The Egyptian-European Business Council, chaired by Parliament Deputy Speaker Mohamed Abou El-Enein, has vehemently condemned the tearing up and burning of a copy of the Holy Quran by extremists in Sweden’s capital Stockholm, with permission from the Swedish government.
The incident coincided with the Eid-al-Adha holiday, one of the most significant in the Islamic calendar. It has triggered wide condemnation by Arab countries.
In an official statement to the Swedish Ambassador to Egypt Håkan Emsgård, the Council stressed that such acts are a crime and a clear incitement to violence, hatred, and racism against 2 billion Muslims that should not be tolerated and the perpetrators must be punished.
The Egyptian-European Council affirmed that these reprehensible and repeated acts that cannot be accepted under any justification.
The statement added, "Overlooking the occurrence of these acts not only contradicts international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, rejecting extremism, and intolerance but also contradicts the responsibility of states to prevent crimes of incitement and provoking hatred that threaten the security and stability of societies and undermine mutual respect between people."
The Council called on the Swedish authorities to condemn these actions, which only result in inflaming feelings and creating enmities.
It also called for the Swedish Parliament to issue a law criminalizing insulting Islam and its sanctities, per Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law,”.
The Egyptian-European Business Council asked: "Isn't anti-Islam the same as anti-Semitism that is criminalized and punishable by the laws in many Western countries without any pretext of freedom of opinion and expression?".
The Council also called on the Swedish government to join hands with all countries to create a UN resolution that criminalizes insulting religious sanctities and symbols as a crime that threatens international peace and security.
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