1 / 3Photo: Oscar Olsson/TT
Social media form digital echo chambers for disinformation about Sweden in the Muslim world. The so-called LVU campaign has already paved the way.
– Small things gain more power when the image of Sweden as Islamophobic is already consolidated, says political scientist Evin Ismail.
Iraq has broken diplomatic relations with Sweden after Thursday’s Koran action outside the country’s embassy in Stockholm.
In Iraqi media Sweden is alleged to be behind Koran burnings and in social media accusations of Sweden being anti-Muslim are pouring in. The platforms, notes Aron Lund, analyst at the Total Defense Research Institute (FOI), have a radicalizing and inciting effect.
– I think it has a particular impact when, in this case, images of what is happening are spread, including this man standing in Stockholm stomping, setting fire and putting bacon on the Koran, and there are policemen protecting him, he says.
– These are very shocking images for many people that many people do not have the slightest understanding of. In the Middle East, where people are both much more religious and have much less freedom of speech, there are very few who think it is a legitimate expression of freedom of speech.
“Many don’t understand”
Anders Persson, lecturer in political science at Linnaeus University with a particular focus on the Middle East, is of a similar reasoning.
– Many do not understand that you have the right to do something like this in accordance with the constitution, that is why you blame the government or the whole country, he says.
– Many Muslims also see it as a type of insult linked to colonialism and Muslim subjugation – and in the same way that Rasmus Paludan enjoys inciting Muslims, people can enjoy giving back.
Rasmus Paludan, far-right politician and provocateur, has been driving around the country and burning books. According to Persson, the fact that Iraq is cutting ties only now shows that the reaction is primarily about domestic political events.
– Paludan burned a hundred Korans in Sweden, it produced almost no echo at all in the outside world. Then this Swedish-Iraqi comes and burns one, and you get a huge outcry. In my world, it is driven more by dynamism and incitement in Iraq than by developments in Sweden.
He compares it to the publication of the Mohammed caricatures in Jyllands-Posten in 2005. Then the strong reactions with stormed embassies, terror threats and boycotts of Danish goods only came when religious leaders raised the issue several months later.
“Using everything”
The decision to allow Thursday’s gathering in front of Iraq’s embassy led to Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad being stormed by supporters of the influential Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
Evin Ismail, lecturer in political science at the Norwegian Defense Academy, describes al-Sadr as a skilled populist who attracts mainly young, uneducated men. His goal, she says, is to become Iraq’s leader.
– As I see it, it is a deliberate manipulation to make it appear that Sweden is against Islam, not that we are a secular country where this kind of thing is not as outrageous as in Iraq. He takes advantage of this to increase his popularity.
Disinformation that is spread in social media is well helped by an already elaborated image of Sweden as a country that oppresses Muslims. Not least the so-called LVU campaign, where Swedish social services allegedly kidnap and forcibly convert Muslim children, plays a decisive role, according to Evin Ismail.
– It is clear that the history of social services has reinforced the Koran burnings. The image of Sweden as Islamophobic has been consolidated and has become stronger.
THE FACTS Muqtada al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr comes from a highly respected Iraqi Shia family. His father was the Grand Ayatollah and is suspected of having been killed by Saddam Hussein’s regime. Unlike many other Shiite leaders who went into exile during Saddam’s time, including to Iran, al-Sadr’s family remained in Iraq.
Muqtada al-Sadr was the leader of the dreaded Mahdimilis. In 2003, he led an insurgency against both the US forces and Sunni groups.
Muqtada al-Sadr is a nationalist and populist. His followers come from poor Shia areas such as the suburb of Sadr City, with around 2.5 million inhabitants.
Source: UI, Chatham House, SKL International
Read moreFACTS Attention Koran burnings in Sweden
Malmö August 2020
A demonstration on Stortorget in Malmö leads to six people being arrested on suspicion of inciting a group of people after kicking a Koran. A Koran is also set on fire on the outskirts of Rosengård.
Violence breaks out that evening. About 300 people gather on Amiralsgatan in Rosengård and fireworks, firecrackers and sparklers are set off. The police are subjected to stone pelting and some are injured.
Easter 2022
The Easter rally in several cities in Sweden starts after Rasmus Paludan, party leader of the Danish far-right party Stram Kurs, wanted to burn the Koran in several Swedish cities.
During the Easter weekend he visited – or announced that he would visit – Linköping, Norrköping, Örebro, Landskrona, Malmö and the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, which was followed by violent riots with vandalism and violence mainly directed at the police.
Over a hundred police officers were injured in connection with the riots.
Three people were injured in connection with the police firing warning shots.
Turkish Embassy January 2023
At the end of January, Rasmus Paludan burns a Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
Protests break out in Turkey and several other countries. Sweden’s embassy in the country is temporarily closed during the protests.
During the spring, permission is denied for several additional Koran burnings. However, according to the legal review that was carried out, the police did not have the right to refuse the permits.
Mosque Södermalm June 2023
A private person sets fire to a Koran outside the mosque at Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm.
This time, protests broke out in Baghdad, among other places, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Swedish embassy and also entered the building.
Sweden’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia is summoned to the country’s foreign ministry and Pope Francis condemns the Koran burning.
Embassy of Iraq in Stockholm, July 2023
Two people burned pages from a Koran outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm. the act causes Iraq to break diplomatic contacts with Sweden and stop all business with Swedish companies in the country. Earlier, the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was also stormed by demonstrators who started a fire.
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