Reactions to the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach have largely focused on the hateful rhetoric believed to have contributed to the violent extremism that claimed 15 lives – the deadliest attack on Jews since October 7. That focus is understandable after two years of global demonstrations under slogans such as “globalize the intifada.”
At the same time, the attack is rooted in more than a toxic debate climate. It also involves a geopolitical and security dimension that has primarily been raised by Israeli officials.
According to Israeli intelligence assessments, links had already existed for several months between Australian pro-Palestinian activists and groups such as the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Against this backdrop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s prime minister of betraying the country’s Jews. After the attack, Netanyahu stated that he had already warned in August that recognizing Palestine would, in his words, “pour fuel on the antisemitic fire, reward Hamas terrorists, and encourage threats against Australia’s Jews.”
This raises a number of questions. Does Australia really need Israeli intelligence to identify threats against its Jewish population? And more importantly: is Netanyahu truly the right person to lecture others about being unprepared for Islamist terrorism, when his own government bears responsibility for Israel’s worst catastrophe in decades?
But Netanyahu is not the central issue. What matters is that the warnings proved correct. A massacre of Jews took place in Australia, carried out by men who had ISIS flags in their car. Australian authorities knew that one of the perpetrators had ties to ISIS and that his father, the other perpetrator, legally owned at least six weapons. Despite this, no warning flags were raised, and the Jewish event lacked police protection when the attack occurred.
Islamists operate freely in Sweden
Against this background, Europe should ask itself a clear question. If Australia’s policies over the past two years resemble those pursued in many European countries, could what happened at Bondi Beach happen here?
Both domestic and foreign policy must be scrutinized. Domestically, this concerns insufficient resources to protect Jewish sites, an inability to counter conspiracy theories, and complacency toward Islamist actors. These challenges affect all European countries, including Sweden. Swedish journalists have recently exposed how Islamists operate freely in Sweden, how Iranian actors direct terrorist activity via Swedish organized crime, and what links Swedish activists have to terrorist movements such as the PFLP.
“Jews in countries that do not take Islamist terrorism seriously end up paying the price, regardless of whether government passivity stems from fear, incompetence, or indifference.”
Sweden is not alone. According to a recent Europol report, jihadist terrorism remains a central security challenge for the EU, with groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State exploiting the conflict in Gaza. Added to this is Hamas, which, according to Israel’s Mossad and European intelligence services, has planned attacks against Jews in Europe since 2023. The causal link is clear: Jews in countries that do not take Islamist terrorism seriously pay the price.
Kvartal
Why foreign policy matters
How, then, does foreign policy factor in? Can recognition of Palestine or harsh criticism of Israel encourage terrorism? Countries such as Spain, Norway, and Ireland pursue a clear line against Israel. Like Australia, they have recently recognized Palestine; they voice strong opposition to Israel in international forums and serve as comfortable host countries for movements that not only oppose Israeli policy but view the state itself as an illegitimate colonial project.
Australia’s prime minister firmly rejected Netanyahu’s claim that the country’s foreign policy had any connection to the attack. He may be right – such accusations require evidence. But that does not mean foreign policy is irrelevant to the climate surrounding antisemitic hate crimes.
First, governments – unlike individuals – must understand the unique situation Jews face. Demonstrations are marked by hatred, aggression, Nazi comparisons, terrorist symbols, and boycotts. Of course, protests are legitimate in a democracy, and no one seriously claims that all participants are violent antisemites. But at the political level, it is unclear whether countries such as Norway fully grasp what their Jewish populations are forced to endure. The situation is worsened by the fact that no other conflict in the world is covered as intensely – and, according to many, as one-sidedly – in Norwegian media. This has an enormous impact on Norway’s small Jewish community.
Second, does the tax-funded public sphere remain neutral, or does it contribute to an unsafe environment for Jews? What do teachers say? What do libraries display? How do healthcare professionals behave? This is a matter of public safety, not freedom of speech. In February, a video went viral showing two nurses at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney boasting about refusing care to – or even killing – Israeli patients. In Ireland, an official report found that school textbooks contain serious distortions of the Holocaust and Jewish history, which Jews in the country say fuel antisemitism. In Spain, Jewish organizations similarly warn that some teachers use classrooms for anti-Israel activism.
“Zero tolerance” is no longer enough
We can continue debating the limits of protest, but we must also scrutinize institutions. The state must protect freedom of expression, but it must also guarantee safety. That requires schools, hospitals, and libraries free from political propaganda and symbolic acts intended to influence public opinion.
Finally, it is a fact that jihadist terrorists in Europe are often exposed with the help of Israeli intelligence. Can Jews in Spain and Ireland truly trust that their governments will cooperate with the Mossad to save lives, when those same governments cannot even tolerate Israel’s participation in Eurovision?
After Bondi Beach, Europe’s governments must decide where they place their resources and political capital. If they are serious about protecting their Jewish populations, “zero tolerance” and symbolic gestures of solidarity are no longer sufficient. Political action is required – and it's required urgently.
A popular proverb says that a half-truth is a whole lie. The latest episode of SVT’s Utrikesbyrån about Hamas was a good example of that. That does not mean it wasn’t interesting. It was. Nor is there any doubt that the three participants — former Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, political scientist Marco Nilsson and Middle East analyst Bitte Hammargren — knew what they were talking about. But when it came to the analysis of Hamas, we were given only a half-truth.
The questions the presenter Rebecca Randhawa asked were: what is left of Hamas, will they lay down their arms, and who will govern Gaza. The first and the third questions are almost impossible to answer. Even Israeli intelligence does not know what remains of Hamas’s military capability, and Gaza’s future governance depends on a complicated geopolitical process. The second question, however, can be answered based on a deep understanding of what Hamas is, the choices it has made in the past, and what its ideological and political DNA is.
According to Löfven, Hamas’s power is the result of a paradox. Despite being one of Israel’s greatest enemies, its power originated with Israel’s political leadership. “Such an organization receives support (from Qatar, for example) simply because Israel wants to avoid the Palestinian Authority (PA) gaining any power.” Hammargren agreed and said that Hamas was a political asset for Israel. “Netanyahu’s line was that by letting Hamas grow in Gaza we don’t have to hear about a Palestinian statehood,” she said. This is a common analysis and it is partly true. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders do indeed oppose a two-state solution. Because of this, his strategy was to weaken the PA, and many argue that one of the ways he did this was by allowing Hamas to grow. But this is only half the truth.
The other half, and the real reason Hamas rose to power and was able to retain it, is much simpler. The source of Hamas’s power is support from large parts of the Palestinian people. Even now, after two years of destruction and death that are a direct consequence of Hamas’s decision to massacre Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Hamas is still supported by many Palestinians. The international support from Qatar and Iran that Löfven and Hammargren mentioned is also not hard to understand. Iran’s regime has a long-term goal of eliminating “the Zionist entity,” and Qatar built its international position on supporting its ideological Muslim Brotherhood allies. Sure, Netanyahu miscalculated Hamas’s capacity and misread its intentions, but it was not he who made Hamas’s ideology popular, and it was not he who turned Qatar and Iran into dangerous regional destabilizing powers.
But where is Hamas heading? Utrikesbyrån’s two-and-a-half-minute clip tried to provide background. According to the clip, “Hamas removed the demand that Israel be destroyed, but still does not recognize the state of Israel.” This is not even a half-truth. Hamas is absolutely committed to the destruction of Israel. Yes, it created a new charter for foreign audiences, because the old document contained antisemitic propaganda that was not particularly popular on university campuses and in some Western circles. But even the new charter demands “all of Palestine” from the river to the sea, it does not accept the Oslo Accords or the two-state solution, and it still endorses “armed resistance,” which has been a decisive part of Hamas’s nature long before October 7. That includes blowing up buses and restaurants full of civilians as well as kidnapping, torturing and murdering Jews of all ages, genders and backgrounds. One interesting thing Utrikesbyrån did not mention is that Hamas activists have on several occasions been arrested in Europe for planning attacks on “Jewish targets.” Worth mentioning if anyone took the “new charter” seriously.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the violence, Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006 in both the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians are not blind or politically incapable — they knew exactly what they were voting for. According to Utrikesbyrån’s experts, Netanyahu could have fought Hamas by strengthening the PA. It’s an interesting theory. Only problem is that it’s not true. Not during the years when Hamas was building its reign of terror, anyway. The reasons are that Netanyahu was not Israel’s prime minister at that time. Between 1999 and 2009 the prime ministers of Israel were Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. The first was an outspoken advocate for a two-state solution, the second ended the occupation of Gaza, and the third was probably the one who offered the PA the most generous territorial compromise. Hamas was not impressed. It continued to build the fundamentalist, jihadist, genocidal faction within the Palestinian nationalist movement. Hamas did not need Netanyahu for this. It was fully capable of doing it on its own, while many Israelis were still considering peace and reconciliation.
Utrikesbyrån downplayed all of this. In the program there were no blown-up buses, no tunnels, rockets, high-tech international propaganda campaigns or brutal executions of Palestinian “collaborators.” October 7 was only mentioned in passing, as another point on the timeline. No hostages, no burned neighborhoods, no executed families. This is not a complaint that they “forgot October 7,” but a critique of incomplete analysis. How can one answer the question about Hamas’s intentions without taking into account that the organization recruited thousands of people who were willing not only to kill but also to commit gang rapes and sexualized torture in the name of Allah?
Netanyahu can and should be criticized for many things, but not for this. Sure, he did not destroy Hamas before October 7, and through his incompetence and corruption he may have contributed to the opposite. Israelis should hold him accountable for that. But this is far from the cause of the catastrophe. Hamas began building its advanced military capability long before Netanyahu, it remains standing, and many Palestinians still support it. Let us imagine that Netanyahu had decided to wipe out Hamas back in 2014. Now that we know that not even the destruction of Gaza did the job, would Stefan Löfven have supported an Israeli offensive on that scale? Would the Obama administration have allowed it? Would the UN have accepted it? Of course not. Everyone can complain about Netanyahu and everyone can criticize Hamas, but in the end — whose responsibility is it to eliminate Hamas, and who will support such an effort?
It is obvious that Stefan Löfven in no way supports Hamas. In Utrikesbyrån he spoke very clearly about the necessity of a political process with a reformed Palestinian Authority moving toward a two-state solution. But putting the blame for the situation on the Israeli government while ignoring Hamas’s inherently genocidal nature is a classic half-truth. It leads people to believe in conspiracy theories about secret Israeli involvement in the massacre of its own citizens, and more importantly — it shifts the focus to the wrong side. To reach a lasting ceasefire it would be wiser to focus on the “de‑Hamasification” of Gaza and support moderate forces on both sides that can help their communities recover from this two-year trauma and build a future together.
Swedish Police Approve Hebrew Bible-burning Event Near Israeli Embassy in Stockholm
According to reports in Swedish media, local police will allow the event to take place on Saturday, during which the attendees are expected to burn a Hebrew and Christian bible in an attempt to expose Swedish hyprocisy
July 14th
Police in Sweden have approved a request to burn both a Hebrew and a Christian Bible during a protest expected to take place Saturday in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, police in the Swedish capital have confirmed. The request was made by a 32-year-old Swede who claims that his action is a protest against recent events of burning the Quran, which were approved by Swedish authorities and took place in the last few months.
In a statement released on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he condemns “in the strongest terms the authorities’ decision in Sweden to permit the burning of a Jewish Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy.” Netanyahu added that “this deeply shameful act undermines the sacredness of the Jewish people’s holiest scriptures.” Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, condemned the burning of holy books from any religion, saying it’s “an act of hate and disrespect, that has nothing to do with freedom of expression.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he “unequivocally condemn[s] the permission granted in Sweden to burn holy books,” and that he is “heartbroken that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible.” Herzog added that “permitting the defacement of sacred texts is not an exercise in freedom of expression, it is blatant incitement and an act of pure hate.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also stated on Friday that “burning a Torah scroll is a hate crime, provocation, and a severe attack on the Jewish people and Jewish tradition,” urging Swedish authorities to “prevent this disgraceful event and not allow the burning of a Torah scroll.” On Friday, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) also issued a condemnation, saying the Swedish authorities shouldn’t allow the event to take place. “Provocative, racist, antisemitic and sickening acts such as these have no place in any civilized society,” EJC president Dr. Ariel Muzicant said.
The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities published a statement claiming that “our tragic European history links the burning of Jewish books with pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions and the Holocaust.” The council added that it condemns the abuse of freedom of expression that takes place with the aim of sowing hatred in society. “Burning holy books, be it the Quran, the Torah or the New Testament,” it concluded, “are hateful acts that we perceive as direct threats to the societies that value them. Following the Quran burnings, we support the Muslim community in Sweden, express our gratitude for their strong stance and condemnation, and sincerely hope that this and all other burnings of holy books will stop.”
In a meeting with representatives of religious communities in Sweden, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said: “Sweden is and must be a country where people of different faiths – or no faith – can live together side by side in mutual respect. Let us together fight the hatred in society, which drives people to burn the Quran, the Bible or the Torah, and in places and times that are most offensive. Instead, let’s show each other respect.”
The practice of burning holy books in Sweden started a few years ago as a result of a Danish far right provocateur and politician named Rasmus Paludan. A few of Paludan’s supporters burned the Quran in the southern city of Malmö in 2020, and he himself repeated the act a number of times since then.
Rasmus Paludan in Stockholm, August 2022, photo: David Stavrou
In April 2022, Paludan managed to provoke a violent reaction when criminal elements took advantage of the local communities’ outrage and used the opportunity to set off riots which included setting cars on fire and attacking police in several Swedish towns. In January, Paludan returned to Sweden after he received a permit to burn a Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. This time the reaction had geopolitical implications. Turkey used the Quran burning in Stockholm as a pretext to continue blocking Sweden’s decision to join NATO.
Things got even worse in June when an Iraqi Christian immigrant burned a Quran just outside a Stockholm Mosque during Eid al-Adha. This led to anti-Sweden protests all over the Arab world. In recent weeks there have been more applications sent to the police requesting approval to hold demonstrations which include burning of holy books. The current case of burning of Jewish and Christian holy scripture is intended as a way of exposing Swedish hypocrisy, claiming the authorities allow burning the Quran in the name of freedom of expression too easily, but many claim the result is that a handful of extremists have managed to drag Sweden down a path which is becoming both dangerous and internationally embracing.
Some Swedes have had enough of this, including some government officials. Jonas Trolle, the head of the Swedish Center for Preventing Violent Extremism, for example, said that it’s time for Sweden to consider certain legal changes. “Sweden needs to be equipped in a turbulent time in Europe,” he wrote in “Expressen” one of Sweden’s daily newspapers, “Today it’s Quran burnings, tomorrow it will be something else. Without a legal change, Sweden risks becoming vulnerable. It’s unreasonable that our laws concerning public order are out of step with our basic laws [concerning freedom of speech]. We must protect both our freedom of expression and our national security.” Trolle also claimed in recent interviews to the Swedish press that Sweden needs a “reality check” in these matters and it can learn from countries like Germany, France and the UK which have managed to legally forbid these kinds of events and still remain democratic.
Earlier this month, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm – resulting in strong condemnation from several countries. Shortly after, reports surfaced about another individual who had applied for a police permit to burn the Torah outside the Israeli embassy. “I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Koran [sic], the Torah or any other holy book,” Ambassador Nevo Kulman tweeted in early July.
Man Who Planned Hebrew Bible-burning Event in Stockholm Delivers Speech Against Act Instead
The 32-year-old Swedish citizen, who is Muslim, says his intention was to 'show how wrong it is that people don't respect other religions'
July 15th
STOCKHOLM — A 32-year-old Swede named Ahmad Alush who announced that he intended to burn a Hebrew and Christian Bible on Saturday in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm surprised those present and instead gave a speech against the burning of religious books. When he arrived in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm at noon holding a large lighter in his hand, he made it clear that he did not intend to use it. "I'm Muslim, we don't burn [books]," he said, adding "I wanted to show how wrong it is that people don't respect other religions."
The man, who lives in the south of Sweden, explained on Friday that he intends to burn a Bible as a protest against an event about three weeks ago in which a Quran was burned before a mosque in Stockholm with police permission. "It deeply saddens me and many others in Sweden and the world who allow the Quran to be burned," he explained. "I know that the Swedes are very good people and that they want to prevent the burning of the Quran and that there is a legal obstacle to doing that."
Ahmad Alush, the man who said he'd burn a Torah book outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, photo: David Stavrou
After the Swedish police approved the man's request to burn the Bibles, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen instructed Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, "to act in every way in order to prevent this shameful incident." It was also reported that the ministry's political director Aliza Bin Noun spoke with Kulman in Israel "and made clear to him the seriousness with which Israel views the police's approval of damage to the sacred sites of Judaism."
The decision to permit burning of the Bible was met with harsh criticism in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he condemns “in the strongest terms the authorities’ decision in Sweden to permit the burning of a Jewish Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy.” Netanyahu added that “this deeply shameful act undermines the sacredness of the Jewish people’s holiest scriptures.” Kulman earlier condemned the burning of holy books from any religion, saying it’s “an act of hate and disrespect, that has nothing to do with freedom of expression.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he “unequivocally condemn[s] the permission granted in Sweden to burn holy books,” and that he is “heartbroken that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible.” Herzog added that “permitting the defacement of sacred texts is not an exercise in freedom of expression, it is blatant incitement and an act of pure hate.” On Friday, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) also issued a condemnation, saying the Swedish authorities shouldn’t allow the event to take place. “Provocative, racist, antisemitic and sickening acts such as these have no place in any civilized society,” EJC president Dr. Ariel Muzicant said.
In a meeting with representatives of religious communities in Sweden, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said: “Sweden is and must be a country where people of different faiths – or no faith – can live together side by side in mutual respect. Let us together fight the hatred in society, which drives people to burn the Quran, the Bible or the Torah, and in places and times that are most offensive. Instead, let’s show each other respect.”
The practice of burning holy books in Sweden started a few years ago as a result of a Danish far right provocateur and politician named Rasmus Paludan. A few of Paludan’s supporters burned the Quran in the southern city of Malmö in 2020, and he himself repeated the act a number of times since then. In January, Paludan returned to Sweden after he received a permit to burn a Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. This time the reaction had geopolitical implications. Turkey used the Quran burning in Stockholm as a pretext to continue blocking Sweden’s decision to join NATO.
When an Iraqi Christian immigrant burned a Quran just outside a Stockholm Mosque during Eid al-Adha in June, anti-Sweden protests broke out all over the Arab world. In recent weeks there have been more applications sent to the police requesting approval to hold demonstrations which include burning of holy books. Earlier this month, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm – resulting in strong condemnation from several countries. Shortly after, reports surfaced about another individual who had applied for a police permit to burn the Torah outside the Israeli embassy. “I am shocked and horrified by the prospect of the burning of more books in Sweden, be it the Koran [sic], the Torah or any other holy book,” Ambassador Nevo Kulman tweeted in early July.
The Torah Wasn’t Burned This Time. But What’s Next?
Are public burnings of the Quran and other holy books inevitable in a country that values free speech? No, according to the co-head of a Jewish-Muslim organization in Sweden, Rabbi Moshe David Hacohen. 'These events are an opportunity for cooperation, because the threat to Muslims and Jews is real,' he says
July 16th
STOCKHOLM – The Swedish capital found itself in the world news this weekend when a Muslim man who had pledged to burn copies of the Torah and Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy instead discarded his lighter and sought to send a message about respecting other religions. The Swede, who was named in the media as Ahmad Alush, went on to explain that he and many other Muslims were saddened by the burning of the Quran in Sweden and that the right to freedom of expression can’t excuse such hate crimes.
The practice of the Quran being publicly burned in Sweden started a few years ago because of a far-right Danish politician called Rasmus Paludan. A few of his supporters burned the sacred book of Islam in the southern city of Malmö in 2020, and he himself has subsequently repeated the act a number of times. In April 2022, he managed to provoke a violent reaction when criminal elements took advantage of the local outrage and started riots, including setting cars alight and attacking police forces in several Swedish towns.
Last January, Paludan returned to Sweden after receiving a permit to burn a Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. This time, the reaction had geopolitical implications: Turkey used the incident as a pretext to continue blocking Sweden’s efforts to join NATO. Things got even worse last month when an Iraqi Christian immigrant burned a Quran just outside a Stockholm mosque during the Eid al-Adha festival. This prompted not only more Turkish reaction, but also anti-Sweden protests all over the Arab world. And more applications requesting approval to hold public demonstrations to burn the holy books of three major religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) were sent to the police in recent weeks.
On Saturday, Alush said he wanted to expose Swedish hypocrisy that permits the Quran to be burned in the name of freedom of expression, but ended up making a wider statement by saying the practice of burning holy books must end.
Dismantling the fear
This point has been made by others, including some Swedish officials. Jonas Trolle, who heads the Swedish Center for Preventing Violent Extremism, has said it’s time for Sweden to consider certain legal changes. He said in recent media interviews that Sweden needs a “reality check” in such matters and that it can learn from countries such as Germany, France and Britain, which have managed to legally ban these kinds of events yet still remain democratic.
Civil society has also joined the discourse over the burning of holy books. The Amanah organization, founded by Imam Salahuddin Barakat and Rabbi Moshe David Hacohen, for instance, has prevented Torah burnings in the past. The group focuses on creating a trusting society while working to combat discrimination, antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“Jewish history is useful in this debate,” Hacohen said in an interview. “It’s clear that the purpose of burning holy books is not to demonstrate an objection to the content of the books; it’s about creating the Other in society – like Nazi propaganda in the 1930s. Burning books is a way of showing certain people that they are not welcome in society, and this leads to legitimizing murder.”
Asked what Amanah does when it learns that someone intends to burn a holy book, Hacohen explained that “the first thing we do is join forces. These events are a good opportunity for real cooperation, because the threat to both Muslims and Jews is real. We try to bring in forces from the Jewish world, the Muslim world, the leaderships of all communities in Sweden, the Nordic countries and Europe, and we try to send a unified message.
“On a more local and practical level, we exert our influence wherever we can behind the scenes – not only in order to prevent the burning of books, but also to prevent antisemitic incidents and Islamophobic behavior such as hate speech online. We work on dismantling the fear and building bridges in various ways. We created a digital project for Swedish schools, funded by the Swedish government, which helps young people understand what it’s like to be a Muslim or a Jew in Sweden. We also created a Jewish-Muslim madrassa [school] for adults, in order to deepen the knowledge about the two religions, understand the similarities, and see beyond the black and white way of seeing reality.” Hacohen noted that the imam of Stockholm's main mosque spoke on Friday against the burning of all holy books, and added that Muslims should not act against Jews who are their partners in the struggle against Quran burnings.
Sweden's unique interface
As for why Sweden has seemingly become an epicenter of book-burning controversies, Hacohen believes it is because the country has a unique interface where religion and social freedom meet. “The limits of democracy are stretched as they meet different cultural and religious values such as those brought by immigrants who arrive to a very different culture than they came from,” he said. “This friction triggers a debate about limits on freedom of speech and limits on behavior in the public arena when it comes to hate and racism. In Sweden, freedom of expression is a value above almost all others, and limiting it because of the danger of hate crimes is seen by many Swedes as a threat to their basic values.”
Hacohen referred to Jewish tradition when asked if Swedish exaltation of freedom of expression makes such incidents inevitable. “Amanah was invited to a panel discussion at the law faculty in Lund University. The participants were a law professor, the archbishop of the Church of Sweden and us, Imam Barakat and myself. When asked about the freedom of expression in Judaism, I replied that the notion of freedom is very personal, it’s about how one relates to choices. But when it comes to social laws and the relationship to others, the word ‘responsibility’ is used. We have rules regarding responsibility to others and the society we live in. It’s about responsibility rather than freedom. Perhaps this distinction can help direct us toward a true cohesive society where we care for one another and have a trusted shared space.”
The rabbi also highlighted recent comments by the Vatican and the World Jewish Congress. Pope Francis told United Arab Emirates daily Al-Ittihad that any book considered sacred by its people must be respected out of respect for its believers. “Freedom of expression must never be used as an excuse to despise others, and allowing this must be rejected and condemned,” the pope was quoted as saying.
WJC President Ronald Lauder, meanwhile, reacted to the recent incidents in Sweden by calling the burning of the Quran a “heinous act,” expressing solidarity with “our Muslim brothers and sisters.” On Friday, he said that “the burning of our sacred texts ostracizes and hurts the Swedish Jewish community as well as all those who value pluralism and multiculturalism. Books should be read and cherished, not set ablaze.”
Quran Burnings and Terror Threats: Israel Warns Citizens to Avoid Crowds – in Sweden
As Sweden raises its terrorism alert to its second-highest level, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson warns of potential revenge attacks for recent public burnings of the Quran – from Lebanon's Hezbollah, Al-Shabab in Somalia and Al-Qaida
August 21st
STOCKHOLM – The Swedish Security Service on Thursday raised the country's terrorist-threat level to its second-highest rung, a step last taken in 2016 when Europe was wracked by terror attacks. The move follows a spate of Quran burnings by protesters in Sweden, angering the Muslim world and triggering assaults on Swedish consulates and embassies in Baghdad, Beirut and Izmir, Turkey. The threat level will now be a 4 in a five-rung scale.
“There are also several examples of terrorist groups that have urged their sympathizers around the world to take revenge for the Quran burnings that have taken place in Sweden. Among them are Hezbollah in Lebanon, al-Shabab in Somalia and Al-Qaida,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference Wednesday.
At the news conference, officials said the authorities had thwarted terrorist attempts and made arrests. Sweden's security agencies were cooperating with each other and their foreign counterparts, Kristersson added. Meanwhile, Britain and the United States have warned their citizens to stay vigilant in public places and tourist sites in Sweden. Even the National Security Council in Jerusalem has asked Israelis to “try their best to avoid crowded places and public institutions at the present time.” British officials have said there is a chance that terrorists will attempt to strike in Sweden, adding that the Swedish security agencies had already prevented attacks on Swedish citizens.
Burning holy books as a political provocation is nothing new to this Scandinavian country. For years now, far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan has been burning Qurans to express opposition to immigration to Sweden and neighboring Denmark, and in a bid to goad immigrant communities. In April 2022, provoked by Paludan, criminal elements took advantage of Muslim citizens' wrath and sparked riots in Swedish cities that included the torching of cars and attacks on the police. In January this year, Paludan returned to Sweden after receiving permission to burn a Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. This time there were geopolitical repercussions: Turkey used the event as one of its reasons to block Sweden's entry into NATO.
The situation worsened in June when Salwan Momika, an Iraqi Christian, burned a Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm during the Eid al-Adha holiday. This time, the Turkish protests were joined by anti-Swedish demonstrations around the world. This wasn't the only Quran-burning by Momika, an anti-Muslim activist and asylum seeker who has been in Sweden since 2018. He has burned a Quran outside parliament, and on Friday, a day after the raising of the threat level, he burned the book outside the Iranian Embassy. Similar incidents have occurred in Denmark. In recent weeks, further requests for approval to burn holy books have been submitted to the Swedish police, with torchings of the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible also being prepared.
Sweden has absolute freedom of speech; it has no law preventing the burning of holy books. Meanwhile, the country’s legislation on hate crimes and public disturbances doesn’t allow the police to prevent book burnings, except in extraordinary circumstances. But many in Sweden argue that the country is paying too high a price for this policy. The freedom to burn holy books is letting a handful of extremists – whose views or actions are very unpopular around the country – drag Sweden into severe international crises while worsening the security situation.
At the press conference, Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said that new legislation to fight terror groups is now in place while new policies have been crafted to prevent terrorists from entering the country in the first place. Sweden's police chiefs added that the security services were following suspects' online activities, gathering intelligence on radicals and preparing the rescue and security services for a rapid response to all scenarios. The head of the Swedish Security Service, Charlotte von Essen, added that the threat to Sweden may carry on for a long time.
She said the threat stems largely from Islamic extremists, while the spread of fake news, disinformation and rumors about Sweden – mainly portraying it as an anti-Muslim country – worsens the situation. The authorities are also monitoring intimidation from the far right and security threats in the entire region, against the backdrop of Russia's war on Ukraine and the Swedes' subsequent request to join NATO.
The threats in Sweden cast a shadow over Stockholm’s annual end-of-summer culture festival, which ended Sunday. For many Swedes, the mid-August event marks the last week of the summer vacation, after which it's back to work and school.
A police Car at Stockholm's Culture Festival. Photo: David Stavrou
Since its inception nearly two decades ago, the festival has been a huge attraction both for Stockholmers and tourists. For five days, stages throughout the city center host dance, music, circus and theater performances, all for free. Long lines stretch around dozens of food and drink stands, and more than a million visitors and hundreds of workers fill central Stockholm's streets, squares and bridges.
This year's installment went by without incident. Despite the warnings, there were no metal detectors, no one checking bags at the entrance, and no tense atmosphere at all. Maybe the reason is that instead of the rainy weather of the first half of August, the sun shined on Stockholm. Maybe it's just that the Swedish approach to terror threats, at least for now, is the same as the Swedish approach in general: faith in the authorities and security forces – and a cautious pragmatism. “We must live our lives as normal,” Kristersson said. “We stand behind our democratic values. We are defending ourselves, but we still stand behind our way of life.”
דיויד סטברו 