Following the burning of the Quran at a protest in Stockholm, Muslims throughout the Middle East and North Africa are urging a boycott of Swedish goods.
Following calls from Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa to boycott Swedish goods, the diplomatic fallout over the burning of the Quran outside a mosque in Sweden now poses a threat of escalating into a trade war.
A 37-year-old Iraqi refugee set fire to pages of the Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque last month because he wants the book to be outlawed. The fact that a Swedish court approved the protest is a major source of controversy.
A number of Islamic states have voiced their disapproval of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for deciding to permit anti-Islam protests to take place. Erdogan added in broadcast remarks, “We will eventually teach the haughty Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought.”
The conclusion of the Hajj trip and the holy holiday of Eid al-Adha were both coincident with the incident, according to Saudi Arabia. “These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
