Gulf countries condemn tearing up copy of Holy Quran in Netherlands

The Gulf countries expressed strong condemnation and denunciation of a far-right politician of the Netherlands tearing a copy of the Holy Quran.

On Monday, Edwin Wagensveld shared a video clip on his official Twitter page of him tearing the Quran in front of the parliament building in The Hague.

The video shows the Dutch police standing behind the politician without moving a finger. Wagensveld later burned the torn pages of the Quran in a frying pan.

Gulf countries condemn

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Kuwait on Tuesday condemned Wagensveld’s act.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the act as a provocative step to the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world.

The four countries foreign ministries affirmed their position calling for a need to respect religious symbols and sanctities, to avoid incitement and polarization at a time when the world needs to work together to spread the values ​​of tolerance and coexistence.

GCC condemn

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nayef Al-Hajraf, condemned the burning of the Holy Quran and affirmed its firm position calling on the international community to assume responsibility to stop such unacceptable actions.

This comes days after the far-right Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish hard-line party burned a copy of the Holy Quran near the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital Stockholm under strict police protection on January 21.

This incident sparked widespread Gulf condemnations, amid intense popular calls for a comprehensive commercial boycott of Swedish goods.