I don’t approve of the burning of any book, particularly the Qur’an. I believe that the Qur’an should be read carefully, and reread, and thoroughly understood. But the whole world seems to have forgotten that acquiescing to violent intimidation and bullying will only encourage more violent intimidation and bullying. Only by standing up to the bully can he be compelled to stand down. And so Norway, and the rest of the West, will see quite a bit more jihad violence. Why? Because actions of this kind show jihadis that it works.
An update on this story. “Norwegian Police Ordered to Stop Quran Burnings out of ‘Concern’ Over Retaliation Attacks,” Sputnik, November 21, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A new interpretation of the hate speech law, partly grounded in the fear of revenge, means that the police shall intervene against the violation of religious symbols, such as the Quran.
A recent instance of Quran burning by Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN) in the city of Kristiansand, which some called Norway’s first, has set off a passionate debate on the acceptance of such actions and the perceived collision between the freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
As the police ultimately intervened to stop SIAN’s demonstration amid a brawl between activists and their opponents, they were acting on a new explicit order from Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.
“The violation of the Quran could, in a given context, be a violation of Criminal Code section on hate speech”, Bjørnland said, as quoted by the broadcaster.
Bjørnland said that instances of setting fire to all religious symbols must be handled equally and correctly.
“The message is ‘if you still do it, we will stop it’”, Bjørnland said, admitting that the assessment of whether to intervene in the freedom of expression and assembly is a difficult issue. “Everyone should speak up as long as they do not violate laws, in this case the Criminal Code. We are not an opinion police, but we have guidance, and when we see violations of the given guidelines, we intervene”.
An important reason for the new interpretation is a threat assessment from the Police Security Service (PST) that public Quran burnings could lead to serious revenge attacks against Norway.
“It is true that in recent months PST has been concerned about the consequences a Quran burning can have. We see it as a trigger event for violent actions, and have provided a description of the situation to the police”, PST senior adviser Martin Bernsen said, as quoted by NRK.
However, the police order is not solely aimed at anti-Islamic provocations, but deals with all kinds of religious symbols being desecrated….
Kristiansand Mayor Harald Furre, who was present during SIAN’s demonstration, condemned the actions.
“I wish the police had intervened earlier and prevented the ignition”, Furre said….