Burning of the Koran | Muslim countries condemn the burning of the Koran in Sweden and Denmark

2023-07-31 18:46:30

The crisis of muslim countries with some Scandinavian States it has reached levels of high tension. In recent weeks, the former, led by Iraq, have decided to cut or reduce diplomatic relations with Sweden mainly for allowing actions in its territory in which the holy book of the Koran has been burned. But the tension is spreading to other countries, with protests in front of these embassies and violent episodes. This Monday the member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have held an emergency virtual meeting at the level of foreign ministers to address the desecration of the Muslim holy book.

Sweden and Denmark seek how to ban the burning of the Koran, protected by their constitutions

During their celebration, they have declared that “the provocative acts carried out by far-right activists are criminal acts perpetrated with the primary intent to attack Muslims and to insult their religion and their sacred values ​​and symbols.” At the request of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the representatives of the 56 Member States wanted to address the repeated incidents of desecration and burning of copies of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden and Denmark. In late June, the Iraqi refugee, Salwan Monika, 37, burned an edition of the book outside Sweden’s largest mosque on the first day of the Eid holiday. Christian and linked to Swedish ultranationalist groupsreceived the approval of the authorities of the host country to do so under the protection of freedom of expression.

The population in the country of origin of this refugee, who had been denied Swedish citizenship a few months ago, did not take long to react. In recent weeks, the protests in front of the Swedish embassy they have been repeated with songs in favor of Islam. During another action 10 days later, Monika stomped on and tore up another copy of the Koran, without burning it. The response was widespread in several countries with large Muslim populations. In Baghdad, barely two weeks ago, hundreds of people, summoned by the influential Iraqi religious leader Sadr in Moqtathey protested and provoked the embassy fire of the Scandinavian country in the Iraqi capital.

economic boycott

Also in Denmark, various ultra-nationalist and far-right groups have imitated Monika’s actions in front of the Egyptian, Pakistani and Iraqi embassies, sparking a regional diplomatic crisis. Several Arab countries have insisted on the need for immediate measures to stop such extremist acts which they consider to be provoking Muslims all over the world. The protests spread, although with less virulence, in front of the Swedish and Danish embassies of countries such as Iran, Lebanon or Pakistan. Some of them withdrew their Scandinavian diplomatic representatives. Iraq has expelled the Swedish ambassador from her territory.

The Parliament of Kuwaitfor its part, has ordered the Ministry of Commerce to prohibit the sale of products made by countries involved in the burning of the Qur’an. In turn, the Yemeni Houthi movement implemented a ban on Swedish imports at the beginning of the month. The group’s Department of Trademarks and Trade Agencies drew up a list of 30 Swedish agencies and 100 brands to boycott. Amid mounting tension, last week, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, co-sponsored by Pakistan, to counter hate speech and condemn attacks on places of worship, religious symbols and holy books.