The Swedish Police on Friday gave permission for a gathering where they are expected to burn the Torah and Hebrew Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy’ in Stockholm.
It is expected to take place on Saturday, July 15 between 1 and 2 pm local time. This comes in response to the desecration of a copy of Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque on the occasion of Eid Al Adha.
Stockholm police, in a message to the Associated Press, saying, “They don’t give permission for different actions. We have given permission to hold a public meeting! This is an important distinction.”
“Stockholm has sent a message to Israel through senior officials that it is working to change the local law after burning the holy books, so that this will not be possible in the future,” the broadcaster’s Kan said. However, the channel indicated that this step will take its time and it is not certain that it will prevent the burning of the Torah.
Israel condemns Sweden’s decision
Taking to Twitter on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote, “The State of Israel takes this shameful decision, which harms the Holy of Holies of the Jewish people, very seriously.”
“Burning a Torah scroll is a crime of hate, provocation, and serious harm to the Jewish people and tradition,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen tweeted on Friday.
“I call on the authorities in Sweden to prevent this despicable event and not to allow the burning of a Torah scroll,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog took to Twitter and wrote, “As president of the State of Israel, I condemned what happened in Sweden when the Holy Qur’an, sacred to Muslims around the world, was burned.”
He went on to say, “Now also, my hearts tremble with the intention to burn the sacred book of the Torah, the eternal book of the Jewish people.”
“Permitting the defacement of sacred texts is not an exercise in freedom of expression, it is blatant incitement and an act of pure hate. The whole world must join together in condemning unequivocally this repulsive act,” he added.
On June 28, 37-year-old Salwan Momika of Iraqi origin tore up and burned a copy of the Quran in the presence of the police, in front of a Stockholm mosque.
This action sparked condemnation and protests from across the Arab, with several countries summoned Sweden’s ambassadors.
