Quran desecration sparks protests
Anger mounts in Iraq, Lebanon, Iran over acts in Sweden
BEIRUT — Thousands of people took to the streets in a handful of Muslim-majority countries Friday to express their anger at the desecration of a copy of the Quran in Sweden, a day after protesters stormed the country’s embassy in Iraq.
The protests in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran that followed weekly prayers were controlled and peaceful, in contrast to scenes in Baghdad on Thursday, when demonstrators occupied the Swedish Embassy compound for several hours and set a small fire.
The embassy staff had been evacuated before the storming and Swedish news agency TT reported that they were relocated to Stockholm for security reasons.
For Muslims, any desecration of the Quran, their holy text, is abhorrent.
Under scorching heat Friday, thousands gathered in Baghdad’s Sadr City, a stronghold of influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, some of whose followers took part in the attack on the Swedish Embassy. They brandished Qurans, burned the Swedish flag and the LGBTQ rainbow flag and chanted, “Yes, yes to the Quran, no, no to Israel.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had called on protesters and security forces to ensure that the demonstrations remained peaceful.
In the southern suburbs of Beirut, thousands more gathered at a protest called by the Iran-backed militia and political party Hezbollah, also brandishing copies of the holy book and chanting “with our blood, we protect the Quran.” Some burned Swedish flags.
In a video address Thursday night, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on Muslims to demand that their governments expel Sweden’s ambassadors. Iraq cut diplomatic ties with Sweden earlier that day.
“I invite brothers and sisters in all neighborhoods and villages to attend all mosques, carrying their Qurans and sit in them, calling on the state to take a stance toward Sweden,” Nasrallah said in the address, according to Lebanon’s staterun National News Agency.
In Iran, thousands marched in Tehran and other cities across the country, demonstrations that were aired on state television. In the capital, protesters gathered in the city center, shouting: “Death to the Americanized Sweden! Death to Israel! Death to enemies of the supreme leader!”
“The Quran talks to humans all the time, and its voice will never be stopped,” protester Fatemeh Jafari said. “Until the end of the world, the Quran will stay there and will be usable. They can never destroy Quran! Even if they burn it, we will stand by it!”
The right to hold public demonstrations is protected by the constitution in Sweden, and blasphemy laws were abandoned in the 1970s. Police generally give permission based on whether they believe a public gathering can be held without major disruptions or safety risks.
The reaction in Iraq was particularly virulent, although no embassy staff members were injured. After protesters left the embassy, diplomats closed it to visitors without specifying when it would reopen.
The state-run Iraqi News Agency reported that 20 people were arrested in the storming of the embassy.
Among those arrested were an Associated Press photographer and two Reuters staff who were covering the protests. The detained journalists were released hours later without charges after an order from the prime minister’s office.
Sudani ordered the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Sweden.
Leaders in several Muslim-majority countries condemned the desecration of the Quran and summoned diplomats from Sweden to express their anger. Meanwhile, the Swedish Foreign Ministry conveyed to the Iraqi charge d’affaires that the storming of the embassy was “completely unacceptable,” according to the TT agency.
Thursday’s Quran desecration was the second to involve an Iraqi man in Sweden, identified as Salwan Momika. Last month, a man identified by local media and on his social media as Momika burned a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, triggering widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.
Quran-burnings in the past have sparked protests across the Muslim world, some turning violent. In Afghanistan, the Taliban suspended all the activities of Swedish organizations in the country in response to the recent Quran-burning.