Qurans Burned Outside Egyptian, Turkish Embassies in Denmark

Facts

• A small group of demonstrators from the right-wing ultra-nationalist Danish Patriots set fire to copies of the Quran, the holiest text in Islam, in front of the Egyptian and Turkish embassies on Tuesday in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, sparking outrage from the Egyptian and Turkish governments.¹
• Tuesday's demonstration came a day after the same group burned a copy of the Quran on Monday and last week in front of the Iraqi embassy. Two such incidents have taken place in Sweden over the past month.²
• The Danish government has condemned the burnings as “provocative and shameful acts” but says it doesn't have the power to block non-violent demonstrators, as Quran burning is technically protected under Denmark's laws regarding free speech.³
• The Iraqi government condemned Monday's Quran burning, saying that such acts pose "a real threat to the peaceful coexistence of societies." Other Muslim-majority countries, such as Yemen, Turkey, and Iran, have also condemned protests that involve burning the Quran.⁴
• Turkey also called on Denmark to take necessary measures to prevent further such incidents. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday, summoned Sweden's charge d'Affaires to condemn the desecration of the Qurans.⁵
• Muslims consider the Quran to be the literal word of God and generally view any intentional damage or disrespect towards it as deeply offensive.⁴

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²VOA, ³The National, ⁴BBC News, and ⁵Middle East Monitor.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Spectator (UK). Though the intentional desecration of a holy text is certainly an unsavory act, Europe doesn't have blasphemy laws for a reason: to facilitate a free society. Legislation that would threaten said freedom of expression is a slippery slope that inadvertently demeans Muslims by singling them out as a community that requires special protection from free, open discussion.
• Left narrative, as provided by Euronews. Just because something is legal doesn't make it right. Although freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate are two of the pillars of a liberal democracy, and neither Sweden nor Denmark has blasphemy laws, European nations must continue to debate the limits of these freedoms.
• Narrative C, as provided by Egypt Today. Desecration of holy texts isn't free speech; it's hate speech. All these acts seek to do is provoke Muslims both in Europe and outside it and have no place in a "free" society. Bigotry only makes the world worse and stimulates hatred, which only serves the agendas of extremists, leading to the goals of their malevolent ideologies.