Jordanians hold protest outside Swedish embassy denouncing burning of Koran

AMMAN — Jordanians on Monday evening staged a protest in front of the Swedish embassy in Amman condemning the burning of the Holy Koran in the Scandinavian country.

The outrage came after Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital of Stockholm on Saturday.

In Jordan, the Islamic Action Front together with other parties took a strong stance against the Koran-burning incident and took part in the Amman protest.

In a statement made available to The Jordan Times, Murad Adaileh, Secretary General of the Islamic Action Front, affirmed that all Muslims reject any prejudice to the Islamic faith, and that this offence “will not be tolerated nor condoned”.

“It is an intolerable act. It is an insult to all Muslims around the world, and is not freedom of expression,” said Saba Ahmad, a Jordanian who took part in the protest which started around 7:30pm on Monday.

Speaking with The Jordan Times, Sultan S. who participated in the protest said that “what happened is disrespectful and is a violation to the sanctity of the Koran and Islamic faith.”

He stressed that such practices spread hatred. “It is not logical that when every time Muslims and Islam are attacked the excuse is that the practice is being done under the pretext of freedom of expression,” he said.

Many Jordanians also protested on social media. On Twitter Sarah Husseini wrote: “This is true barbarism and a clear act of provocation.”