What to know about the fight over Quran burnings in Europe
With at least three public protests involving the burning of the Quran in Sweden, questions on the freedom of speech and protecting religious minorities are making headlines in Europe.
CBS News reported that two protesters Monday burned pages torn from a Quran, the Muslim holy book, outside the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament, in Stockholm, marking the third demonstration of its kind over the last month. These Quran-burning demonstrations have sparked protests in predominantly Muslim countries, including one instance where demonstrators breached the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad.
Here’s what to know about the fight over Quran burnings:
There have been at least three reported burnings
An Iraqi man living in Sweden burned a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque in June in a demonstration that prompted protests in Baghdad. The same man, Salwan Momika, also stomped on and kicked a Quran outside the Iraqi Embassy earlier this month. Both demonstrations were approved by Swedish police.
CBS News reported that two men, Momika and Salwan Najem, kicked and stomped on a Quran Monday outside the Riksdag before taking pages from Islam’s holy book and lighting them on fire. Najem had also joined Momika during his Quran-burning demonstration in June.
In Demark, an ultranationalist group also burned a copy of the Quran and an Iraqi flag outside the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen, the Danish capital, earlier this month. This demonstration also prompted calls for protests in Iraq, where protesters tried to storm Baghdad’s Green Zone that houses foreign embassies.
Denmark weighs a ban on Quran burnings
Denmark’s foreign minister said Sunday that the government will look into making it illegal to desecrate the Quran and other religious books outside foreign embassies.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in an interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR that burning holy books creates more division in the country. He also said that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is hoping to find “a legal tool” that will protect both the freedom of expression and address the desecrations of holy books.
“That is why we have decided in the government that we will look at how, in very special situations, we can put an end to mockery of other countries, which is in direct conflict with Danish interests and the safety of the Danes,” Rasmussen said.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement Sunday that the government is “analyzing the legal situation” in connection to the burnings of the Quran.
“Over the past day, I have been in close dialogue with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, and the Swedish government has discussed with the Danish government, against the background of the burnings of holy scriptures that are occurring,” he said.
“We are currently in the most serious security situation since the Second World War, and as for Sweden, we are aware that states and state-like actors are actively exploiting the situation,” he added.
The burnings have drawn international attention
The leader of Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah called on Muslims to “punish” those who help organize attacks on the Quran if governments refuse to do so.
Hassan Nasrallah said in a video address that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its members should “send a firm, decisive and unequivocal message to these governments that any repeat of the attacks will be met with a boycott” over the burnings of the Quran. The organization was slated to host an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the latest burnings.
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei similarly said the “insult to the Holy Quran in Sweden is a bitter, conspiratorial, dangerous event. It is the opinion of all Islamic scholars that those who have insulted the Holy Quran deserve the severest punishment.”
Iraq and member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation sent a letter to Sweden on Sunday to condemn the recent burnings of the Quran.
Sweden, along with many other Western countries, does not have a law banning the burning or desecration of religious books, including the Quran.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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