Controversy erupts as Sweden approves burning of Torah and Bible

Source: i24 News

Swedish police on Friday approved a request to hold a public gathering to burn Judaism's holy book Torah and a Bible in front of the Israeli embassy.

According to Swedish media, the burning will take place on Saturday outside the embassy in Stockholm. Previous reports said that a man in his 30s is behind the request.

He stated that this act is a response to the Quran burning outside Stockholm's mosque in June and "a symbolic gathering for the sake of freedom of expression."

The burning of the Quran sparked fury in the Muslim world and led, among other things, to large protests and the storming of the Swedish embassy in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

Israel's ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman said he was shocked and horrified by further requests for holy book burnings.

"This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped," he wrote on Twitter in early July.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog also issued a statement on Friday condemning the burning of the books.

“I unequivocally condemn the permission granted in Sweden to burn holy books. As the President of the State of Israel, I condemned the burning of the Quran, sacred to Muslims the world over, and I am now heartbroken that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible, the eternal book of the Jewish people," the president said.

“Permitting the defacement of sacred texts is not an exercise in freedom of expression, it is blatant incitement and an act of pure hate. The whole world must join together in clearly condemning this repulsive act.”