STOCKHOLM: A 32-year-old man, who sparked condemnation from Israel for his plans to burn a Torah in Stockholm, on Saturday said he was not going to go ahead with his protest.
He explained that his intention was in fact to denounce those who burn sacred books such as the Qur'an in the Nordic country.
Swedish police on Friday said they had granted a permit for a protest which was to include a burning of the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog was one of several Israeli representatives and Jewish organizations to immediately condemn the decision.
Ahmad A., the organizer of the demonstration, explained that his aim actually was not to burn the holy books but to criticize the people who have burnt copies of the Qur'an in Sweden in recent months, something that Swedish law does not prohibit.
“This is a response to the people who burn the Qur'an. I want to show that freedom of expression has limits that must be taken into account,” explained the Swedish resident of Syrian origin.
“I want to show that we have to respect each other, we live in the same society. If I burn the Torah, another the Bible, another the Qur'an, there will be war here. What I wanted to show is that it’s not right to do it,” he added.
In January, Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan burned a Qur'an to denounce Sweden’s membership application to NATO and the negotiations with Turkiye to allow Sweden to join the alliance.
On 28 June, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden burnt some pages of a copy of the Qur'an in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque during Eid Al-Adha, a festival celebrated by Muslims around the world.
The two events triggered a series of condemnations in the Muslim world.
Although the Swedish police pointed out that permission to demonstrate was not a formal authorization to burn a sacred book, there is no law prohibiting the burning of holy books.
But the police can refuse to allow a demonstration if it jeopardizes the security or gives rise to acts or words that incite racial hatred.
Sweden Torah burning protester abandons his plan
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Sweden Torah burning protester abandons his plan
- He explained that his intention was in fact to denounce those who burn sacred books such as the Qur'an in the Nordic country
- Swedish police on Friday said they had granted a permit for a protest which was to include a burning of the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm
US kills Iranian leader of Trump assassination plot, Pentagon says
- “Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh,” said Hegseth
- Hegseth did not name the individual but said the operation took place on Tuesday
WASHINGTON: The US military said on Wednesday that it killed an Iranian official who headed a unit behind an alleged assassination plot against President Donald Trump but that the target was not the initial focus of the war.
“The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a news briefing.
“While that was not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination — in fact, never raised by the President or anybody else — I ensured, and others ensured, that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list,” Hegseth told reporters.
Hegseth did not name the individual but said the operation took place on Tuesday. In 2024, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by the IRGC to assassinate Trump, then US president-elect. Tehran has denied accusations that it had targeted Trump and other US officials.
