A few dozen Iraqi demonstrators managed to briefly enter the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday (June 29th) in protest after a man – an Iraqi who had fled his country for Sweden – burned pages from a copy of the Koran in front of a Stockholm mosque during a rally authorized by the Swedish authorities, on the first day of the great Muslim holiday of Aïd-el-Kébir.
The protesters, supporters of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, stayed for about a quarter of an hour in the Swedish diplomatic representation and came out calmly when the police arrived. A key figure in politics in Iraq, the influential Shiite religious leader had called for a demonstration in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad to demand the “dismissal of the ambassador” and withdraw Iraqi nationality “criminally” who burned the Koran in Stockholm.
In the aftermath of the book burning, many Muslim countries on Thursday denounced a “incitement to hatred” and an ” provocation “. This type of incident, which has already taken place in Sweden or in other European countries, sometimes at the initiative of far-right movements, has in the past led to demonstrations and diplomatic tensions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed Sweden, further clouding the Nordic country’s chances of joining NATO. “We will teach arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not free speech”Erdogan said in a televised intervention, adding that he condemns this incident “in the strongest terms”. Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that, “To turn a blind eye to such atrocious acts is to be complicit”.
The Iraqi government has condemned “racist acts inciting violence and hatred” that occur “repeatedly” in countries “who pride themselves on embracing diversity and respecting the beliefs of others”while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced “the permission given by the Swedish authorities to an extremist to burn a copy of the Holy Quran”.
An “unacceptable” act
Saudi Arabia, home to the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, has denounced “hateful and repeated acts (…) inciting hatred, exclusion and racism, and contradicting efforts to spread the values of tolerance”. In Kabul, Afghanistan, the Taliban government denounced a “complete disregard” towards Islam.
Kuwait called for perpetrators of such “hostile acts” be judged and “prevented from using the principle of the freedoms (…) to justify hostility against Islam”. “The Government and People of the Islamic Republic of Iran (…) do not tolerate such an insult”for his part declared in Tehran the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanani, denouncing an act “unacceptable”.
Morocco recalled its ambassador to Sweden, condemning an act “irresponsible” And “repeated provocations, committed under the complacent gaze of the Swedish government”. Egypt, the most populous of the Arab countries, blasted a “shameful gesture and a provocation for the feelings of Muslims” at the very moment of Aïd-el-Kébir, the great festival of sacrifice celebrated by Muslims throughout the world. In Syria, the government has “condemned in the strongest terms the shameful act” clerk “by an extremist with permission (…) of the Swedish government. »
“Spreading a culture of hate”
In Beirut, Lebanon, the powerful Hezbollah movement also accused the Swedish authorities of being “accomplices in the crime”calling on Stockholm to put an end to such acts “rather than hiding behind freedom of expression”. He called on Muslim and Arab countries to take “all necessary measures” to compel Sweden and other countries to prevent the recurrence of such incidents and to stop “the spread of a culture of hate”.
The World App
The Morning of the World
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
In the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, first adviser to the president, estimated on social networks that “The Western world must understand that its value system and its justifications cannot be imposed on the world”. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced a “flagrant violation of (…) values of tolerance, acceptance of others”.
Organizations in the region also reacted, such as the Arab League which condemned a “aggression at the heart of our Muslim faith”. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held the “Swedish authorities responsible for all reactions resulting from these acts”while the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned them “firmly”.
A demonstration in January, during which a copy of the Koran was burned in Stockholm in front of the Turkish embassy, sparked anger across the Muslim world and demonstrations and calls for a boycott of Swedish products.