Sweden’s major religious groups denounce Quran burning and hate speech

Members of Sweden’s major religious groups have condemned the burning of the Koran, the holy book of Muslims, by Danish far-right leader Stramm Corse Rasmus Paludan under police protection.

They also expressed their support for Muslims, as the incident deeply hurt the feelings of the global Muslim community of nearly two billion people.

The coordinator of the Catholic Committee for Interfaith Dialogue in Sweden, Kaj Engelhardt, said that while he was aware that the Stram Kurs’ actions could be considered legal, there was also a need to discuss whether the law should be changed because many considered it a hate crime. .

“As Catholics, we are totally against such actions,” Englehart said. “In our faith, it is not permissible to offend people of other religions. Seeing this incident gave me a very bad taste.”

The Jewish community has also spoken out against Islamophobia’s action. The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities and the Muslim-Jewish Partnership Fund Amanah issued a statement.

They pointed to the burning of books in Nazi Germany and warned that such acts often signal the beginning of the normalization of hatred towards a group.

“Historically against Jews, and now against Muslims,” ​​the statement said, adding that racists and extremists may “abuse democracy and freedom of expression once again to normalize hatred against one of Sweden’s religious minorities by burning the Koran.”

The statement also expressed common concern about the increasing attacks on Jews and Muslims in Sweden and affirmed that “in a democratic society, everyone has the right to feel safe and valued”.

The head of the Swedish Islamic Federation, Tahir Akan, said that Muslims had not been able to make their voices heard and that their concerns had been overlooked. He called on the community to unite and strengthen its battle against anti-Muslim prejudice academically and legally.

Commenting on a UN report that said there is systemic racism in Sweden, Akan said: “The group that suffers most from this general trend is the Muslim community. Especially in matters of employment and other daily matters, Muslims unfortunately suffer from racism.”

“Unfortunately, we see that our politicians are far from aware of this problem. What we can do is educate and train our youth to make a difference for all of humanity,” he added.