Several demonstrators gathered in front of the al-Amine mosque in downtown Beirut on July 7, 2023, and burnt the Swedish and Israeli flags. (Credit: Nabil Ismail/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's Ministry of Culture suspended cultural coordination with Sweden and Denmark on Monday after Quran burnings took place in both countries over recent weeks, a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed to L'Orient Today.
"We strictly condemn the bad acts against the Holy Quran that took place in your country more than one time," said caretaker Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada in a statement on Monday.
Addressing Sweden and Denmark directly, Mortada said: "You surely know that the act and allowing the act are equal, especially that, if it wasn't for officials authorities on your side allowing the matter, the hideous act wouldn't have happened in the first place."
On June 28, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, burned a few pages of the Quran in front of Stockholm's largest mosque on the first day of Eid al-Adha, a major Islamic holiday. The act received a lot of backlash in Iraq and spurred momentum for Quran burnings in both Denmark and Sweden.
Denmark and Sweden have said they deplore the burning of Islam's holy book but cannot prevent it under their laws protecting free speech. Denmark condemned the burnings as "provocative and shameful acts" but said it does not have the power to block non-violent demonstrators.
Last week, to protest the Quran burnings, Iraqi protestors set the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad ablaze
In Lebanon, the Ministry of Culture spokesperson told L'Orient Today that the severed cultural coordination includes exchanging specialties in all things related to culture, theater, books, and museums.