An anti-Islam activist tore up and trampled on a copy of the Qu'ran during a protest on Friday outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague, Netherlands.
Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Dutch branch of the anti-Islamic movement "Pegida", started jumping on Islam's holy book and then tore it up. Wagensveld, accompanied by two other people, wore a black T-shirt with the words "Islam is no better than Nazism".
https://twitter.com/BobHGL/status/1692614212386705536
The Dutch authorities had condemned the demonstration before it took place but made it clear that it was not legally possible to ban it.
Pegida voorman Edwin Wagensveld heeft vandaag het fascistische, racistische geschrift de koran verscheurd. Media van slag, moslimorganisaties van slag, moslims traditioneel aan het stenigen geslagen. De islam is een criminele organisatie die op wereldoverheersing uit is. pic.twitter.com/YvrwkvBl3d
— Wil van den Broek (@Citaat_) August 18, 2023
The Hague police had, meanwhile, blocked access to the city centre, where the Turkish embassy is located, where around 50 counter-demonstrators had gathered to protest Wagensveld's actions. Some even threw stones at him, causing the police to intervene.
When the head of Pegida tore pages of the Qu'ran and tried to leave, counter-protesters chanted the familiar "Allahu Akbar". They moved threateningly towards him before being stopped by about 20 police officers.
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