Muslim nations criticize the actions of the far-right group. The act of setting a Quran on fire on Monday by a group calling themselves “Danish Patriots” in front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen has been fiercely denounced by Iraq and some other countries with a mainly Muslim population.
On Friday, a group associated with the far right shared a live stream of an event of a similar nature on Facebook. Following the event, close to one thousand protesters in Baghdad attempted to enter the Danish embassy.
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After it was announced that a Quran would be burned in Stockholm, protestors in Baghdad set fire to the Swedish embassy there last week.
If occurred on Monday in Denmark, two anti-Islam protestors stamped on the holy book before setting it ablaze in a tin foil tray next to an Iraqi flag that was placed on the ground.
According to statements by Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such actions enable “the virus of extremism and hate” to become “a real threat to the peaceful coexistence of societies.”
Because Muslims believe the Quran to be the literal word of God, they find it highly insulting when it is deliberately damaged or treated with disrespect in any way.
The most recent act of desecration of the Bible took place in the capital of Denmark, which also sparked a march in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, where hundreds of protestors voiced their outrage at Denmark and Sweden for allowing such atrocities to occur.
The government of Turkey referred to the occurrence as a “despicable attack” on the Quran, while the Algerian foreign ministry brought in the Danish ambassador and the Swedish charge d’affaires to express its outrage over the acts.
Iran also staged demonstrations on Saturday in response to the earlier acts of sacrilege. According to reports from Qatari media outlets, the largest market in the country, Souq Al Baladi, has removed all Swedish products as a form of protest.
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted: “Denmark strongly condemns today’s burning of the Quran carried out by very few individuals.”
“These offensive and despicable acts do not represent the views of the Danish government,” the statement read. I am making a plea to everyone involved to reduce the level of tension; violence should never be the response.
The use of tear gas by security forces on Saturday in Baghdad was necessary to prevent massive crowds from approaching the Danish embassy in the city. The city’s fortified Green Zone, home to many embassies from other countries, had its bridges cut off.
After protestors, primarily followers of Shia preacher Moqtada al-Sadr, seized the building where the Swedish embassy is located in Baghdad on Friday, the Swedish government decided to evacuate its workers there. Additionally, the Swedish ambassador was expelled from Iraq.
This arose because Swedish authorities had granted an Iraqi Christian refugee permission to burn a Quran in Stockholm for the second time. He used his stamp on the book but did not light it on fire.
A police ban on the demonstrations in Stockholm was overturned by the courts, which cited the constitutional right to freedom of assembly as the basis for their decision.
The Swedish government has condemned burning the holy book as Islamophobic.
