Sweden protest occurs after three mosque fires in one week

Swedish anti-racism campaigners have staged a large rally in central Stockholm after three arson attacks on mosques. Demonstraters rallied for support through leaflets saying phrases such as "Don't touch my mosque" at the 1,000 strong rally outside parliament. Outside of Stockholm, a petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in Uppsala (located in eastern Sweden).

In late December, a mosque was set ablaze in Esloev (located in southern Sweden) and earlier an arson attack on a mosque in Eskilstuna injured five people. On Friday anti-racism rallies also took place in the cities of Malmo and Gothenburg. The cultural problem is so prominent that in Stockholm Sweden's Culture Minister Alice Bah Kuhnke said the government would launch a national campaign to attempt to counter modern Islamophobia. Kuhnke's campagin aims to educate Swedish citizens about the reality of Islam in order to curb prejudice.

Thus far, the Swedish police force has yet to make any arrests in response to the arson attacks. Kuhnke made a statement describing the attacks as an attempt to intimidate and diminish muslim citizens and that the community cannot let itself be intimidated. Immigration has become a major Swedish concern as of late as a result of the fact that Sweden accepts more asylum seekers per capita than any European country. Anti-immigration Swedish democrats aim to cut the number of asylum seekers brought into Sweden by 90%.

This social prejudice is an example of modern bigotry plaguing Europe as a whole. Anti-semitism is also rising in nations such as France and Germany. The fact that these cultural attacks are occurring in arguably the most liberal region of the world speaks to the resurgence of ethnocentrism in the digital age.