In Sweden and Denmark, Islamophobia is being fueled by a deliberate allowance of recent attacks on the Quran. As systematic provocations continue to escalate in Europe, the French magazine Charlie Hebdo has also published a scandalous cover.
Danish far-right politician and leader of the Hard Line Party, Rasmus Paludan, continued his Quran-burning provocations in Sweden's cities of Malmö, Norrköping, Jönköping, and the capital, Stockholm, during the Easter holiday in 2022. On January 21st, Paludan burned the Quran in front of Türkiye's Stockholm Embassy, and on January 27th, he did the same in front of Türkiye's Copenhagen Embassy.
In Stockholm, Salwan Momika, of Iraqi origin, also burned the Quran under police protection in front of Stockholm Mosque on June 28th, coinciding with the first day of Eid al-Adha. On July 20th, he desecrated the Quran and the Iraqi flag under police protection in front of Iraq's Stockholm Embassy. Momika repeated the Quran burning on August 24th in front of Stockholm Mosque.
Protests erupted on September 3rd in Malmö after Momika, under police protection, burned the Quran, and 15 individuals attempting to intervene were detained.
In Denmark, an Islamophobic and ultra-nationalist group began attacking the Turkish flag and the Quran in front of Türkiye's Copenhagen Embassy in April. Members of this group displayed anti-Islamic banners and chanted slogans insulting Islam. On July 21st, they burned the Quran in front of Iraq's embassy, on July 24th in front of the embassies of Iraq and Iran, and on July 25th in front of the embassies of Egypt and Türkiye.
On July 28th, the group burned the Quran in front of a mosque in Copenhagen.
While provocative attacks by Salwan Momika and other Islamophobic groups continue, the French magazine Charlie Hebdo has published a despicable cover.
In its latest issue, the magazine openly displays its hostility towards Muslims with the headline, "Stop burning the Quran... Read it, it's a lot of fun!"
The magazine's scandalous cover has received strong condemnation on social media.
