A copy of the Koran, the holy book of Muslims, was trampled and torn off this Friday in the Netherlands, during an extreme right-wing action in front of the Turkish embassy in The Hague, a situation that provoked protests by dozens of people against the demonstration.
The Dutch authorities had already condemned the holding of the demonstration, assuring, at the same time, that they did not have the legal means to prohibit it.
Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Dutch branch of the far-right movement Pegida, jumped on the book considered the holiest of Islam and then tore it up, Agence France-Presse (AFP) found at the scene.
Accompanied by two people, Wagensveld wore a T-shirt with the words: “Islam is no better than Nazism.”
The police blocked access to the street in the center of The Hague, where the Turkish embassy is located, to around fifty protesters, who retreated to the other side of the channel, next to the Ankara representation in the Netherlands.
When Wagensveld tore the pages, some of these people threw stones at him.
As the leader of the anti-Muslim movement Pegida left the scene, counter-protesters chanted “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is great” in Arabic) and tried to catch up with him, before being stopped by about 20 policemen.
Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yezilgöz described the act of destroying or burning a book as “quite primitive and pathetic”.
But “it is allowed in our country, people have that freedom,” added the minister, quoted by the Dutch news agency ANP.
For Yezilgöz, a possible terrorist attack in retaliation for the destruction of the Koran is a threat to be reckoned with.
“The City of The Hague is responsible for a respectful and inclusive city and distances itself from behaviors that do not contribute to it,” stressed, in turn, the leader of the municipality, Jan van Zanen.
The leader of the far-right PVV party, Geert Wilders, expressed his support for Pegida’s action through the social network X (formerly Twitter).
At the end of January, Wagensveld was filmed leading the same type of demonstration in front of the Dutch Parliament.
At the end of July, two men set fire to a copy of the Koran in front of Parliament in Stockholm, and similar actions were also carried out this year in Denmark.
These incidents provoked condemnation and anger in several Muslim countries.
In response, Sweden decided on Thursday to raise its terror alert level.
A copy of the Koran was burned again on Friday in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, and a woman was arrested as she tried to stop the act by firing a fire extinguisher at anti-Islamic activists, according to international agencies.
Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has already desecrated the Quran in a series of anti-Islamic protests that have sparked outrage in many Muslim countries.
Swedish police allowed her demonstrations, citing freedom of expression, but Momika faces preliminary charges of incitement to hatred.
Source: TSF
