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
Brazil’s Lula urges Trump to treat all countries equally
NEW DELHI: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Donald Trump on Sunday to treat all countries equally after the US leader imposed a 15 percent tariff on imports following an adverse Supreme Court ruling.
“I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally,” Lula told reporters in New Delhi.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled six to three on Friday that a 1977 law Trump has relied on to slap sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
Lula said he would not like to react to the Supreme Court decisions of another country, but hoped that Brazil’s relations with the United States “will go back to normalcy” soon.
The veteran leftist leader is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Trump.
“I am convinced that Brazil-US relation will go back to normalcy after our conversation,” Lula, 80, said, adding that Brazil only wanted to “live in peace, generate jobs, and improve the lives of our people.”
Lula and Trump, 79, stand on polar opposite sides when it comes to issues such as multilateralism, international trade and the fight against climate change.
However, ties between Brazil and the United States appear to be on the mend after months of animosity between Washington and Brasilia.
As a result, Trump’s administration has exempted key Brazilian exports from 40 percent tariffs that had been imposed on the South American country last year.
‘Affinity’
“The world doesn’t need more turbulence, it needs peace,” said Lula, who arrived in India on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ties between Washington and Brasilia soured in recent months, with Trump angered over the trial and conviction of his ally, the far-right former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump imposed sanctions against several top officials, including a Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.
Lula said that, as the two largest democracies in the Americas, he looked forward to a positive relationship with the United States.
“We are two men of 80 years of age, so we cannot play around with democracy,” he said.
“We have to take this very seriously. We have to shake hands eye-to-eye, person-to-person, and to discuss what is best for the US and Brazil.”
Lula also praised Modi after India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths and signed a raft of other deals on Saturday.
“I have a lot of affinity with Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
Lula will travel to South Korea later on Sunday for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.
