"Those who burn books will in the end burn people," Jewish and Muslim communities in Sweden have warned, quoting famous German Jewish author Heinrich Heine following recent burnings of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.In a reference to book burnings in Nazi Germany, the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities and the AMANAH Muslim Jewish Partnership of Trust said in a joint statement on Wednesday that book burning often indicates the beginning of the normalization of hatred towards a group in society."Historically against Jews, now against Muslims," said the statement, warning that racists and extremists are once again "allowed to abuse democracy and Freedom of Speech in order to normalize hate against one of the religious minorities in Sweden, by burning Quran."
Drawing attention to the intensified attacks on Jewish and Muslim people in the country, they expressed concern.
There are two strange things about this story.
One is that, while there is certainly plenty of right-wing antisemitism in Sweden, a great deal of it is fueled by the immigrant Muslim community there. I hope that behind the scenes of Jewish-Muslim cooperation against hate, the Jewish community is not sweeping Muslim antisemitism under the rug.
The other is that I cannot find this story in any Swedish media. In fact, the only place it is being reported is Turkey. I have no idea why.
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