If you have kept an eye or ear to the happening in the world as of late. You have probably heard about the Muslim world being upset and angry at Sweden and Denmark because of the Quran burnings that have taken place there. Let's try and see if we can eliminate some misconceptions surrounding this. FYI I am a Swede so I will mostly speak to the Swedish side of things, but I am very certain that most of the things are the same in Denmark.
Why can you burn the Quran in Sweden and Denmark?
This can seem very strange depending on what part of the world you come from. But it all comes down to our constitution. In it, we have what is called "yttrandefrihet" in Swedish, or freedom of speech. But it covers more than just speech. Or I should say it covers speech in all its forms, not just the verbal part. But the written part and the freedom to express oneself in more or less any way.
Everyone is guaranteed the right against the general public according to this constitution to publicly express thoughts, opinions and feelings in audio radio, television and certain similar transmissions, public playbacks from a database as well as films, videograms, sound recordings and other technical recordings and otherwise provide information in any subject.
The purpose of freedom of expression according to this constitution is to secure a free exchange of ideas, a free and comprehensive information and a free artistic creation. In it, no other restrictions may be made than those that follow from this constitution.
The quote is part of the Swedish constitution, the first §, translated with the power of google translate. But it shows the purpose of freedom of speech in Sweden. And Denmark has a similar part in their constitution as well. So the purpose of it is to allow anyone to express their thoughts, opinions, and feeling on any topic. And allow the person the freedom to express it in the way they chose.
And depending on where you come from or live, this might seem like a very foreign concept. But I can assure you that there are other quirks in Sweden that seem equally strange if not stranger. For instance, there are some of us who like to eat fermented baltic herring. And most Swedes celebrate midsummer's eve by dancing around a pagan fertility symbol while singing about small frogs while getting gradually drunker during the day. And I am sure if we look at some of the things that are allowed in the place where you live, or some of your local customs we will find things that would be equally as puzzling to me or any other Swede or Dane for that matter.
Has the freedom of speech caused other "scandals"?
Well yes, yes it has. In 1998 there was an art exhibit in a chamber under the Sofia kyrka, a church in Stockholm. And the exhibit was called Ecce homo and showed some pictures reenacting famous biblical scenes with homosexuals. And it caused quite a stir among the different Christian groupings.
Swedish TV has also gotten into hot water with both China and Turkey. In fact, I think Erdogan has been quite angry over programs making fun of him several times. But lucky enough Sweden is not ruled by a despotish person, meaning he can more or less dictate what is law in Turkey, and has done so. But because he can restrict freedom of speech in Turkey does not mean he can do so In Sweden.
In a similar way, China got very upset when the same tv show mentioned that some Chinees citizens have been stopped from leaving China due to their pr behavior when previously abroad. You can see the clip from the show above here, there is English text to it so you can follow along. And of course, they got angry at Sweden because our police removed three Chinees citizens who had arrived one day early at their hotel. But refused to leave. So mad in fact they warned people from traveling here. And again a despot, this time not ish thoo but full despot, is in charge. And I think we all know who that is Winnie the Pooh. Oh crap, I have done it again. I of course meant Xi Jinping. Oh and if you have no idea what I am talking about. Xi Jinping has had the Chinees censoring block any mention of Winnie the Pooh due to him being compared to the lovable honey-eating bear. A link to a post about it can be found below.
And Denmark has of course gotten their fair share of controversies over the years. And back in 2005 they got in hot water in the Muslim world, so in a sense they are used to this now. This was over a newspaper choosing to publish some caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. A man you famously cannot depict, in jest or otherwise. This of course caused a massive uproar, just as the Quran burning is doing now.
But of course, the Danes are not the only ones to depict Muhammad, South Park has done so as well. Back in 2001, they had Muhammad show up in the second part of their 200ed episode (in episode 201). And this caused a ruckus as well, and they decided to censor the episode under threat of violence.
And in a similar way, both Sweden and Denmark have ruffled quite some feathers in the US, and probably some other places as well, due to our children's programs. In Sweden, he had an educational song about male and female genitalia. And in Denmark, they had a tv show about John Dillermand who has the world's longest "dillermand". Think of him as similar to Inspector Gadget but instead of gadgets he uses his very long penis. Links to both are down below.
But this section was more to show that Islam is not singled out by Sweden or Denmark. Instead, freedom of speech is something that is used here, and to most of us, it is probably taken for granted. But that does not mean it is less important. And it is a cornerstone of our society. In a similar way to how some people in the US choose to arm themselves. Hum, did I say some, I meant most people in the US. ;) And with that we will move on, but first I would like to leave you with a little song from a tv show, it is the gay's fault. And as before it is texed, not the best translation but it should get the job done.
Who is it that is burning the Qurans and why?
This is perhaps the biggest misconception surrounding this situation. And it is that "Sweden" and "Denmark" are either doing the burning or approving of them. And neither of those things is true. Sweden and Denmark as countries have little to do with the burning. The countries just happen to allow it to happen, and it is the place where it happened. This means that burning Swedish or Danish flags, threatening the countries, and violently storming the embassies of the two countries will have little to no bearing on this. I would say it is akin to hating Germany simply because Volkswagen lied about the emission of their cars. IT will do little to change the fact that it happened, or Volkswagen's ability to do the same in the future.
So if it is not Sweden and Denmark who are burning the Qurans, then who is? Well, the first of the recent burnings was carried out by Rasmus Paludan. A Dane with dual citizenship of both Sweden and Denmark. I say Dane because he was born there. He first tried to burn a Quran in Sweden back in 2020. But he was denied a permit to do so. He then tried to enter Sweden anyway but was stopped at the Danish-Swedish border. He was also banned from entering Sweden for two years for trying to enter Sweden and go through with it anyway. But that would change in 2022. He where no free to enter Sweden again and applied for permits to protest and was granted them. Now he carried out several Quran burnings, among them one during Ramadan. And this led to Riots in several places in Sweden. And he also later burned a Quran outside of the Turkish embassy in January of 2023. Rasmus has also burned several Qurans in Denmark.
!Rasmus Paludan](https://cdn.publish0x.com/prod/fs/cachedimages/3197472604-8526d621597ab72e455474dfd5eb42d2618faf5a9ef84b8794364de8758db45a.webp)
Rasmus Paludan, [Source,](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20190613_Folkemodet_Bornholm_Rasmus_Paludan_Stram_Kurs_0011_(48058183443%29.jpg) Credit: News Oresund, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Rasmus is part of a right-wing political party in Denmark, he is critical of Islam and immigration. He and the party wants to ban Islam in Denmark as well as stop any immigration from non-western countries. Also, deport any people living in Denmark who would fall outside of the "western" homogeny. Thus it is fairly certain he just wants to get attention, as that would be free commercial for him and his political party. There are currently many people in both Sweden and Denmark who are supporting let's call them more right-wing parties than what would be "normal". It is similar right winds that sadly are blowing all over Europe currently.
But other than this Rasmus presumably also wants to ruffle as many feathers as he can among muslims living in both Sweden and Denmark. And the riots that happened in Sweden were exactly the sort of thing he was looking for. He now has more ammunition to fire off at Islam or immigrants. He can now say see how uncivilised they are. They are violent and it is their answer to everything. And the reason for it is because Islam promotes it. I mean you do not have to be a genius in order to see that it is exactly the sort of thing he was hoping for. And now he will have a ton of footage of the riots to show helping him make and convince people he is right.
But Rasmus Paludan is not the only person who has burned Qurans in Sweden as of late. There are a few others but I have only been able to find out who some of them were. Two people I where able to find out about are a duo that has been behind three burnings this year and has applied for several more. Salwan Momika and his companion Salwan Najem. Salwan has been in Sweden since 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021. He came to Sweden also from Iraq, where he was part of a Christian militia group. But whether he was part of the militia or just the political organization is still unclear. According to him, he was only part of the political side, and he states that any political party there has a militia, it is needed for protection. His companion is Salwan Najem, also initially from Iraq. He came to Sweden in 1998 and was made a Swedish citizen in 2005. Little other is known about him.
One of the persons who burned the book, Salwan Momika, says he did it for this reason. "My problem today is not the books of Jews, Christians or others. My problem is the book that calls for violence and murder - that is the Koran". According to him, he is doing it to protest against the religion. He also says that he is no longer a Christian but an Atheist. The duo was also behind the burning that triggered the Swedish embassy in Iraq being attacked by angry protestors. They are currently being investigated for what is Sweden is called "hets mot folkgrupp", which translates roughly to incitement against an ethnic group. And Salwan Momikais also currently under investigation by Swedish immigration, due to his involvement with the Christian milise group back in Iraq. There appears to be pictures and video of him that makes them question whether or not he was only part of the political side of things. As a result, his protection status and residence permit might get revoked.
One of their burnings was also done under the pretext "protest against Islam", and as during this time there was a ban on starting fires the police informed them of this. But they burned the Quoran anyway. So they are under investigation for committing this crime as well. But perhaps most entering is that they failed to burn the Quran once due to their own actions. Or divine interventions if you will. As they tossed the book on the wet grass making it impossible for them to light it on fire. There is also an arrest warrant for Salwan Momika filed in Iraq.
If this is solely done because of their hate for Islam or not is hard to say. But the only other reason I can think of would be because he wants to stay in Sweden. So by him doing this and becoming a wanted man in Iraq, presumably a dead one as well if he ever were to go back. He would be able to argue that if he is forced to return he would be tortured and killed.
Links to relevant posts about them and the information can be found below. Unfortunately are they in Swedish, but google translate should be able to help you with any translating needs. Or feel free to ask.
The other reasons
There are also other reasons cited in applications to the police. And one of them says directly that they want to burn the Quran in order to stop Sweden from joining Nato. As Sweden for the longest time has held a position of Neutrality, whether we should or should not join Nato is a contentious and very loaded question for many. And it certainly gives Erdogan an excellent opportunity to stall and get as much compensation from this whole process as possible.
Then there is also the more conspiracy-ish angle of Russia seeing how effective Rasmus Paludans burning where so they are supporting this as a way to destabilize Sweden. Throw a spanner in the Natio application as well as endear themselves more to the Middle East and Africa and try to gain pretty much any other advantage they can.
My opinion
There have been some muslims that have been interviewed saying that they are ok with the protests, but that they wished that they would do them at another time and at another place. To me, that seems like a very strange thing to say. And I can't really see the point of having a protest against something where the thing you are protesting against cant see the protest or perhaps not even know it is taking place. Making them completely free to ignore it and carry on doing what they have been doing. To take a concrete example from this very situation. Man, it would have been great if the protests in Iraq outside the Swedish embassy, which lead to the embassy getting overrun by violent protestors, if that protest would have taken place somewhere else. Like perhaps outside the Nicaraguan embassy. Or perhaps even better at a desolate place in the countryside, where it would not bother anyone. And also it would have been preferable if it took place during a time when no one would be in the embassy. I mean if you have to do it outside the embassy. It kind of would make it very pointless.
Does that mean I agree with all the people burning the Quran? No is the simple answer to that. Does it mean I think they should not be able to burn the Quran? No to that as well. I think that if you have a valid enough reason for doing it you should be allowed to do it. *But here is the thing, what I consider valid, what you consider valid, or what the persons who burned the book consider valid is extremely personal. And without fully knowing what their reasons are I can't really condemn them. Well not super true, the Rasmus Paludan guy appears to be a next-level asshat so he can go and crawl back under the rock he crawled out from under.
But just as I can't condemn or condone the protestor's action I have to confess I cannot fathom the whole religion thing either. How one can be so controlled by some words on a few pages, and then get so upset about someone burning the pages that you would result to violence. Or why you would be upset if someone depicts the prophet, Mohammad? But does that mean I think that Muslims should not be allowed to practice Islam? Well, that's a no as well. But just as freedom of speech is part of the Swedish constitution. So is the right to religious freedom, meaning you are allowed to practice any religion you chose. Be it Christian, or one of their many variations, Hindu, Jewish, Islam, Pastafarian or any of the other thousands of religions. I mean without the Swedish constitution there would be no mosques in Sweden, that they could burn the Quoran outside. And as it stands you got to take the good with the bad or you can't have any of it.
And also I would implore you, if you are Muslim, or know Muslims, please let them know that it is not Sweden and Denmark that hates Islam or the Quran. It is just a few people living here that is expressing their opinions. And they have the right to do so. Just like you or I have the right to express our opinions about them.
I would love to hear what you make of this situation, have I been able to explain how things are like they are? Or are there some things that are still unclear to you? If so please let me know and I will do my best to try and explain things better. And please share your thoughts on this topic, as I know it is one where many of you might be affected one way or another.
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Thumbnail Picture provided by: https://pixabay.com/ edited by me
Resources
- https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/yttrandefrihetsgrundlag-19911469_sfs-1991-1469/
- [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(exhibition)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(exhibition%29)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch
- https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-40627855
- https://www.youtube.com/watch
- https://www.youtube.com/watch
- https://www.youtube.com/watch
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmus_Paludan
- https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/vem-ar-mannen-bakom-koranbranningen
- https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/salwan-momika-och-salwan-najem-mannen-bakom-koranbranningarna-i-sverige
- https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/bilderna-som-kan-falla-koranbrannaren-salwan-momika
- https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/de-nekades-tillstand-att-branna-koranen-utanfor-ambassaden-ville-stoppa-nato-ansokan
