succeeds once again in hurting the feelings of the religious communities in the country. We will not be complacent about this harm. We are examining all legal and political options to act against these dangerous proposals."
Goldschmidt added: "Freedom of expression is not a supreme value for humanity and it does not give permission for actions that favor citizens to break the law in actions that promote hate crimes and incitement against religious communities in the country. If there is no limit to freedom of expression, then what prevents us from also allowing the possibility of Nazi propaganda and denial of the Holocaust?"
World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said in a statement that, “The burning of religious texts is an unmistakable act of hate and a fundamental attack against all who adhere to any faith. These visible displays of incitement marginalize religious minorities and sow division across society."
First published: 00:15, 07.06.23