Alwaght- The concept of freedom of speech has abusively become an excuse for the extremist groups in Europe to desecrate Islamic sanctities without the fear of being prosecuted. After the recent desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden under the cover of the freedom of expression, another rightist group this time in Denmark burned a copy of the Holy Quran in the front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. The members of a hardline group that call themselves “Denmark patriots” on Friday carried anti-Islamic banners and chanted anti-Islamic slogans.
In justification of its move, the group in question said its desecration of the holy Muslim book comes in response to the storming of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad by protesters. Reports indicate that this extremist group had insulted the Holy Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Copenhagen in late January.
Quran burning in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark is not the first of its kind, and in the last two decades, desecration of Islamic holy places by extremist groups throughout Europe were common. These deplorable conducts have shown themselves in Scandinavian countries in the form of Quran burning, in France by killing the immigrants, or in Germany by attacking mosques. The repetition of such events in Scandinavian countries demonstrates that Islamophobia has spread in the West, and Western governments not only do not take any action to counter these provocative and heinous actions, but also pave the way for the desecration of Islamic sanctities by giving the hardliners anti-Islamic leeway under the name of freedom of expression.
World reactions
The repetition of the sacrilege to the Islamic sanctities has stirred backlash among the Muslims across the world. Iran's Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said that allowing insults to the religious sanctities and the holy Quran “is unacceptable under any justification.” Categorizing these actions under the freedom of expression encourages terrorism and extremism and will bear consequences for the West, he further said.
Iran's foreign ministry summoned the Swedish ambassador and expressed the concern of the Islamic Republic about the desecration of Islamic holy places to the Swedish ambassador.
The Iranian FM further held that according to the president's order, the new ambassador of Sweden will not be allowed in Iran until Stockholm takes serious measures to stop continuous desecration of Islamic sanctities.
The Iraqi government that had been a party to these developments in recent weeks after the storming of the Swedish embassy that led to its closure sent a message to Stockholm that if the Quran burning is repeated, Baghdad will sever diplomatic ties with it. The Iraqi government expelled the Swedish ambassador from the country and also summoned its ambassador to Sweden. Also, following the publication of the call by Iraqis, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the Green Zone in Baghdad on Saturday to protest against insults to the Quran and the Iraqi flag in Denmark. The protesters sought to storm the Danish embassy but failed with intervention of the police. Iraqi news sources reported that the headquarters of a Danish organization in Basra were set on fire as the protests unfolded.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry summoned Sweden's chargé d'affaires in a protesting move. The ministry in a tweet called on Sweden to take all immediate measures to prevent these shameful actions, and stressed Riyadh rejection of all measures that cause hate among the religions.
Also, the UAE foreign ministry strongly condemned the support of the Swedish government and the granting of permission to commit such heinous acts in addition to evading its international responsibilities and disrespecting social values. It also summoned chargé d'affaires of Sweden and protested the desecration allowed by Stockholm.
For its turn, Bahrain condemned the Quran burning and called it a “shameful act” that hurts the feelings of Muslims across the world. Its foreign ministry said it will summon Swedish ambassador for protest.
Jordan’s foreign ministry condemned the insult to the Holy Quran and announced that this action hurts the feelings of two billion Muslims in the world and it is absolutely impossible to justify this within the framework of freedom of speech. The ministry summoned the Swedish chargé d'affaires and protested the permissions to extremists for Quran burning.
Kuwait was another country to take action. Foreign Minister Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah censured the Quran burning and held that Sweden was responsible for all the actions that lead to hate against Muslims and encourage violence, especially that these actions were taken in a short span by this individual.
Turkey condemned the desecration and asked Sweden to take immediate measures to avoid any similar actions. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed with a number of his counterparts from Arab countries the ways to deal with the renewed desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
Egyptian foreign ministry issued a statement in condemnation and called for those behind these actions to be brought to justice. The statement noted that the government should commit to its responsibilities to counter such crimes and prevent them and punish the perpetrators.
Lebanese Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stressed the role of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad behind these sacrilegious actions, and called on all Muslim countries to expel Swedish ambassadors.
The political office of the Yemeni Ansarullah Movement, while condemning the desecration, announced that the countries of the Islamic world should impose political and economic sanctions on Sweden, because this country supports the perpetrators of the desecration.
Palestinian Authority in the West Bank condemned the actions in Sweden and held that they represent the hate and racism against Islam and the Holy Quran.
Jassim al-Budaiwi, the head of the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council, strongly condemned the continued provocations against the Muslim values, adding: “These shameful and unacceptable actions hurt the feelings of Muslims all over the world. The Swedish authorities must take measures to stop these behaviors and respond to the extremists.”
The head of Organization of Islamic Cooperation Ibrahim Taha issued a condemnation statement and called on Sweden's officials to stop permissions to the radical groups for anti-Islamic actions and take measure to prevent such insulting behaviors.
Sheikh Maher Hamoud, the head of the World Union of Resistance Scholars, condemned the Quran burnings and said that “we can do much to condemn the insults to the Holy Quran in Sweden.”
Adel Abdulrahman al-Assoumi, the head of Arab Parliament, condemned the anti-Islamic actions in Sweden and called for launching political and economic sanction campaigns against Sweden.
In a statement, Al-Azhar University in Egypt strongly condemned the frequent provocations of Swedish authorities against Islamic sanctities under the "false freedom of expression.”
“Allowing criminal terrorists to burn the Holy Quran is a crime against Islam and the rights of religions and humanity and a disgrace to these [European] countries,” he said and called on all Arab and Muslim nations to boycott all Swedish products.
The arrogance of the Europeans in desecrating the Holy Quran has even drawn reaction of non-Islamic countries. China's UN representation in Geneva, condemned Sweden and Denmark's desecration of the Holy Quran and said that Beijing is against the promotion of Islamophobia.
Iranian Supreme Leader’s message to the desecrators in Europe
In addition to the leaders of Islamic countries, Iran's Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei in a message described the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden a “bitter, conspiratorial, and dangerous event.”
He further said that “severest punishment” for perpetrators is agreed upon by all Muslim scholars and the Swedish government should hand over the perpetrator to the Muslim judiciaries to bring him to justice.
In his message, the Leader described the support of the Swedish government for the desecrator as equivalent to entering a “battle-array” with the Islamic world.
“The conspirators behind the scenes should know that the holiness and magnificence of the Holy Quran grows larger and its lights of guidance grow brighter day by day. Such plots and their plotters are too inferior to block this growing brightness.”
Global consensus against the desecrators is necessary
Although Islamic countries always condemn these disgusting actions and even recently forced the United Nations Human Rights Council to issue a statement condemning these conducts, these actions are not enough to check the extremists in Europe.
Desecration of Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Quran in the Western countries has been conducted repeatedly over the past two decades and every year has taken new aspects. If the Islamic countries had sanctioned Sweden in recent months in a concerted move, the repetition of such insulting actions to the Holy Quran would have been stopped and the authorities in Sweden would have tried to prevent this action for their own interests. But the neglect of Muslim countries emboldened the extremists of Europe, who allow themselves to insult the sanctities of nearly two billion Muslims in the name of freedom of speech.
The Western countries, on top of them the US, are not expected to condemn such insulting conducts and the Muslim countries themselves should take united actions and force the European country retreat from its provocative policies.
According to estimates, if Sweden is sanctioned by Arab countries, it will lose $20 billion in trade and investments, and if other Islamic countries join in, the Swedish government will suffer tens of billions of dollars in economic damage, and this can be the best option to punish the authorities of this country, which has been proposed by some countries.
European countries, particularly Sweden, deal with the freedom of expression with double standards. When it comes to the so-called Holocaust and its denial, the West uses all of its instruments and coercively silences the critics, but when it comes to Islam and Muslims, freedom of expression is cherished no matter how heinous is the desecration. In response to a call by a citizen for Torah burning in recent days, the Swedish government promised to the Israeli government to prevent such a move. The European countries label insults to the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad freedom of expression, but they do not and even take countermeasures when a European citizen expresses solidarity with the Palestinian cause and resistance groups fighting the Israeli occupation.
