Swedish law enforcement has authorized a group of three people burning a Bible and a Torah in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
An invalid result in a satisfactory direction. Swedish police have confirmed an event this Friday, July 14, in which three people planned to burn several holy books. A copy of the Bible and a copy of the Torah are scheduled to be burned outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm this Saturday between 1pm and 2pm local time.
This recognition was immediately condemned by Israel.
According to the organizer of the event, this was in response to the burning of a Koran in front of a Stockholm mosque last June. An Iraqi refugee in Sweden burned several pages of the Quran during Eid al-Adha. The incident shocked the Muslim world, and the UN adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Koran burning and other acts of religious hatred.
Swedish authorities defend themselves
Swedish police explained that this was not an authorization to burn religious texts, but a public assembly expressing “an opinion” in relation to the constitutional right to freedom of assembly.
“The distinction is important,” said Karina Skagerlind, spokeswoman for the Stockholm police.
However, Israel and Jewish organizations have strongly condemned the rally. “I condemned the burning of the Quran, holy to Muslims around the world, and I am heartbroken that today the same fate awaits the Jewish Bible, the eternal book of the Jewish people,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
For many Western countries, the right to blaspheme is important, even if they all condemn such actions.
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