In 2023, instances of Quran-burning occurred in Sweden, which were named collectively by Swedish media as the Korankrisen ("Quran crisis"; "Quran burning crisis" in some English-language media). The most notable of them occurred on 28 June 2023, when a 37-year-old Iraqi Assyrian refugee Salwan Momika ripped out and set fire to pages of the Quran outside the Stockholm Mosque. [1] This incident caused international protests and condemnation, particularly among the Muslim world. On 20 July, Momika planned another Quran burning in Stockholm, which resulted in protestors storming the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and committing arson. [2]
This resulted in several follow-up protests in Denmark, in which the Quran was burned outside the embassies of several Muslim-majority countries. Counterprotests, in the form of violence and boycotts, eventually caused Denmark to reintroduce blasphemy laws criminalizing the "inappropriate treatment" of religious texts.
In January 2023, the Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran outside of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, leading the Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar to suspend talks with Sweden over its NATO membership. [3] Separate pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO demonstrations were also held outside the embassy. [4]
Salwan Momika is a 37-year-old Aramean man who moved to Sweden in 2018 having fled Iraq as a refugee. [1] He identifies as an atheist and has called for a ban on the Quran in Sweden. [5] On 28 June, he appeared behind a line of police officers outside the Stockholm Mosque, holding two Swedish flags while the Du gamla, du fria, the de facto national anthem of Sweden, played over loudspeakers. He tore apart the Quran and set it on fire, while also placing a strip of bacon on it. One protester attempted to throw something at him and was arrested. [6] The event occurred during Eid al-Adha, a major holiday in Islam. [7]
Following the incident, Stockholm police said that they had received further requests for Quran-burning permits, [8] as well as requests to burn the Torah and Bible outside the Israeli embassy, but these were later called off. [9]
Several follow-up protests occurred in Denmark in the following weeks. On 24 July, a Quran was burned outside the Iraqi embassy by Danish far-right activists. [10] [11] On 25 July, protesters burned a Quran outside the Egyptian embassy in Copenhagen, [12] and on the same day, a Quran was burned outside the Turkish embassy. [12] On 31 July a total of seven Quran-burnings were planned in Denmark. [13]
On 3 September 2023, a riot broke out and protesters threw stones at police after Momika had lit a copy of the Quran in the presence of 200 onlookers. [14] [15]
The Swedish Institute noted increasingly negative rhetoric from Muslims towards Sweden and the Swedish government and police, as well as calls for boycotts on social media and from political and religious leaders in the Muslim world. [16] A poll conducted by Swedish pollster Novus in collaboration with an Iraqi polling institute showed that 77% of polled Iraqis viewed Sweden as anti-Islam. [17]
Two protests took place outside the Karachi Press Club on 2 July 2023, condemning the burning. [18] In Islamabad, Pakistan, police officers prevented supporters of the religious group Jamaat-e-Islami from marching towards the Swedish Embassy during a rally. [19]
The Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi called for a genocide against Pakistani Christians to avenge Sweden's quran burning in a statement on 1 July. [20]
On 29 June, protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad after the Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called Sweden "hostile to Islam". [21] The protesters briefly entered the building. [22] On 19 July, after another planned Quran-burning, the embassy was stormed and set aflame by protesters, while Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador, severed diplomatic ties with Sweden and banned Swedish businesses in Iraq. [23] [24] [25] The United States criticised the Iraqi security forces for not preventing protesters from storming the embassy grounds. [26]
In response to the burnings, the Iranian militia Ashab al-Kahf, which is also active in Baghdad, issued threats on Telegram urging followers to target "every Swede" with violence. [27]
On the evening of October 16, 2023, an Islamic State sympathiser killed two Swedish nationals attending a football match at Place Sainctelette in Molenbeek, Brussels, and injured another. [28] [29] Belgian authorities said that a motive for the killing was that the victims were Swedish, [30] and that the crime was potentially carried out as revenge for the Quran burnings in Sweden. [31] The victims were wearing Sweden men's national football team shirts when they were shot. [32] In a video released following the attack, the perpetrator claimed to have been directly targeting Swedes. [33]
On 2 July, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said that international law and other collective measures were needed to prevent future incidents involving the desecration of the Quran. [63]
On 12 July, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a motion "countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence" in response to the Quran-burning incident. [64] [65] As with all of the council's decisions, this is not legally binding. [21]
In February 2023, the Swedish Police Authority refused permission for "an association and a private person" to burn the Quran outside the Turkish and Iraqi embassies in Stockholm. In June 2023, this refusal was overturned by the Court Appeal in Stockholm. A judge found that the police's fear of security problems was not obvious enough to override the constitutional right of those who planned to burn the Quran to hold what they claimed to be a political demonstration. [66] There is no longer a law against blasphemy in Sweden or Denmark. [67]
On 12 July, the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden announced that they would hear a case related to a denial of a protest permit from April. [68] On 6 November, the Supreme Administrative Court announced its final judgement affirming a Court of Appeal decision to overturn the denial of the protest permit. The Supreme Administrative Court noted that restrictions on the constitutionally protected freedoms of assembly and demonstration may only be made by law and for certain specifically stated purposes, and that provisions on the limitation of such rights should be interpreted restrictively. [69]
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service warned that the series of Quran burnings increased the terrorist threat. In response, Denmark's parliament passed a bill banning the "inappropriate treatment" of religious texts, including the Quran, the Bible, or the Torah, on 7 December 2023. [70] The law applies to both public and private settings if the act is recorded and distributed. Offenders could face a fine or up to two years in jail. Critics, including opposition MPs from the Liberal Alliance and others, argued against the bill, expressing concerns about freedom of speech restrictions. However, the Danish justice minister Peter Hummelgaard said that criticizing religion and religious satire would remain legal. [71] Some suggested the government's motive was related to securing a seat on the UN Security Council. Two opposition parties, the Danish People's Party and the New Right, called for a referendum on the matter. [72]
Islamic greeting Allahu Akbar. My name is Abdesalem Al Guilani and I am a fighter for Allah. I am from the Islamic State. We love who loves us and we hate who hates us. We live for our religion and we die for our religion. Alhamdulah. Your brother took revenge in the name of Muslims. I have killed 3 Swedes so far Al hamdoulelah. 3 Swedish, yes. Those to whom I have done something wrong, may they forgive me. And I forgive everyone. Salam Aleykoum.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
In 2023, instances of Quran-burning occurred in Sweden, which were named collectively by Swedish media as the Korankrisen ("Quran crisis"; "Quran burning crisis" in some English-language media). The most notable of them occurred on 28 June 2023, when a 37-year-old Iraqi Assyrian refugee Salwan Momika ripped out and set fire to pages of the Quran outside the Stockholm Mosque. [1] This incident caused international protests and condemnation, particularly among the Muslim world. On 20 July, Momika planned another Quran burning in Stockholm, which resulted in protestors storming the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and committing arson. [2]
This resulted in several follow-up protests in Denmark, in which the Quran was burned outside the embassies of several Muslim-majority countries. Counterprotests, in the form of violence and boycotts, eventually caused Denmark to reintroduce blasphemy laws criminalizing the "inappropriate treatment" of religious texts.
In January 2023, the Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran outside of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, leading the Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar to suspend talks with Sweden over its NATO membership. [3] Separate pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO demonstrations were also held outside the embassy. [4]
Salwan Momika is a 37-year-old Aramean man who moved to Sweden in 2018 having fled Iraq as a refugee. [1] He identifies as an atheist and has called for a ban on the Quran in Sweden. [5] On 28 June, he appeared behind a line of police officers outside the Stockholm Mosque, holding two Swedish flags while the Du gamla, du fria, the de facto national anthem of Sweden, played over loudspeakers. He tore apart the Quran and set it on fire, while also placing a strip of bacon on it. One protester attempted to throw something at him and was arrested. [6] The event occurred during Eid al-Adha, a major holiday in Islam. [7]
Following the incident, Stockholm police said that they had received further requests for Quran-burning permits, [8] as well as requests to burn the Torah and Bible outside the Israeli embassy, but these were later called off. [9]
Several follow-up protests occurred in Denmark in the following weeks. On 24 July, a Quran was burned outside the Iraqi embassy by Danish far-right activists. [10] [11] On 25 July, protesters burned a Quran outside the Egyptian embassy in Copenhagen, [12] and on the same day, a Quran was burned outside the Turkish embassy. [12] On 31 July a total of seven Quran-burnings were planned in Denmark. [13]
On 3 September 2023, a riot broke out and protesters threw stones at police after Momika had lit a copy of the Quran in the presence of 200 onlookers. [14] [15]
The Swedish Institute noted increasingly negative rhetoric from Muslims towards Sweden and the Swedish government and police, as well as calls for boycotts on social media and from political and religious leaders in the Muslim world. [16] A poll conducted by Swedish pollster Novus in collaboration with an Iraqi polling institute showed that 77% of polled Iraqis viewed Sweden as anti-Islam. [17]
Two protests took place outside the Karachi Press Club on 2 July 2023, condemning the burning. [18] In Islamabad, Pakistan, police officers prevented supporters of the religious group Jamaat-e-Islami from marching towards the Swedish Embassy during a rally. [19]
The Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi called for a genocide against Pakistani Christians to avenge Sweden's quran burning in a statement on 1 July. [20]
On 29 June, protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad after the Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called Sweden "hostile to Islam". [21] The protesters briefly entered the building. [22] On 19 July, after another planned Quran-burning, the embassy was stormed and set aflame by protesters, while Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador, severed diplomatic ties with Sweden and banned Swedish businesses in Iraq. [23] [24] [25] The United States criticised the Iraqi security forces for not preventing protesters from storming the embassy grounds. [26]
In response to the burnings, the Iranian militia Ashab al-Kahf, which is also active in Baghdad, issued threats on Telegram urging followers to target "every Swede" with violence. [27]
On the evening of October 16, 2023, an Islamic State sympathiser killed two Swedish nationals attending a football match at Place Sainctelette in Molenbeek, Brussels, and injured another. [28] [29] Belgian authorities said that a motive for the killing was that the victims were Swedish, [30] and that the crime was potentially carried out as revenge for the Quran burnings in Sweden. [31] The victims were wearing Sweden men's national football team shirts when they were shot. [32] In a video released following the attack, the perpetrator claimed to have been directly targeting Swedes. [33]
On 2 July, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said that international law and other collective measures were needed to prevent future incidents involving the desecration of the Quran. [63]
On 12 July, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a motion "countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence" in response to the Quran-burning incident. [64] [65] As with all of the council's decisions, this is not legally binding. [21]
In February 2023, the Swedish Police Authority refused permission for "an association and a private person" to burn the Quran outside the Turkish and Iraqi embassies in Stockholm. In June 2023, this refusal was overturned by the Court Appeal in Stockholm. A judge found that the police's fear of security problems was not obvious enough to override the constitutional right of those who planned to burn the Quran to hold what they claimed to be a political demonstration. [66] There is no longer a law against blasphemy in Sweden or Denmark. [67]
On 12 July, the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden announced that they would hear a case related to a denial of a protest permit from April. [68] On 6 November, the Supreme Administrative Court announced its final judgement affirming a Court of Appeal decision to overturn the denial of the protest permit. The Supreme Administrative Court noted that restrictions on the constitutionally protected freedoms of assembly and demonstration may only be made by law and for certain specifically stated purposes, and that provisions on the limitation of such rights should be interpreted restrictively. [69]
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service warned that the series of Quran burnings increased the terrorist threat. In response, Denmark's parliament passed a bill banning the "inappropriate treatment" of religious texts, including the Quran, the Bible, or the Torah, on 7 December 2023. [70] The law applies to both public and private settings if the act is recorded and distributed. Offenders could face a fine or up to two years in jail. Critics, including opposition MPs from the Liberal Alliance and others, argued against the bill, expressing concerns about freedom of speech restrictions. However, the Danish justice minister Peter Hummelgaard said that criticizing religion and religious satire would remain legal. [71] Some suggested the government's motive was related to securing a seat on the UN Security Council. Two opposition parties, the Danish People's Party and the New Right, called for a referendum on the matter. [72]
Islamic greeting Allahu Akbar. My name is Abdesalem Al Guilani and I am a fighter for Allah. I am from the Islamic State. We love who loves us and we hate who hates us. We live for our religion and we die for our religion. Alhamdulah. Your brother took revenge in the name of Muslims. I have killed 3 Swedes so far Al hamdoulelah. 3 Swedish, yes. Those to whom I have done something wrong, may they forgive me. And I forgive everyone. Salam Aleykoum.
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)