Criticism from Muslim countries and not only, which strongly condemned the burning of the Koran in Stockholm during the Kurban Bayram holiday by a Christian Iraqi, does not seem to have influenced Sweden, which has again given permission for the burning of two holy books.
Stockholm police announced on Friday that they have authorized a protest this weekend in front of the Israeli embassy by a man in his 30s who has declared that he wants to burn Torahs and Bibles as a "symbolic rally for the sake of freedom of speech".
The decision follows the burning of the Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm last month by an Iraqi immigrant.
The Stockholm police gave "ok" to the protest and the decision states that three people will participate in the demonstration outside the Israeli embassy that will take place at 13:00.
Although the right to hold public demonstrations is protected by the constitution in Sweden, and the capital's police clarified to the AP that they "do not give permission for various actions, but for the development of public meetings", Israeli officials have called for force to stop the rally.
"As President of the State of Israel, I condemned the burning of the Koran, sacred to Muslims around the world, and now I am saddened that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible, the eternal book of the Jewish people," Isaac Herzog said in a statement. .
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he was asking Swedish officials to "prevent this disgusting event and not allow the burning of the Torah."
Even Israel's chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, has reacted by pleading with Sweden's king to intervene, condemning the planned event as well as the recent burning of the Koran in front of a mosque in Sweden.
"By preventing this event from happening, you will send a powerful message to the world that Sweden stands firmly against religious intolerance and that such acts have no place in a civilized society," he wrote.