Swedish police approved on Friday a locals request to burn the Hebrew Bible on Saturday in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, two and a half weeks after allowing another activist to burn the Quran in front of a major mosque in the Swedish capital, sparking immense anger toward Sweden in the Muslim world.
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The identity of the individual requesting to burn the Hebrew Bible is unclear, but it seems that he also intends to do so in order to challenge Sweden's commitment to the principle of freedom of expression, a principle that led it to approve the burning of the Quran as well.
Muslim and Jewish leaders are working behind the scenes to dissuade the individual from carrying out the burning, but to no avail.
Rabbi Moshe David HaCohen, who heads an umbrella organization of Jewish groups in Nordic states and the Amanah Muslim Jewish Partnership of Trust, emphasized that this is not an antisemitic event or one specifically targeting Jews.
"It is an attempt to challenge freedom of expression and exploit it for acts of hatred. The individual wants to see if the system is biased and whether it will permit the burning of the Bible just as it allowed the burning of the Quran. In Sweden, freedom of expression is considered a sacred value,” he said.
4 View gallery A Swedish activist desecrates a Quran in front of mosque in Stockholm ( Photo: AFP )
“The Jewish community opposed the burning of the Quran and stands alongside the Muslim community. In recent days, we have been working diligently with Muslim leadership to prevent this from happening, and we hope to succeed."
Israel's Ambassador to Sweden Zvi Nevo Kulman said in a tweet, “I utterly condemn the burning of holy books sacred to any religion, as an act of hate and disrespect, that has nothing to do with freedom of expression.”
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli appealed to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson last week in a letter, requesting that he intervene to prevent the burning of the Bible, which he equated to Nazi book burnings .
4 View gallery Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli ( Photo: Moti Kimchi )
However, the government did not intervene in the matter and Kristersson himself declared before the Quran burning incident that he would leave the decisions regarding such matters to the law enforcement authorities.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billström responded to Chikli, assuring him that the Swedish government strongly rejects all acts of antisemitism and of its commitment to combating antisemitism.
However, he added that freedom of expression is a constitutional right and that decisions regarding such acts are deferred to local law enforcement authorities.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also joined in the condemnation. "Israel strongly condemns the intention to burn a Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy in Sweden. Burning holy books is an act of hatred and intolerance and has nothing to do with freedom of expression. We call on the authorities in Sweden to prevent the burning of holy books," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat tweeted.
4 View gallery Foreign Minister Eli Cohen ( Photo: Reuters/Louiza Vradi )
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen instructed his ministry and Ambassador Kulman to take action to prevent the event.
"Burning a Torah scroll is a hate crime, a provocation and a severe affront to the Jewish people and the Jewish tradition. I call on the authorities in Sweden to prevent this disgraceful event and not allow the burning of a Torah scroll. I have instructed the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, and the Foreign Ministry to take all necessary measures to prevent this shameful event," said Minister Cohen.
Under the guidance of the foreign minister, Aliza Ben-Nun, head of the Diplomatic Corps, spoke with the Swedish ambassador to Israel and emphasized the severity with which Israel views the police approval for an attack on Jewish sacred texts.
President Isaac Herzog tweeted, "I unequivocally condemn the permission granted in Sweden to burn holy books. As the President of the State of Israel, I condemned the burning of the Quran, sacred to Muslims world over, and I am now heartbroken that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible, the eternal book of the Jewish people.
Ahad_Haam on July 14th, 2023 at 14:28 UTC »
Enough is enough, it's time to retaliate by burning IKEA catalogs in front of the Swedish embassy.
Zlimness on July 14th, 2023 at 14:24 UTC »
Credit where credit is due. The only rational take I've seen from the religious side on these matters.
LillaMartin on July 14th, 2023 at 12:40 UTC »
As a swede: good. I don't care if you burn bible, quran or a pippi longstocking book. As long its yours its yours to do what you want with. Burn other peoples belongings isn't okey. Burn your own bought stuff. I couldn't care less.
This whole thing is stupid. Of all headlines and subjects to adress 2023 i never thaught this would be a thing. This world is stupid. Wish i was one of those aliens that looks down on us just making a u-turn with their ship when they see how stupid a majority of the people on this planet is.
Edit: just logged in. Can't reply to everyone. I understand not everyone agree with me. But let me say. Both sides in this are stupid. Here is my stance. But the option of changing laws for this is not an option for me. The guy burning books are stupid, the guys going bananas in Bagdad over this is stupid. Everyone need to take a rain check. I will rather see it's leagal to burn that book, then the option not being legal.