The Koran burnings increase the risk of terror in Sweden

 

 

Wolfgang Hansson  

Freedom of speech Freedom of expression has a price - are the Swedes prepared to pay?   

 

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.  

 

Published 2023-06-30 21:37 

  

Columnists 

  

Swedish freedom of expression has a price. In the worst case, the price can be high. 

 

For every Koran burning, the NATO hope fades, the terrorist threat against Sweden increases and the security risk for Swedes living and traveling in Muslim countries increases.  

 

Are we prepared to pay that price?  

After Wednesday's Koran burning in Stockholm, the Swedish embassy in Iraq was stormed and Morocco chose to recall its ambassador in protest. Photo: Twitter  

 

In Sweden, reactions to the Koran burning outside the mosque at Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm were fairly restrained. Especially in comparison to the riots last Easter in a number of Swedish cities when the far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan went around on tour of Sweden and burned the Koran.  

In the Muslim world, the picture looks very different. In Baghdad, a few hundred Iraqis stormed the Swedish embassy in scenes reminiscent of the violent riots that followed in several Muslim countries after the so-called Muhammad cartoons were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

 

Morocco recalled its ambassador in protest against the latest Koran burning. Similar protests come from a number of other countries.  

 

It is rarely about spontaneous popular reactions. Instead, it is extreme forces in Muslim countries who try to exploit what people do in Sweden in the name of freedom of expression to push their own political agenda.  

 

In Baghdad, for example, it was the militant Shiite politician Muqtada al-Sadr who organized the demonstration and called on his followers to storm the embassy.  

 

At the same time, it is not possible to turn a blind eye to the fact that many Muslims believe that whoever burns a Koran commits a heinous and offensive act. This has far-reaching consequences for Sweden just as it had for Danmark  almost 20 years ago.  

 

Mocking religion 

 

We can of course say; "we don't care what you think, we have our freedom of speech". But we are still forced to live with the consequences.  

 

By coincidence, the judges came today against some of those who participated in the Easter coup in Malmö. The punishments were severe. An important signal from society that this type of behavior cannot be tolerated, no matter how offended you feel.  

 

For most Swedes, it has long been self-evident that one should be able to mock and push with religion, whether it is Christianity or Islam.  

 

Our freedom of speech is extensive but it is not absolute. There are opinions that are forbidden to express. Defamation, racism and incitement against ethnic groups are illegal.  

 

In April, a parliamentary inquiry put forward a proposal that all parties support that it will be illegal to deny the Holocaust and other genocides. A law that already exists in many countries and which Sweden is now expected to introduce after pressure from the EU.  

 

Public burning of religious scriptures is permitted in Sweden but is prohibited in, for example, Norway and Finland. Countries that we assess are fully democratic.  

 

In other words, there is a line that needs to be drawn. 

 

The police have recently said no to a number of applications to burn the Koran. After the first two legal instances said that the police's decisions were illegal, they gave permission for the burning of the Koran at Medborgarplatsen, but at the same time reported the Iraqi who carried out the action to the police for incitement against a group of people. 

 

Laws are reinterpreted  

 

It is therefore likely to be tested in court whether it can constitute incitement against a group of people to burn the Koran outside a mosque. Which is far from obvious because Muslims are not a people group any more than Christians are. But it's all about how you interpret the law and what you put into the concept of ethnic group. 

 

Look at democracy USA. A year ago, American women had a national right to abortion. Now that right is gone. The law is the same, but the lawyers have made a new interpretation.  

 

For Sweden as a nation and for individual Swedes, the Koran burnings can have extensive consequences. Säpo has already warned that this means an increased risk of terrorist acts directed at Sweden, abroad or at home. Swedish citizens may run an increased risk of being exposed to violence. Swedish products and companies can be exposed to boycotts in Muslim countries, which took place against Denmark after the Muhammad attacks. We all remember the terrorist act against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in France after the magazine republished the Muhammad cartoons.

   

What is most important?  

 

Sweden is in a vulnerable security policy situation where we have applied for NATO membership but Turkey has so far blocked a Swedish membership citing, among other things, the Koran burnings. Thus, we do not have written guarantees from the whole of NATO about help if Sweden is attacked.  

 

A little pointedly, one can ask the question if it is reasonable to let a Danish far-right politician and an Iraqi Christian carry out Koran burnings whose obvious purpose is only to provoke and spread hatred? When we also know in advance that the consequences for Sweden can be very negative. 

 

Is freedom of speech for undemocratic individuals (the Iraqi wants to ban the Koran in Sweden) more important than Sweden's security as a nation?  

 

These are difficult questions without easy answers. But regardless of your position, you cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that the price for freedom of expression can be high. 

 

In Ukraine, thousands of people are dying to defend their freedom. How many Swedes are prepared to die so that Paludan and a Christian Iraqi will be allowed to burn the Koran?