Swedish Police confirmed Wednesday they have received three new applications from protesters asking to burn religious texts following the recent burning of a Quran outside a central mosque in Stockholm.
The United Nations Human Rights Council is set to hold an “urgent session” on the situation, according to a UN spokesperson.
Among the requests was one from a protester in his thirties who wants to burn a Torah scroll and a New Testament on July 15 outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in what he claimed would be a “symbolic gathering for the sake of freedom of speech,” police told the SVT news outlet.
The date falls three days before the first day in the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar, the start of the Nine Days of mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem.
I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Koran, the Torah or any other holy book. This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped. https://t.co/slQDZlRUMR
— Ziv Nevo Kulman ?? (@zivnk) July 5, 2023
“I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be in the Quran, the Torah or any other holy book,” Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman wrote in a tweet.
“This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped.”
Anti-Israel Protest Intended to Burn Torah Scroll Canceled in Stockholm
A previous attempt to burn a Torah scroll was headed off by Israel’s foreign ministry and prominent members of the Muslim community in Sweden.
Report: Sweden’s Muslim-Jewish Alliance Helped Prevent Planned Torah Burning Protest in Stockholm
One of the applications was a request by a woman in her 50s to burn a Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm “as soon as possible.”
Police said they are reviewing the applications.
If approved, it would not be the first time — or the second — that a Quran has been desecrated in the Scandinavian nation. Similar demonstrations were held this year.
Morocco Recalls Ambassador after Sweden’s Court Allows Protester to Burn Quran
The most Quran-burning recent was carried out by 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant Salwan Momika last week (June 28), on the first day of the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday.
A previous incident took place earlier this year, in January, when far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned the sacred text outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.
