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After the murder of a French history professor, a new dispute has broken out over the Muhammad cartoons between France and countries of the Islamic world. After the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would crack down on Islamists. At the same time, he had defended the exhibition of Muhammad cartoons as an act of freedom of expression.
Well warn the French Foreign Ministry of possible attacks on citizens who are in Islamic countries. The French should stay away from protests against the publication of Muhammad cartoons and avoid public gatherings.
“Extreme vigilance is advised, especially when traveling and in places visited by tourists or expat communities,” the State Department wrote on its website. Specifically, security advisories were drafted for Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Iraq, and Turkey.
The warnings were preceded by complaints and protests from various Islamic countries. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and more recently Iran, among others, are increasing the pressure on France. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a boycott of French products. Saudi Arabia condemned the cartoons insulting Muhammad and any attempt to link Islam with terrorism.
Iran summoned the French ambassador on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Mohamed Jawad Sarif had previously criticized the insult of 1.9 billion Muslims and what is sacred to them as “opportunistic abuse of freedom of expression” on Twitter.
Also in France, Muslims recently reacted with outrage to Macron’s remarks. The Muslim umbrella organization CFCM tweeted that the freedom to caricature “was not absolute.” At the service of public order and fraternity in France, it must be “restrained and brought into a reasonable relationship.”
The association also criticized that cartoons like that of the Prophet Muhammad should not “be imposed on everyone.” This is the case when drawings are shown to children at school or cartoons are “projected on public buildings.” In the cities of Toulouse and Montpellier, in the south of France, the regional administration had Muhammad cartoons projected on their buildings after Paty’s beheading.
Paty was killed by an Islamist in a Paris suburb in mid-October. The 18-year-old suspect with Chechen roots was shot and killed by police. According to the investigation, history teacher Paty was murdered for showing, among other things, cartoons of Mohammed in a class on the subject of freedom of expression.
