Muslim Swedish Man Abandons Plan To Burn Holy Books, Advocates for Religious Respect

Originally planning to burn the Torah and the Bible, a Muslim man from western Sweden reversed his intentions, advocating instead for respect among religions in a peaceful demonstration at the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm

[Tel Aviv] A man who initially threatened to burn a Torah and a Christian Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm reversed his plan and held a peaceful, solo demonstration advocating for respect among religions on Saturday. The protestor, Ahmad Alloush, 32, a Muslim man from western Sweden, was granted a permit for the protest by Stockholm police. He reportedly threw a lighter to the ground, signifying his changed intentions.

Originally, Alloush planned to burn the Jewish and Christian holy books as a response to the burning of the Quran by Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi Christian immigrant, outside a Stockholm mosque last month. This event, which took place during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, attracted substantial international condemnation.

Upon hearing about the planned protest, Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, and Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, along with the World Jewish Congress, urged the Swedish government to prevent the proposed book burning.

Sweden, which abolished blasphemy laws in the 1970s, upholds strong constitutional protections for public demonstrations. However, recent incidents of Quran burnings have strained the country’s international relationships and sparked calls for increased prevention of religious hatred.

About 1,000 Muslims from across Israel and the Palestinian territories demonstrated outside the Swedish Embassy in Tel Aviv two weeks ago to express their outrage after Momika burned a copy of the Quran in Stockholm.

Protestors chanted in Arabic, “Those who burn the Quran are our enemies,” and called for those who do so to face consequences for their actions.

The Swedish police allowed Momika to carry out the inflammatory act which led to demonstrations at Swedish embassies around the world, including a large-scale one in Momika’s native Iraq.

Several countries summoned Swedish ambassadors and Turkey said it would block Sweden’s entry into NATO. In January, another burning of the Quran took place in front of the Turkish Embassy in Sweden.

During his highly broadcast tirade, Momika didn’t simply burn the Quran but also stomped on it and smeared it with bacon. Pork products are considered taboo for Muslims to eat.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry condemned the act.

“The Swedish government fully understands that the Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims,” the ministry said in a statement. “We strongly condemn these acts, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government.”

The incident sparked the requests to burn Torahs and Bibles as well. One request was to burn another Quran “as soon as possible”; another was for the planned burning of a Torah and Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy on July 15. A third request is to burn “religious texts.”

Ziv Nevo Kulman, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, said this was “unacceptable.”

“I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Quran, the Torah, or any other holy book. This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped,” he said on Twitter.

I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Quran, the Torah, or any other holy book. This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped.

Momika, who declared the Quran a dangerous book, has vowed to burn another one within 10 days. One protestor at the Tel Aviv demonstration told The Media Line he had no doubt Momika would receive permission again despite the international backlash.

“I don’t reckon they will stop him. I think their racism is enough in Sweden,” said the protestor who asked that his name not be used.

Though little is known about Momika, some reports claim that he is an atheist who was born Muslim. In the past several weeks, he posted videos on social media announcing his protest and even ripped pages from a Quran. He was quoted as saying that burning the Quran is his way of saying, “Wake up Sweden. This is democracy and it will be in danger if they say we can’t do it.”

“We are not fighting against Muslims, but against their thoughts. We are not against Muslims, we are on their side,” he said.

Swedish police said Momika was granted permission to go ahead with the burning under “freedom of speech,” but that they may charge him with “agitation against an ethnic group” and other hate-crime charges.

Khaled Zabarka, a lawyer from Lod, said burning a holy book is not protected by freedom of expression.

“We believe in (freedom of expression) and want to preserve and protect that right,” he told The Media Line after the demonstration on Monday. “But every person’s rights end with the boundaries of other people. It can’t be allowed for him to violate our rights and religious sensitivities.”

The problem is the authorities in Sweden who gave permission for him to do this despicable act, which enraged Muslims around the world. The Swedish authorities are lying to themselves and their people. … If Sweden wants to be a country that protects human rights, it must protect the rights of all people and all religions. There are at least 600,000 Muslims in Sweden whose rights also need to be protected. We were all hurt and horrified by this despicable act.

Zabarka echoed some of the speakers at the rally who said the problem doesn’t rest solely with the person who committed the act.

“The problem is the authorities in Sweden who gave permission for him to do this despicable act, which enraged Muslims around the world,” he said. “The Swedish authorities are lying to themselves and their people. … If Sweden wants to be a country that protects human rights, it must protect the rights of all people and all religions. There are at least 600,000 Muslims in Sweden whose rights also need to be protected. We were all hurt and horrified by this despicable act.”

Some figures estimate as many as 800,000 Muslims live in Sweden now and that by 2050 the nation will have the highest share of Muslims among Western European countries at 12.4% of its population.

John Enarson, a Christian Swedish theology student living in Israel, said the hard right has been highly critical of his country’s mass-migration policies and told The Media Line that the political faction is trying to prove through Quran burnings that “the authorities have lost control over society.”

“Swedish politicians may claim that we still live in a free, liberal democracy. But in reality, this is a charade maintained by appeasing Islamist extremism who, in fact, have taken society hostage,” he said of the hard-right position.

Enarson said it is important to understand that both the political left and right are using the Quran burnings to make a statement.

“The Swedish hard right is trying to force the political and mainstream media to acknowledge that, through encouraging mass-Muslim migration, the authorities have lost control over society,” he continued. “The Swedish left, in turn, is accusing the hard right, not only of ‘hate crimes,’ but of doing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s bidding by blocking Swedish membership in NATO, since (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan has veto power over our membership.”

Enarson said, nevertheless, Christians in Sweden should oppose Quran burnings.

“The demonstrators burning the Quran are no friends of biblical, Judeo-Christian values that have historically benefitted the West,” he said, while also noting what he calls a “glaring hypocrisy that Western society considers a Bible floating in urine to be ‘art,’ while burning the Quran is considered a near threat of genocide.”

In Tel Aviv, the protesters held signs in English and Arabic, some of which said, “Why this hatred of Islam?” and “Burning Quran is a crime!”

Maisan, from Nazareth, told The Media Line that she came out to demand equal and mutual respect for all religions.

“Muslims didn’t do this with other religions. Why is it when the issue is Islam is it different?” she said.

In smaller demonstrations this week, Palestinians in Jerusalem rallied outside the Swedish Consulate General and, on a different day, a photo was posted to social media of a young man seated and reading the Quran outside the building.

Zabarka called on the Swedish government to apologize to Muslims worldwide and for citizens there to protest their government’s decision and said Muslims in Sweden have the right to feel safe.

“This is a crime against Islam, against the Quran, against Muslims in Sweden, and against Muslims all over the world,” he said.