Iraq has expelled Swedenâs ambassador shortly after protesters had stormed its embassy in Baghdad and set parts of the building on fire.
Supporters of the influential Iraqi Shia religious and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr had called for the burning of the embassy on Thursday. The demonstrators were angry over what was supposed to be the second burning of a Quran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.
While protesters in Sweden kicked and partially damaged a book they said was the Quran, they did not burn it as they had threatened to do.
According to Swedish media reports, the incident was planned by Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee in Sweden who also burned pages of a Quran in front of Stockholmâs largest mosque on June 28 during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.
The incident last month also prompted widespread anger in Iraq and drove supporters of al-Sadr, who positions himself as a populist and whose supporters have previously overrun the Iraqi parliament, to storm Swedenâs embassy in Baghdad.
It promoted several other protests in Muslim-majority countries as governments in Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco decried the incident.
Here is a timeline of the key events that unfolded in the lead-up to Thursdayâs desecration and the protests in Iraq:
June 28
- Momika waves two Swedish flags and blasts the countryâs national anthem in front of the Stockholm Central Mosque. He then desecrates the Quran repeatedly by tearing it up and lighting it on fire.
- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan criticises the incident, saying it is unacceptable to allow anti-Islam protests in the name of freedom of expression.
- The US Department of State rejects the incident while calling on Turkey to approve Swedenâs NATO membership bid, which it had been blocking.
June 29
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slams Sweden over the incident, saying Ankara will never bow to a policy of provocation or threat. âWe will teach the arrogant Western people that it is not freedom of expression to insult the sacred values of Muslims,â he said.
- Iraq summons the Swedish ambassador and calls the act âracistâ and âirresponsibleâ. Hundreds of Iraqis storm the Swedish embassy in Baghdad after al-Sadr urges people to do so, calling Sweden âhostile to Islamâ.
- Morocco recalls its ambassador to Sweden for an indefinite period. The kingdomâs foreign ministry also summons Swedenâs charge dâaffaires in Rabat and expresses its âstrong condemnation of this attack and its rejection of this unacceptable actâ.
- A number of Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and the UAE also express their condemnation.
- The US Department of State condemns the burning but adds that issuing the permit for the demonstration supported freedom of expression.
July 2
- The 57-country Organisation of Islamic Cooperation says international law and other collective measures are needed to prevent future incidents involving the desecration of the Quran.
- Swedenâs government condemns the incident, calling it âIslamophobicâ.
July 3
- Pope Francis condemns Momikaâs actions, saying he feels âangry and disgustedâ to see the Muslim holy book desecrated.
July 7
- Muslims in Pakistan, including in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, hold rallies to observe a Quran Sanctity Day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calls for protests.
July 11
- Muslim nations file a motion at the United Nations human rights body, calling on countries to review their laws and plug gaps that may âimpede the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatredâ.
July 12
- The UN Human Rights Council approves a resolution on religious hatred and bigotry. But as with all of the councilâs resolutions, it is not legally binding.
July 15
- Ahmad Alloush, 32, abandons a plan to burn the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Sweden.
A Iraqi refugee burns the quran in Sweden and Iraq expells the Swedish ambassador?! Failed state. I would like to see more solidarity from the other EU countries.
An Iraqi refugee being the burner is quite the buried lede.
âSeeing a refugee from our country burn our holy book has caused us to look inward and reflect on the harm of absolutist ideologies.â
- Nobody ever, apparently?
Whatâs not okay: To expect others to submit to rules of your worldview. Especially if others do not share this view or agree to the rule.
You have the right to believe whatever you like, but donât expect me to follow. Because I have the same right.
This applies to acts which do not harm anybody or anything, like destroying a copy of a book which you own, without eradicating the book from existence or taking it from others.
Otherwise, we play the victim game. I can do that too! Look, Iâm an atheist. This is a very serious thing for me. I feel appalled by the idea that more than 200 years after the enlightenment (just to name one of many reasons), people still believe and share religious ideas. The abrahamic scriptures are riddled with hate speech and endorsements of violence. To call these text collections âholyâ is an insult to everything I hold dear, like science and human rights. Iâm offended by their mere existence, and perceive public displays as a personal offense to my worldview. I demand everybody in every country to respect my feelings and stop these atrocious acts.
Of course the sane alternative would be to thicken my skin, learn to deal with my emotions (which means I deal with them, not externalizing), respect differences as long as they do no harm.
These book burnings only exist because people make an unjustified fuzz about it, occasionally in a violent way. You can have your religion with all itâs rules, but you cannot expect people to apply who donât subscribe.
the idea that the Quran is absolute truth and everyone else is âmistakenâ.
Yes, thatâs a big problem. They can believe whatever they want in private, but have to accept different believes and practices in public. Specifically including what they perceive as disrespect to what they deem holy, as long as disrespect is all there is. People deserve respect, believes do not.
Getting religious folk to see the âinaccuraciesâ in their faith is really hard sometimes.
Yes, impossible for the most part. After all, itâs faith, not science. But I think we donât have to go that far. We donât have to agree to a worldview, but learn to accept that others can have a different worldview.
Thatâs also why I think itâs the wrong approach to demand everyone, including non-believers (not sure if that part really matters), to follow the rules of your belief. Implicitly, doing so accepts the ârightâ of a few to set rules for many. Loud and violent beliefs have an advantage, as they can create so much pressure that it seems like a rational path to peace to succumb to their demands. This is not how I would like things to be.
- Pope Francis condemns Momikaâs actions, saying he feels âangry and disgustedâ to see the Muslim holy book desecrated.
isnât this incredibly ironicâŠ
