The Swedish police on Friday announced a controversial decision to allow a protest involving the burning of Jewish religious book the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
This comes after their recent decision to allow the burning of Quran ahead of Eid-ul-Adha sparked outrage among Muslim countries. The latest decision was met with similar indignation from Israeli officials, who called for the protest to be stopped, AP reported.
A man had reportedly filed a request saying he wanted to burn the Torah and the Bible on Saturday after the incident of Quran-burning outside a mosque last month. The request was approved by the Stockholm police who said that three people would participate in the demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy.
Sweden strongly favours the right to hold public demonstrations. However, the police also said that they "do not give permission for different actions", but only for public meetings.
In reaction, Israel President Isaac Herzog said, "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."
Other Israeli leaders, such as Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, also condemned the protest and called for Swedish authorities to intervene.
The Council of Swedish Jewish Communities also criticised the decision to allow the protest, saying that “our tragic European history links the burning of Jewish books with pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions and the Holocaust.”
On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Council had approved a resolution that called for countries to prevent religious hatred, despite objections from the United States and the United Kingdom over fears of curtailing freedom of expression.
A man desecrated the Holy Quran in Stockholm, Sweden's capital late June. Initially, the Swedish authorities had rejected the protestors' demand saying the burning “may have foreign policy consequences,” but the security risks and potential ramifications linked to the protest did not allow for the application to be rejected, Politico reported. However, Sweden's court overruled the police decision noting the protection of freedom of speech in their reasoning.
The action brought strong condemnation from Muslim countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Stockholm that he would not support Sweden's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). if it failed to respect Muslims. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait also denounced the incident.
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