“Whilst we are deeply respectful of Constitutional rights and the EU’s own Charter of Funadmental Rights which states that ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association at all levels,’ it is clear that the act of burning a bible in front of Israeli embassy in anything but peaceful. It is instead provocative, grossly inappropriate and designed solely to offend,’’  stated Rabbi Menachem Margolin and Tomas Sandell.

 

“The burning of Holy Books of any kind is an abominable act,’’ stated the leaders of Europe’s leading Jewish and Christian organizations as they called on Sweden to prevent the burning Saturday of of a Bible in front of Israel’s embassy in Stockholm.

Despite the fact that a majority of Swedish people support a ban on the public burning of religious texts such as  theKoran or the Bible, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the public national television broadcaster,  Swedish police on Friday approved a request to hold a public demonstration during which a Jewish Bible will be burnt in front of the Israeli embassy.

According to Swedish media, the burning will take place on Saturday. Previous reports said that a man in his 30s is behind the request. He stated that this act is a response to the Koran outside Stockholm’s mosque in June and “a symbolic gathering for the sake of freedom of expression.”

The burning of the Koran sparked fury in the Muslim world.

Stockholm police said that in line with Swedish legislation they granted permits for people to hold public gatherings and not for the activities conducted during them.

Carina Skagerlind, press officer for Stockholm police, said: “The police does not issue permits to burn various religious texts – the police issues permits to hold a public gathering and express an opinion. An important distinction.”

“The fact that a majority of Swedes support a ban on the public burning of religious texts such as the Quran or the Bible should be enough to prevent this vile act of ‘protest’ taking place.,’’ said Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the Europeran Jewish Association t(EJA) and Tomas Sandell, Director and Founder of the European Coalition for Israel (ECI), said in a joint statement.

EJA representis hundreds of Jewish Communities across Europe and ECI is an organisation of Christian organizations, grass root movements, and churches from different Christian cultures and backgrounds.

“Whilst we are deeply respectful of Constitutional rights and the EU’s own Charter of Funadmental Rights which states that ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association at all levels,’ it is clear that the act of burning a bible in front of Israeli embassy in anything but peaceful. It is instead provocative, grossly inappropriate and designed solely to offend,’’ they said;

“The burning of the Bible, or indeed any book, is reminiscent of the Nazi book burnings and the sinister warning contained in Ray Badbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Has Europe learned nothing?,’’ they asked.

“The timing – the Jewish Sabbath, where communities across Europe will read their portion of the Torah would add grievous insult to deep injury. “We urge all Swedish authorities and political representatives to stop this act from taking place tomorrow,”the statement concludes.

Yaakov Hagoel, Chairman of the World Zionist Organization declared: “The permission to burn a Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm is not freedom of expression but Antisemitism. 80 years after the cursed Holocaust and signs we wanted to forget we are again reminded to stand guard! I also strongly condemn the burning of the Koran.This is not the way of the Jewish people and I call upon the Swedish government to reverse the decision of the police of allowing the Antisemitic burning of the Bible. Enough to hate”

Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman also expressed his dismay over the fact Stockholm gave the request tob urn a Bible a green light.

“I utterly condemn the burning of holy books sacred to any religion, as an act of hate and disrespect, that has nothing to do with freedom of expression,” he tweeted.

An Israeli foreign ministry official told the Kan public broadcaster that the ministry and embassy are working to prevent the “shameful act.”

Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau sent a letter to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson urging him to stop the desecration. “I call on you to do everything possible to prevent this act. Freedom of expression does not mean permitting everything,” Lau wrote.

Sweden’s Justice Minister has said his government may be open to amending a protest law, after the public burning of a Quran in Stockholm last month sparked fury across the Muslim world.

Gunnar Strömmer told Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet the incident and others like it have helped make Sweden a target for jihadist violence.

“We have seen arrests in Sweden on suspicion of preparation for a terrorist offence,” he said. “There have been arrests in Germany on suspicion of preparation for a terrorist offence against Sweden in the light of this. We can also see that the burning of the Quran last week has generated threats to our internal security,” he added.

He continued, “It is clear that we must analyse the legal situation in the light of the spring events and those judgments. The analyses are ongoing and we will come back with any conclusions.”

In a letter to Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs  Amivhai Chikli, Tobias Billstrom, Swish Foreign Minister, wrote that ”in Sweden there is a constitutional right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom to demonstrate. Decisions to allow for demonstrations are taken independently by the Policy Authority.”

He added: ”The Swedish government deeply regrets when extremists and provocateurs try to sow divisions in our society, even when they are exercising constitutionally protected acts. The government fully understands  that people of various faiths are deeply offended by burning of Holy Books.”

According to a source in Stockholm, Swedish Jewish community members intend to demonstration on Saturday w against the burning of the Bible.

But the head of the Swedish Jewish community, who has come out against a ban on such burnings, said Friday that the best course of action was to ignore the situation.

“I would advise individuals to ignore this event and not give it more attention,” Aron Verstandig, chairman of the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, told JNS.  He said that the local community had tried and apparently failed to prevent the development.