Widespread Condemnation of Sweden's Allowing a Far-Right Politician to Burn the Qur'an in Front of the Turkish Embassy | Hashtag

On January 21, 2023, the leader of the Danish far-right Hard Line party (Stram Kurs party), Rasmus Paludan, burned a copy of the Qur’an near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, under strict protection from the Swedish police, which prevented anyone from approaching him while he was committing the provocative act.

The extremist Paludan spoke for an hour before burning the Qur’an, insulting the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, Mrs. Aisha and all Muslims, and attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The incident sparked a widespread international reaction under several hashtags, most notably #Stop_Sweden and #BoycottSweden, in protest against the Swedish authorities allowing Paludan to demonstrate and burn the Holy Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy building in the capital, Stockholm.

Several Islamic countries and organizations condemned this provocation, which fuels hatred and violence and threatens peaceful coexistence under the cover of freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, the Swedish government sought to distance itself from the act. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom described the anti-Islam provocations as appalling.

According to reports, the permit Paludan obtained from the Swedish police says that his protest was against Islam and, what he called, Erdogan’s attempt to influence freedom of expression in Sweden.

Paludan, who holds dual Swedish and Danish nationalities, had previously organized a number of demonstrations and burned several copies of the Qur’an.

In April 2022, Paludan’s announcement that the Holy Qur’an would be burned during the holy month of Ramadan sparked riots across Sweden.

It is noteworthy that Muslims consider the Qur’an to be the holy word of God and consider any intentional harm or disrespect toward it to be very offensive to them.

 

Widespread Condemnation

The incident of burning the Holy Qur’an in Sweden witnessed widespread condemnation, as several Arab and Islamic countries, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kuwait, and Jordan, issued their strong condemnation.

Turkiye was the first to condemn the incident, and in its first reaction, Ankara canceled a visit by Swedish Defense Minister Pal Johnson, which was scheduled for January 27.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Swedish Defense Minister’s visit to Turkiye has become meaningless after Sweden’s permission to burn the Qur’an in Stockholm.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned burning a copy of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden, pointing out that this despicable act is a new indication of the disturbing level that Europe has reached in anti-Islam and racism.

It said in a statement: “We do not accept that this provocative act targeting Muslims be included under the guise of freedom of expression, because this is a hate crime.”

“This despicable act is a new indication of the alarming level of anti-Islamism and currents of racism and discrimination in Europe,” the Ministry pointed out.

It called on the Swedish authorities to take the necessary measures against the perpetrators of this hate crime, calling on all countries and international organizations to take concrete measures against Islamophobia.

In another statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the kingdom’s strong condemnation and denunciation of the Swedish authorities’ allowing an extremist to burn a copy of the Holy Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

The Ministry called on the international community to show common resolve against Islamophobia, xenophobia, intolerance, and incitement to violence based on religion or belief.

 

Freedom of Expression!

To ease the tension and the widespread criticism that affected his country and avoid a boycott campaign, as happened previously against France, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was forced to also condemn what the far-right politician Rasmus Paludan had done in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Kristersson wrote on Twitter: “Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act. I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today.”

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate,” he added.

In turn, Dr. Waqas Ahmad said: “Mr. Prime Minister, freedom of expression becomes a religious fire if it is hurting the sentiments of billions all over the globe.”

Another tweeter mentioned that what happened in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was not personal freedom, but rather a religious war.

Naveed Yousafzai also sent a letter to the Swedish Prime Minister, in which he said: “All the holy books are respectable and should be protected from such shameful acts, asking him to arrest the racist Paludan.”

Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a tweet: “Islamophobic provocations are appalling. Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed.”

In turn, researcher Nurettin Akcay responded to what Billstrom said, pointing out that “the Swedish government’s inability to do anything to stop such provocations is just another form of support for such actions.”

Akcay also published, in another tweet, two photos of what the Swedish police are doing, the first was when the Swedish police dispersed demonstrators on the pretext that they were anti-Semitic, and the second was content with watching a right-wing extremist burn the Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Halil Ibrahim San, Director of Cultural and Social Affairs of the Turkish Municipality of Bagcilar, also responded to Billstrom’s tweet by saying: “This action is not freedom of expression. Being a state requires responsibility. As a Muslim, I condemn your spectatorship to this event.”

 

Racism and Hypocrisy

Social media activists and users reacted widely to this provocative incident, as some confirmed that the burning of the Qur’an is due to racism and the continuous hatred that the West has for Islam and Muslims.

On her part, Sarah denounced freedom of expression in Europe, especially with regard to cases related to Islam, noting that burning the Qur’an for the West is freedom of expression, while if the flag of homosexuality had been burned, it would have been said to be a hate crime.

In the same context, another tweeter referred to the discrimination and racism practiced by Europe, adding that burning the Israeli flag is anti-Semitism, and burning the gay flag is homophobia, while burning the Qur’an is freedom of expression.

Dailyblue noted that the burning of the Holy Qur’an in Stockholm is a terrorist event, calling on all Muslims in the world to respond to that.

In turn, the journalist and researcher Robert Carter pointed out that Sweden practices shameful hypocrisy because, in its depths, it supports what those racists did, adding that “if Sweden were genuine free speech defenders they would approve public Islamic call to prayer at every mosque, permit more Islamic schools.”

Another tweeter indicated that there is no religion and religious group that is demonized by Western media more than Muslims and Islam, adding that Islam is spreading against all odds and cannot be stopped by burning the Holy Qur’an.

On her part, Dr. Nurhan Toguc denounced in a tweet the hatred, extremism, and exclusion of Islam in Sweden, and strongly condemned Islamophobia and the burning of the Qur’an in what it called Democratic Sweden.

 

Turkish-Swedish Tensions

The burning of the Qur’an in Stockholm has taken center stage at a time of heightened tensions between Ankara and Stockholm, particularly over the former’s opposition to the latter’s attempt to join NATO, as the northern country needs Turkiye’s support to join the military alliance.

Last year Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but all 30 member states have to agree to their offers.

On its part, Turkiye called on Sweden to take a clearer position on what it considers terrorists, most of whom are Kurdish militants and the Gulen group, which Ankara blames for the 2016 coup attempt.

A Turkish officer named Emre Bayram Ozbayrak tweeted on his Twitter account, saying: “Many Turks and I knew that Sweden would not keep its promises in exchange for joining NATO! We as Turkiye should not allow Sweden to join NATO.”

In another tweet, Mucahit Yilmaz described Sweden as a racist country and supporter of terrorism, calling on Turkiye not to agree to its accession to NATO.

With the widespread condemnation witnessed on social media, tweeters demanded the need to respond to the Swedish act in an effective manner by expelling its ambassadors from all Islamic countries and boycotting Swedish companies and its products.

On her part, Nadia said that what is happening in Sweden is condemnable. Muslim countries around the world must come forward and boycott Sweden for this offensive act.

Another tweeter called for a boycott of Swedish companies and their products, such as Ikea, H&M, Scania, Volvo, Spotify, and Ericsson.