In a push towards coexistence, a Jewish leader in Sweden just stood up for the Muslim community, opposing the country's right-wing politicians' decision to ban the Muslim call to prayer (adhan).
Aron Verständig, head of the Stockholm Jewish Community group, expressed concern over the ban, saying that preventing mosques from announcing the call to prayer "would damage integration in the country", according to The Local.
Verständig drew parallels to the treatment of Jews in Sweden in the 1700s, stating that such treatment only stands as a barrier to integration.
"These kind of arguments have occurred throughout history. In Sweden we've always had them: people come here, then there are big demands placed on them in order to fit in, and that's not something that helps integration," he told The Local.
"Rather, what helps integration is if you say to people: welcome to Sweden, here are the laws we have, everyone must follow them regardless, but beyond that, it makes no difference if you're a Muslim, you're a Christian, you're a Jew, whatever your religion is," he added.
This month, the leader of the Christian Democratic party urged local politicians to vote against allowing mosques in Sweden to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer.
Ebba Busch Thor told Swedish Radio News that it's "unreasonable for there to be repeated, institutionalized calls to prayer that proclaim a religious message out over people's private homes."
The controversy began soon after a mosque in Växjö, a town in southern Sweden, issued a request to the police, in which it asked for permission to install a speaker to broadcast adhan from its mosque.
"It's not like there are thousands of mosques asking for calls to prayer in Sweden, it's only one that asked recently and this thing came up, so the whole thing is being exaggerated," Verständig said.
Islamophobia in Europe has been on the rise
The broadcasting of the Muslim adhan has been met with opposition in various communities across Europe where Islam is the religion of the minority of people.
In February, a mosque in Germany was ordered to stop broadcasting call to prayer after a court ruling stated it had "violated the religious rights of Christian couple who live nearly a mile away," according to The Daily Mail.
In 2016, the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – put forward legislation that would forbid mosque muezzins from announcing prayer via loudspeakers.
In 2009, mosques in Switzerland were banned from building minarets following a referendum which saw 57 percent vote in favor of the ban.
It isn't just the adhan that has sparked controversy across right-wing leaders in Europe. It's the existence of Muslims altogether ... and it's Islamophobia at its worst.
In 2017, thousands of Europeans marched in support of an "Islamic Holocaust" which took place in Warsaw, Poland.