Sweden’s hypocrisy exposed as protest outside Israel’s embassy averted
The planned protest, with the intention of burning a Torah scroll outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, has been called off after the intervention of senior Israeli and Swedish officials.
It took a flurry of activity from Swedish officials, Israel’s foreign ministry and its embassy to stop protesters who wanted to burn a Torah scroll in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm.
A group of extremists requested permission from the police to stage a protest outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, where they intended to burn a Torah scroll, Yeni Safakan online news portal based in Türkiye, reported.
But the moment the news broke, Israeli diplomats rushed to reach out to their counterparts in Sweden, asking them to call off the protest, calling it “an act of hate.”
READ MORE: Türkiye strongly condemns the “heinous attack” against the Koran in Sweden
Obvious hypocrisy
In clear contrast and in an act that reflected Sweden’s flagrant hypocrisy, a far-right racist leader Rasmus Paludan was allowed to burn a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21.
Türkiye had strongly condemned the act, calling it “unfortunate”, which took place under the protection of Swedish police.
“We condemn in the strongest possible way the heinous attack on our holy book, the Koran, in Sweden today, despite our repeated warnings before,” said a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
“Allowing this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of ‘freedom of speech’ is completely unacceptable. This is a pure hate crime.”
While Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called “burning books that are sacred to many a deeply disrespectful act”, he defended “freedom of expression” as “a fundamental part of democracy”.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are sacred to many is a deeply disrespectful act. I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) 21 January 2023
“Racist hate crime”
Freedom of speech, although it hurt the feelings of billions of Muslims worldwide, was protected as long as it concerned the burning of the Koran. Despite attempts by Turkish leaders to get in touch with their Swedish counterparts, Paludan’s planned hateful protest continued and no efforts were made to stop the “racist hate crime”.
Requests by Israeli officials for a similar act received a different reception from authorities in Sweden, exposing their hypocrisy.
“We have been very busy in recent days trying to prevent this hateful incident, and we are working with the highest ranks of the Foreign Ministry and the local police. We will continue to work to prevent such a shameful incident,” said Ziv Nevo Kulman, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, in a tweet.
READ MORE: “Over 1.5 billion Muslims injured” – Reaction to Koran desecration in Sweden
And so the planned protest, which intended to burn a Torah scroll outside the Israeli embassy, was canceled after organizers were convinced to withdraw their request for permission.
The Torah is the holy scripture of Judaism, written with a special ink on a special parchment by a Jewish scribe.
“The person who organized the demonstration withdrew his permit application from the police,” said Lior Havat, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. JewishPress.com.
A statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it, along with its embassy staff in Stockholm, contacted “the top of the Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Stockholm Police, as well as the Swedish Embassy in Israel” to get the protest to stop.
“As a result of our actions, the incident is at this stage frozen,” the statement added.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies