Burning the Koran has become so common in Sweden this year that it doesn’t always even make the headlines.
The destruction of Muslim holy books has complicated Sweden’s NATO process, weakened Sweden’s relations with Muslim countries and ultimately worsened the country’s internal security.
An Iraqi has been the most diligent in setting Korans on fire Salwan Momika. He moved to Sweden two years ago and lives there with a temporary residence permit.
Momika first became the center of media attention when she burned a Koran outside a Stockholm mosque on June 28.
Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) points out that the Stockholm mosque is the largest, most important and most comprehensive mosque for Sunni Muslims in Sweden. The place of the expression was therefore carefully considered, and so was the time: it was the first day of Id al-Adha, one of the biggest Muslim holidays. Momika admits to DN that she chose the place and time to provoke the most.
In the video below, you can see how Salwan Momika burned the Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm on June 28.
Momika organized her latest rapture in Malmö over the weekend, and there the burning of the Koran led to violent riotingburning cars and stoning police officers.
Half of the demonstrations have been cancelled
At the end of August Momika asked the police for permission for 12 new demonstrations and got them.
Swedish radio (SR) unexpectedly announced yesterday, Wednesday, that Momika has canceled the remaining six statements. Six Korans remain unburned. SR’s information is based on the police’s information, and it does not provide more detailed reasons for Momika’s change of heart.
However, Momika has received a considerable amount of criticism in recent weeks, and it has also bitten her wallet.
News agency TT said in mid-August that Momika has earned money by burning Korans. He has made live broadcasts of them on his Tiktok account and earned about 1,000–3,000 kroner, i.e. about 90–270 euros, as donations from viewers for each broadcast.
– I use Tiktok to explain to Swedes that Islam and the Koran are two dangerous things. What I do is philosophical and informative, it is not hate, Momika claimed to TT.
After the review, Tiktok closed the donation function of Momika’s account about a week ago.
In the video below, Salwan Momika treads on the Koran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm in July.
The Sweden Democrats dismissed the Koran burner
The second blow was ideological.
Salwan Momika has belonged to the Swedish Democrats party and has expressed his desire to strive as the party’s MP.
The party said a few days ago that it had fired “a Koran-burner” from its ranks. It did not name its dismissed member, but it is generally assumed in Sweden that it was Momika.
– In our opinion, you should immediately stop provoking the world’s Muslims by publicly burning Korans. In our opinion, it is not constructive, and there is a danger that it will lead the development of our freedom of speech in the wrong direction, the party wrote in an open letter for the Koran burner.
Momika has not commented on her possible dismissal from the party, nor on whether it had an impact on the decision to end the demonstrations.
Momika has connections to Iran
Momika has connections to Iran, the newspaper reported Dagens Nyheter yesterday wednesday. Iran expert interviewed by the magazine Rouzbeh Parsi does not rule out the possibility that Iran directed the burning of Momika’s Korans.
When ISIS took over large areas of Iraq, including Momika’s hometown of Mosul in northern Iraq, Momika joined the Iranian-backed paramilitary People’s Mobilization Force (PMF). According to Momika, he belonged to the armed groups under the PMF for a short time and did not know that they were supported by Iran.
Researched Christian militia groups in Iraq Carl Vahtra knock out DN in another article Momika claims that he did not know about Iran’s support for militia forces.
– The symbolism and rhetoric used by the militias left no room for doubt. I could have stopped a child on the street and asked who supports these militias, and the child would have known, Vahtra tells DN.
However, Vahtra does not believe that Iran controls Momika’s operations in Sweden. He estimates that there is no trust in Momika in Iran. Momika herself denies in DN that she is being controlled.
– I don’t take orders from anyone. I am a thinker and a revolutionary who worships Sweden. I want to protect it from the supremacy of Islam, like in my country.