Ahmed Alloush, a 32-year-old Swedish national, planned to burn the Jewish Bible in front of the Israeli embassy in Sweden this Saturday, but refrained from actually doing so, according to a Ynet report.
Alloush arrived at the embassy carrying a lighter and Quran. He did not burn any books, and instead threw the lighter on the ground and delivered an address to the spectators that had gathered for the planned demonstration.
“I never thought I would burn any books. I’m a Muslim, we don’t burn books. 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. 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.”
Alloush said the real reason for the protest was to draw attention to the difference between freedom of speech and offending other ethnic groups.
“I made people angry,” he conceded when asked about the reaction to the news that someone planned to burn the Torah and the Bible in Stockholm. “They can be happy now”, he quipped.
The burning of the Quran had ignited anger throughout the Muslim world, leading to widespread protests and even the storming of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. In light of the recent request to burn the Torah, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, expressed shock and horror.
“This is clearly an act of hatred that must be stopped,” Ambassador Kulman expressed on Twitter earlier this month.
Rabbi Chaim Greisman, Director of Chabad of Stockholm, Sweden, said that he hopes the terrible event will not take place as planned, but said that we must fight the fire of destruction with the fire of peace.
“I believe that our reaction should be exactly the opposite of what they are trying to accomplish. They want to light a fire of destruction and hate, let us light a holy fire of peace,” he said.
Thanks for the update
You mean to say he was sort of like the mikoshesh eitzim? He said he would burn the Torah so the world would see how upsetting it was for Muslims when the Quran was burned. He never actually planned to burn? If so, he makes a good point. Slap in the face for whoever approved the protest unless they were just weak and not principled.
Does anyone know WHO burned Quran in Sweden? And what would that have to do with Jews? Good think shaliach responded with adding light, and many davenned.
who burned the Quran. I have no idea why, but in Iraq they tried to storm the Swedish embassy, even though no Swede (and certainly no Jew) did the deed.
II’m commenting on the person who said the man was bluffing and perhaps he had no intention to burn the Torah.I’m not going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he had no intention to burn the Torah.Why didn’t he say that he wanted to burn the Christian bible?Why did he single out the Torah to burn?And the whole Swedish government and all the powers that be in Sweden are all guilty in the extreme.I think that there is an opinion in Gemara that says that Hashem considers a gentiles intention to commit an evil deed as if… Read more »
Thank You Hashem for answering our Tefillos and making this nes happen!
Thank You Hashem for answering our Tefillos and making this nes happen!!!
Tziyonim cause so much antisemitism because they hijacked EY and everyone thinks Judaism and Zionism are one and the same. This guy wants to burn a Torah in front of the Israeli embassy. One has nothing to do with the other.
So Zionism is the root of all problems… I mean, it’s not like Jews were slaughtered by the masses in israel before “the state of israel” was established. What I’m getting to is that zionism is just an excuse to justify their actions (doesn’t it make it right, obviously).
The reasons we see zionism as “incorrect” is very different from why they view it ”bad”. In fact, the jewish/frum ppl would likely be hated more if we had it our way (throw them all out)
This calls for increasing the awareness and observance of the 7 Mitzvos B’nai Noach.
Thank You Hashem for answering our Tefillos and making this nes happen!!!
Hashem controls the thoughts of man. A man requested permission to burn a chumash Infront of a Jewish associated site before Shabbos. No matter what protest was being made against him and the high unpopularity of his actions, he stood firm in his decision. Shabbos morning he shows up with a lighter and throws it to the floor and says he just wanted to scare people. He goes on further to say that he did this to show how religions must get more protection from extremest. He did a complete turnover. Against all critics, this appears to be a major… Read more »