BBC News reports that Iraq, among numerous other Muslim-majority nations, has strongly condemned the latest iteration of hate permitted to exist under the guise of tolerance in far Northern Europe. On Monday, Denmark marked the second Scandinavian nation in recent days to turn a blind eye to the public desecration of the Quran, with the indifference allegedly cloaked under the narrative of free speech.
A far-right, ultra-nationalist group calling themselves the “Danish Patriots” gathered outside the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen to stomp on the holy book and then set it aflame in a tray of tin foil next to an Iraq flag on the pavement. The term “patriot,” by the way, is an ironic code word typically utilized by racist, anti-immigrant, white nationalist groups, mostly aligned with reactionary ideology, and—in the U.S.—a term commandeered by Republican Party sympathizers—whose futile attempt at gaslighting fails to hide their true bigoted motivations.
These “patriots” had previously livestreamed on Facebook a similar act on Friday. This was purportedly a retaliatory measure for the conduct of crowds who had set fire to Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, in itself a response to the Stockholm High Court’s affirmation of the legality of Quran burning in Sweden.
Back on June 28, Morocco promptly recalled its ambassador to Sweden after the notorious Stockholm Quran-burning incident taking place during the Eid Al-adha Muslim holiday.
Iraq’s foreign ministry said such acts allowed “the virus of extremism and hate” to pose “a real threat to the peaceful coexistence of societies.”
The latest desecration of the Book in Copenhagen also triggered a rally in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, where the participants voiced anger at both Scandinavian countries for permitting such hostility. Iran, Turkey, and Algeria also issued condemnations, while Qatar’s Souq Al Baladi, the nation’s largest market, removed all of its Swedish products.
In Baghdad on Saturday, security forces utilized tear gas to prevent large crowds from reaching the Danish embassy, while bridges leading to the city’s fortified Green Zone–filled with foreign embassies–was cordoned off.
In a tweet, the Danish foreign ministry asserted that it “…condemned the burning of the Quran carried out by a very few individuals;” however, it remains to be seen if the nation will put its money where it mouth is, or if it will maintain the status quo of purported “tolerance.”