Updated 18:54 | Published at 6:53 p.m
MALMÖ. Many in Rosengård are angry the day after the car fires and the riots.
On the guys who burned the cars, on the police who came late and on the Koran burner.
– I was very worried. I thought the gas station next door was going to explode, because a car was on fire nearby, says Roya Malekzada, 26.
In the middle of Sunday, Salwan Momika burned a Koran inside Malmö, which led to a commotion. On Sunday evening there was a riot in Rosengård.
28-year-old Hiba Monzer tried to stop the car fires, but failed:
– After the Koran burning, it started to be written on Tiktok that people would rebel. Around 7pm young people gathered, but I don’t think they came from here. At first they did nothing, then they threw rockets at the cars. When the police came, they threw stones and bicycles at the police cars, says Hiba.
She and another woman tried to talk the guys out:
– I almost managed to convince some of them to stop, but then a guy came and said “don’t be a coward, come back”. Then they turned around and continued.
– I noticed that they were not so convinced of what they were doing. It just felt like they thought it was fun and action, says Hiba Monzer.
She thinks it was just 7-10 young, masked guys setting cars on fire and throwing rocks.
Had their cars destroyed: “Unnecessary”
Others that Aftonbladet spoke to also say that the perpetrators were few. One of them is Mohammad Omar, 27:
– They were 14-15 years old. My dad’s car caught fire, his insurance doesn’t cover the damage. This was incredibly unnecessary. Nobody wins from this, only the Sweden Democrats, he says.
Roya Malekzada, 26, also believes she has had her black Volkswagen Golf destroyed. But she is not sure, because the police have blocked off the garage where it is.
– I think it is brought up. Luckily I have half insurance on it.
Many others in the area only have their cars insured.
“Angry at the police”
Small boys bend down under the police cordon and try to look down into the garage, which is one floor down. Several burnt-out cars remain there in the darkness.
Roya has just come down with a pram in the sunshine in the yard where the fire smoke ravaged just a few hours ago:
– I am so angry with the police. I called several times when I saw that the guys were messy, yet it took a long time before the police came. If the police had come earlier, the guys would not have dared to set fire to the cars in the garage, says Roya Malekzada.
Rosengård has been subject to riots and burned cars many times over the years. But for Roya, it was the first time:
– They were young guys who were 15-16 years old. I was very worried. I thought the smoke would hurt the kids, and I thought the guys would run up to us. Also, I thought the gas station next door was going to explode, because a car was on fire nearby.
Anger at the police: “Weak”
When the police came, they were too passive, Roya thinks:
– The policemen who came in the end just sat in their cars, they didn’t come out. Why are they sending such weak policemen, there must be strong policemen who can stop everyone.
At two o’clock in the morning she called her brother, who came and drove her and the children away to their mother and father. She didn’t dare to stay in the apartment anymore:
– I don’t believe in the police anymore, they have abandoned us, says Roya Malekzada.
Fida Daabas, 53, has lived in Sweden for 35 years. She holds a Koran in her hands and is also upset with the police:
– People do not feel safe. Yesterday, the fire brigade did not come until all the cars had caught fire. And the police should have acted earlier. Why do the police come and just drive around with their cars, like they were walking around. Why don’t they protect people, she says in Arabic.
Fida is angry at the guys who burned cars, but above all at the Koran burner:
– It is not right to set fire to cars. But that’s because he set fire to the Koran, that he was given permission to incite people, says Fida Daabas.
“They think they are right”
Mahmood Iskander, 49, is also upset with the guys who set fire to cars. But mostly on the Koran burner:
– It’s too damned that they set fire to cars. But the kids who lit the fire think they have a right to do it, because the Koran burner was harassing their religion, he was harassing Islam. Both think they were right, but actually both think wrong, says Mahmood, who thinks Sweden must ban Koran burnings.
This Monday, Mahmood did not come to work as a painter, because he overslept:
– All the smoke came into my apartment. I got a headache, so I couldn’t fall asleep until half past six this morning.
But during the night he at least managed to drive his car out of the garage before it caught fire:
– I told my neighbors, “move your cars, it will happen in our garage”. Me and a few others had time to drive our cars out before they lit a fire, says Mahmood Iskander.