Allowing far-right figures such as Danish politician Rasmus Paludan to burn the Quran on the grounds of freedom of speech in Sweden and Denmark is not only affecting Muslims but also causes concern among other religious groups, a Swedish human rights activist told Anadolu (AA) on Wednesday. .
Helen Seilert, a political scientist and human rights activist, said Paludan’s anti-Islamic actions create more problems, putting more people at risk.
“His actions are inciting racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. If the law can’t stop it, then there’s something wrong with the law!” Saylert said.
His actions hurt so many, she said. “Big (different) groups are now afraid to just say they are Muslims or Jews.”
“Escalating hatred towards these groups is of course also the goal of a fanatic like Paludan,” she added.
Paludan, who has both Danish and Swedish citizenship, burned copies of the Koran twice last week, first outside the Turkish embassy in Sweden and then in front of a mosque in Denmark.
The burning of the Koran is a chilling echo of the Nazi mentality
“The burning of the holy Quran is a chilling echo of the Nazi book burnings, where ‘others’ were demonized and ‘impure’ people or materials were to be destroyed,” Seilert said. “This is the rhetoric that Paludan (and other extremists) have used in addressing what he sees as the ‘Muslim issue’.”
She also said that there is “too little knowledge in Swedish society about how to deal with racism and Islamophobia”.
The opinions expressed by a few radicals, as with Paludan, are not “just a cheap, isolated event blown to the wind by a crazy lone wolf,” Seilert said. “It is more of a reflection of the society we live in and a continuation of the hatred that grows on every corner of our streets. Often this hatred is directed against Muslims.”
She continued: “These few radicals enjoy free access to the media, which gives them a platform to express their racism and Islamophobia, and then social media brings the topic to a boil.
“As emotions get wilder, the normal limits of propriety are violated, the words used to become more and more emotional and hateful towards ‘others’ begin to appeal to an even wider group.”
Police could have prevented attack, Saylert says
While there is already “a lot of hate speech and misinformation” in society, Paludan not only burned copies of the Quran, but also “ignited a heated situation,” Sailert said.
“Sweden should have acted wiser and fairer,” she said. “Sweden should have set an example not to further harm a large part of its population.”
Sailert said: “The law is clear and the police could have canceled the entrapment, citing security concerns, as an act of hatred could very well lead to violence.”
The Swedish Democrats, an anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant party, won 22% of the vote last fall and have become a strong voice in government, and life in the country is getting harder and harder for Muslims, she said.
