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Macron claims to understand the feelings of Muslims.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron clarified several statements that provoked Muslims around the world about Islam and the cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. Macron claimed to understand the feelings of Muslims who were shocked by the cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
However, he added, the ‘radical Islam’ he was trying to fight was a threat to everyone, especially Muslims. Macron’s comments in an exclusive interview on Aljazirah, Posted on Saturday, October 31, it comes amid growing tensions between the French government and the Muslim world over the cartoon.
“The cartoons are not government projects, but come from free and independent newspapers that are not affiliated with the government,” Macron said.
He was referring to the recent reissue of a Charlie Hebdo magazine cartoon to mark the opening of the trial for the deadly attacks on its staff in 2015. The Paris-based publication’s cartoon was cited as the motive for the assault.
Macron defended the ‘right to blaspheme’ under the right to free speech at the time of the September reissue, weeks before he faced a strong backlash from Muslim activists on October 2. At the time, Macron claimed in his speech that Islam was in a global crisis and announced his plans to reform Islam to better suit his country’s republican values.
“I will always defend the right to speak, write and draw in my country,” Macron said.
He reiterates his stance on the cartoon after a French teacher, who was showing his students cartoons in class during a debate on freedom of expression, was beheaded by an attacker on 16 October. Last week, this performance was screened in French government buildings.
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