Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, strongly condemned the Swedish authorities for allowing the public burning of a copy of the Jewish holy book, Torah, while the Ashkenazim chief Rabbi also wrote to the Swedish PM, urging him to cancel the planned desecration on Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, the Swedish police granted permission for a public gathering on Saturday to burn Judaism’s holy book, Torah, and a Bible in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
According to the Israeli news website, i24, Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, strongly condemned the Swedish authorities for allowing the burning of holy books.
I unequivocally condemn the permission granted in Sweden to burn holy books.
As President of the State of Israel, I condemned the burning of the Quran, which is sacred to Muslims all over the world, and I am now heartbroken that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible, the eternal book of the Jewish people.
Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, said he is shocked and horrified by more permission for public burning of holy books, condemning the burning of holy books sacred to any religion as an act of hate and disrespect that has nothing to do with freedom of expression.
Freedom of expression does not mean permitting everything. Any desecration of sacred Jewish items is not freedom, but anti-Semitic.
His provocative act was timed to coincide with Eid Al-Adha, one of the major Islamic religious festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide.
It elicited widespread condemnations from across the Islamic world, including Turkiye, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Senegal, Morocco and Mauritania.
The Swedish government is examining whether it could change the law to stop people setting the Quran on fire in public, as recent burning of the Muslim Holy Book have damaged Sweden’s security, Justice Minister, Gunnar Strommer, told Aftonbladet paper on Thursday.
An Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned the Quran outside a Stockholm mosque last week, causing outrage in the Muslim world and condemnation from the Pope. The Swedish Security services said such action left the country less safe.
Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point News 2023.
Burning the Quran is okay, but setting the Torah on fire is a crime?
Nice frontpage image, looks just like Satan?