Will Sweden Approve a Torah Burning Request?

by Moshe Hirschman

The request was made for July 15th, Swedish activists have requested permission to burn a Sefer Torah in front of the Israeli embassy in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Thus far, Swedish authorities have neither denied nor approved the request.

Last week, Swedish police allowed an anti-Muslim Iraqi refugee, to burn a Koran that was wrapped in pig meat to be burned in front of Stockholm’s Great Mosque. He was a member of the extreme Sweden Democrats (SD) party. Swedish media reports that the police have received three applications to burn a Sefer Torah.

What on earth could be the rationale of the Stockholm police?

A police spokesman said, “Our view is that this may not be aimed at any specific religion, but that it is part of freedom of expression and the debate that is currently underway,”

Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress stated, “The burning of religious texts is an unmistakable act of hate and a fundamental attack against all who adhere to any faith. These visible displays of incitement marginalize religious minorities and sow division across society.”

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of Rabbis of Europe, called the burning of holy books a “heinous act that recalls dark periods in the bloody history of the European continent. The German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine warned in the past that where holy books are burned, people will also be burned. The Swedish government succeeds once again in hurting the feelings of the religious communities in the country. We will not be complacent about this harm. We are examining all legal and political options to act against these dangerous proposals.”