Activist backs off
A Muslim activist who had received permission to burn a Torah and a Bible outside the Israeli embassy said it was never his intention to burn Jewish or Christian holy books, only to protest the recent burning of the Koran.
(Times of Israel, Agencies) – A Muslim activist who had received permission to burn a Torah and a Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Sweden last Saturday backed off from the move, adding that he only wanted to draw attention to the recent burning of a Koran in the country.
The man, identified as Ahmad Alush, 32, had received permission from Swedish authorities to perform the act, drawing widespread condemnation and protest from Israel and Jewish groups, among others.
But Alush arrived outside the Israeli diplomatic mission on Saturday and said it was never his intention to burn Jewish or Christian holy books, only to protest the recent burning of the Koran.
“It is against the Koran to burn and I will not burn,” Alush, who is of Syrian origin, told reporters.
“This is a response to the people who burn the Koran. I want to show that freedom of expression has limits that must be taken into account.
“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 Koran, there will be war here. What I wanted to show is that it’s not right to do it.”
The Swedish decision to grant him permission to burn the Torah had sparked widespread condemnation and outrage. According to the Kan public broadcaster, senior Swedish officials told their Israeli counterparts they were working to outlaw the burning of religious texts but stressed any such change would take a while to implement.
US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt said the burning would “create an environment of fear”.
“This will impact the ability of Jews and members of other religious minority groups from freely exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief in Sweden,” she said.
The Council of Swedish Jewish Communities deplored the police decision to allow the act, drawing a direct line to the gathering from Europe’s long history of deadly anti-Jewish hatred.
“Our tragic European history links the burning of Jewish books with pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions and the Holocaust,” it wrote. The Swedish Jewish Youth Association also condemned what it said was a “hateful and despicable act”.
Sweden is home to some 15,000 to 20,000 Jews.
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