Scandinavian Jewish communities (Denmark, Sweden, Norway) and Amanah joined to express the importance of democracy and say no to hatred in a public statement:
“It is with deep concern that we once again witness islamophobic hate manifestations in the Nordic region. Once again racists and extremists are allowed to abuse democracy and Freedom of Speech in order to normalize hate against one of the religious minorities, by burning the Quran.
Our tragic European history has taught us that book burnings often signal the onset of the normalization of hatred towards a group in society. Historically against Jews and currently against Muslims. Not recognising these manifestations of hate as expression of threats and incitement against ethnic groups constitutes a neglect of history.
The German Jewish author Heinrich Heine, wrote in 1821: ”those who burn books will in the end burn people”. In 1933 one of the first steps by the Nazis in their endeavour to exterminate the Jewish culture – was to burn Jewish books.
We all know what happened next. We feel deeply concerned by the latest development in our countries. Attacks on minorities like Jews and Muslims have increased and become normalized over recent years.
In a democratic society, every individual has the right to feel safe and appreciated. The Scandinavian Jewish communities hereby wish to express our support to the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Muslim communities and clearly state that every action and sign of prejudice and hatred is unacceptable.”
