Swedish Torah burning stunt is abandoned by activist

A man who had received permission to burn a Torah and a Bible outside the Israeli embassy in Sweden on Saturday said he abandoned the move because he only intended to draw attention to the recent burning of the Quran in the country.

The man, who was later identified as Ahmad Alush, 32, had received permission from Swedish authorities last Thursday to stage a demonstration outside the embassy in Stockholm.

But Alush arrived outside the Israeli embassy on Saturday clutching only a copy of the Quran.

He said it was never his intention to burn Jewish or Christian holy books, only to protest the recent burning of the Quran in Sweden.

With reporters at the scene Alush told them, “It is against the Quran to burn and I will not burn. No one should do that.

“This is a response to the people who burn the Quran. I want to show that freedom of expression has limits that must be taken into account.”

He added:”“I want to show that we have to respect each other, we live in the same society. If I burn the Torah, another the Bible, another the Quran, there will be war here. What I wanted to show is that it’s not right to do it.”

Amongst those to have earlier condemned the book burning stunt were Israeli president Isaac Hertzog and US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt who said burning would “create an environment of fear.”

Two weeks ago, the Swedish police allowed a Quran burning in front of a mosque in Stockholm to go ahead, citing freedom of speech after a court overturned a ban on Quran burning.