(Brussels Times) The leader of the Dutch branch of anti-Muslim organisation Pegida, Edwin Wagensveld, burnt a Koran in the city of Arnhem (in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border) on Saturday afternoon. An earlier attempt by Wagensveld in […]
(Türkiye Newspaper) A woman named Jade Sandberg burned the Holy Quran with a cross in her hand accompanied by police protection in Stockholm — the capital of Sweden. This is not the first instance when the Quran is targeted in an act […]
(Dutch News) At least 10 planned terrorist attacks in Europe were discovered and halted by western security services in 2023, the Dutch security service AIVD said on Tuesday. People were arrested in the Netherlands in four of the foiled attacks, which ranged from concrete preparations to […]
(AP) Security will be tight during next month’s Eurovision Song Contest in the southern Sweden city of Malmo, police said Wednesday, citing demonstrations that could lead to [unrest] and a heightened threat of terrorism in the Scandinavian country. “The security is going […]
(Anadolu) Salwan Momika, an Iraqi Christian known for publicly burning copies of the Holy Quran, is back in Sweden after rejection of his asylum request in Norway and spending two weeks in prison. The Swedish Migration Agency had revoked Momika’s residency permit, […]
(Anadolu) Salwan Momika, an Iraqi Christian known for publicly burning copies of Islam’s holy book [the] Quran in Sweden, has been arrested in Norway, with authorities saying his presence poses a threat to the Nordic country, local media reported on Thursday. In […]
(NL Times) The judge ruling on the preliminary injunction adjusted the area ban that Arnhem Mayor Ahmed Marcouch imposed on Pegida leader Edwin Wagensveld. The ban is now valid until April 10. The original area ban would have prevented Wagensveld from stepping […]
(AP) An Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden told a newspaper on Wednesday that he would seek asylum in neighboring Norway in the wake of a deportation order by authorities in Stockholm. Salwan Momika, 37, has staged several […]
(NL Times) Arnhem Mayor Ahmed Marcouch is calling on national lawmakers to ban the public desecration of religious and philosophical symbols and books, saying the restriction on free expression is necessary to preserve the democratic rule of law in the Netherlands. The […]
(NL Times) A 38-year-old woman was arrested in Arnhem on Saturday because she announced that she wanted to tear up a Quran. The woman from Vorden in Gelderland was released after a short time. However, she was banned from the building, as […]
(Reuters) The threat of terrorism in Denmark and against its interests abroad has risen because of Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza and a series of Koran burnings in Denmark last year, the Danish security and intelligence service PET said on […]
(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday said two suspected supporters of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) jihadist militia had been arrested in the central German state of Thuringia. Prosecutors allege that the two Afghan nationals had hatched a plot to carry out an attack […]
(AP) Sweden’s Security Service said Thursday it had arrested four people on suspicion of preparing “terrorist offenses” with links to Islamic extremism and organized crime. The service did not say where or when the alleged attacks were to have taken place, but […]
(Jerusalem Post) Salwan Momika, a refugee from Iraq who has been publicly critical of Islam, filmed himself on Sunday burning pages of the Quran and shared the footage on his X account. “During every demonstration I hold, I light my cigarette with […]
(Jerusalem Post) Radical Islam is running rampant in Belgium as the European country takes a pro-Hamas and anti-Israel stance, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday night in response to an imam reciting a Quranic verse about warfare […]
(Jerusalem Post) An imam at the Belgian parliament last week began reciting a verse from the Quran that explicitly calls on Muslims to kill and take Jews captive. The Quran excerpt is verse 33:26 from the Al-Ahzab surah (chapter). It translates to: […]
(NL Times) PVV leader Geert Wilders says he wanted to stand up for the freedom of all Dutch people, including those with a Muslim background. He thinks it is “fine” that they visit mosques and read the Koran and calls that “a […]
(Anadolu) The Swedish Migration Court has confirmed that an Iraqi man who staged a series of public Quran burnings last year will be deported, local media reported Wednesday. Immigration authorities refused to extend Salwan Momika’s residence permit last October, but the order […]
(AFP) A Norwegian court has jailed for 19 months a woman who chased and then rammed a vehicle carrying an anti-Islam extremist who had just burned a Koran. The woman was found guilty of an attempt to inflict serious bodily harm, according […]
(NL Times) Arnhem Mayor Ahmed Marcouch plans to firmly press national politicians for a national ban on Quran burnings. He thinks such a burning is “a poisonous act that leads to others being provoked,” he said on Wednesday during a City Council […]
(NL Times) Edwin Wagensveld, the head of the Dutch branch of anti-Islam organization Pegida, was injured during a demonstration in Arnhem where he wanted to burn a copy of the Quran. Despite the intervention of the riot police, counter-demonstrators managed to attack […]
(AP) Far-right Dutch election winner Geert Wilders made a key concession to potential coalition partners on Monday, announcing that he’s withdrawing legislation that he proposed in 2018 that calls for a ban on mosques and the Quran. The move came a day […]
(European Conservative) The decision taken by the left-liberal majority in the Danish parliament, the Folketing, late last week to ban public Quran burning has garnered sharp criticism from both domestic politicians and political leaders in neighboring Scandinavian countries, with many arguing the […]
(AP) A new law was passed in Denmark’s parliament on Thursday that makes it illegal to desecrate any holy text in the country, after a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists sparked angry demonstrations […]
(Local) Russian intelligence last year suggested staging Quran burnings, as well as mounting protests and spraying graffiti insulting Turkey’s president, as a way of delaying Turkey’s ratification [of] Sweden’s Nato bid, a Finnish documentary has claimed. The documentary cites the Dossier Center, […]
(Yle) Russia made plans to disrupt Finland and Sweden’s accession to joining Nato, according to a secret intelligence report obtained by an Yle MOT investigation. The report found that a Russian intelligence service planned to organise disruption campaigns disguised as demonstrations before […]
(AFP) Denmark will deploy army units to protect Jewish and Israeli sites in Copenhagen in response to an increase in anti-Semitism amid the war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, government officials said Sunday. “The conflict in the Middle East has […]
(NL Times) Many PVV voters don’t support the far-right party’s more radical views — “pushing back Islam” and the Netherlands leaving the European Union. They expect their party will have to water down its standpoints in order to govern, and most are […]
(AFP) Denmark’s parliament on Tuesday will debate a bill to ban Koran burnings, after a string of desecrations of Islam’s holy book sparked anger in Muslim countries. Nearly 1,000 protesters attempted to march to the Danish embassy in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone […]
(Brussels Times) The head of the Dutch anti-Muslim organization Pegida, Edwin Wagensveld, tore up a second copy of the Holy Koran on Thursday afternoon in court at the opening of his trial in The Hague. He then left the courtroom. Wagensveld is […]
(AFP) Denmark’s government on Friday presented a modified version of its bill to ban Koran burnings, following criticism that its first draft limited freedom of expression and would be difficult to enforce. The Scandinavian nation announced plans for a ban after a […]
(AP) Sweden reportedly withdrew the residence permit of an Iraqi man who staged a series of public desecrations of the Quran this year but put his deportation on hold, saying his life would be in danger if he were returned to Iraq. […]
(Politico) Outside Sweden’s national sports arena, two framed football shirts sit beneath a flag at half-mast, a memorial to the two fans killed by a terrorist in Brussels on Monday night, and a reminder to passers-by to be vigilant for follow-up attacks. […]
(AP) The killing of two Swedish citizens in an attack ahead of a soccer match in Brussels has shocked the Scandinavian country, although the government has been warning for months that Swedes were at greater risk since a recent string of public […]
(Local) A Swedish court has found a man guilty of agitation against an ethnic group after he, among other things, lit the Quran on fire in a video featuring music associated with white-power terrorism. It comes after a spate of Quran burnings […]
(Middle East Eye) A copy of the Quran was burnt in Illinois by a 16-year-old high school student, and rights organisations say it raises concerns about the India-based Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) paramilitary organisation’s influence in the US. While the […]
(AFP) German prosecutors Wednesday charged two Syrian brothers with allegedly planning an attack inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group at a church in Sweden over Koran burning incidents in the country. The two brothers, identified only as 29-year-old An. K. and […]
(Anadolu) Five Danish opposition parties announced on Tuesday that they will mobilize as many of their MPs as possible to oppose the government’s bill to criminalize defaming religious symbols, including the Muslim holy book, Quran. The bill is expected to be moved […]
(European Conservative) A Swedish man faces trial this week on charges of incitement to racial hatred for the burning of a copy of the Islamic Quran in what could become a precedent-setting case, as prosecutors have been reluctant to pursue charges against […]
(Anadolu) The leader of PEGIDA, an Islamophobic group, once again tore down a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, in front of the Turkish Embassy in the Netherlands on Saturday. Tearing down more copies of the Quran outside the embassies […]
(AFP) Muslim leaders addressing the United Nations on Tuesday berated the West over burnings of the Koran, denouncing the acts protected as free speech as discriminatory. Sweden has seen a series of burnings of the Islamic holy book, with the government voicing […]
(AFP) Baghdad has asked Sweden to extradite Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, who stoked international outrage by desecrating the Koran, he and his lawyer told AFP on Tuesday. “Iraq wants him extradited because he burnt a Koran outside the mosque (in Stockholm) in […]
(Anadolu) A leading Muslim group on Saturday condemned the desecration of the Quran outside the Turkish House in New York City, which houses Türkiye’s consulate general and UN mission. “We condemn this apparent attempt to desecrate the Quran — a sacred text […]
(Anadolu) The US State Department on Friday described the act of desecrating religious texts as “abhorrent” when asked about the desecration of the Quran outside the Turkish Center in New York. “We are not tracking the details on this specific incident and […]
(Anadolu) An unidentified person threw a copy of the Muslims’ holy book, the Quran, to the ground and kicked it outside of the Turkish House in New York on Friday morning. The Quran was desecrated at 10:46 a.m. local time (1446 GMT), […]
(European Conservative) After her art exhibition was shut down over safety concerns by a Swedish cultural centre, artist Sadaf Ahmadi has been invited to Brussels by Sweden Democrats (SD) MEP Charlie Weimers to display her sculptures of women wearing the Islamic chador. […]
(Anadolu) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that attacks on the Quran cannot be “defended with the excuse of freedom of expression” and that such acts “target social peace and stability” during talks with a delegation from the US Council of […]
(AP) Clashes erupted in an immigrant neighborhood in Sweden’s third largest city after an anti-Muslim protester set fire to a copy of the Quran, police said Monday. Police in Malmo said they were pelted with rocks and dozens of cars were set […]
(AFP) Swedish police on Sunday arrested two people and detained around 10 people after a violent riot broke out at a protest involving a burning of the Koran, police said. The protest was organised by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, whose protests — […]
(Anadolu) At least half of Denmark supports a recent government proposal that intends to make Quran burning an illegal act, revealed a survey. With a sample size of 1,000 people, the survey, conducted recently by Voxmeter on behalf of Ritzau, asked people […]
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