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PARIS, KOMPAS.com – French President Emmanuel Macron said he could understand why Muslims were shocked by the controversial cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
But in an interview with the station Al Jazeera, she said she could never accept justification for violent action BBC on Sunday (01/11/2020).
The comments came after the deadly knife attack on a church in Nice, which killed 3 people and was allegedly planned by Islamic groups in the country in more than a month.
Disputes with various Muslim countries have grown over the subject of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.
Also read: Friends for 30 years tell about victims of attacks in the French church
Some have called for a boycott of French products because Macron defended the right to use the image in the context of freedom of expression.
In early October, a teacher was beheaded on the outskirts of Paris after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to some of his students.
Meanwhile, the Tunisian news agency reported that two people had been detained there for questioning in connection with the attack in Nice, which was carried out by a Tunisian.
The French interior minister said there would be more attacks by militants.
On Saturday (10/31/2020), an Orthodox priest was shot and wounded in the city of Lyon, although no details were known about his attacker.
Also read: 3 suspects in attacks on French churches arrested, police investigate links with perpetrators
What did Macron say?
The French president said he believed a strong reaction came from Muslim countries because people mistakenly thought he supported the cartoons, or even that they were produced by the French state.
“I understand the feelings expressed and I respect them. But you have to understand my role now, it is to do 2 things, this call for calm and also to protect these rights,” he said, referring to the freedom of expression of those cartoons.
“Today in the world there are people who distort Islam and in the name of this religion they claim to defend, kill, massacre … today there is violence perpetrated by some extremist movements and individuals in the name of Islam.”
Macron also said that a boycott of French products launched amid anger at the cartoons was “inappropriate” and “unacceptable.”
Also read: France: secularism, cartoons of the prophet Muhammad and the attitude of President Macron
What is the context of Macron’s statement?
Three people were stabbed to death in Nice on Thursday by a Tunisian who arrived in the southern French city on Thursday (10/29/2020).
France immediately raised its national security awareness to the highest level, with increased security in places of worship and schools across the country.
In early October, the teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the outskirts of Paris after showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to some of his students.
In response to the series of attacks, Macron said that France would never succumb to violence.
The issue has caused tensions with several Muslim-majority countries, with statues of French leaders ablaze in Bangladesh and a war of words with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who questioned Macron’s mental health.
Another series of attacks in France before the murders in the church
October 2020, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in front of a school on the outskirts of Paris.
Also read: Italian government accused of bringing murder suspects to the French church
September 2020, two people are stabbed and seriously wounded in Paris, near Charlie Hebdo’s former office, where militants carried out the deadly attack in 2015.
October 2019, radicalized police IT operator Mickaël Harpon was shot dead after stabbing three officers and a civilian worker at the Paris police headquarters.
In July 2016, two attackers killed a pastor, Jacques Hamel, and seriously injured another hostage after storming a church on the outskirts of Rouen, in northern France.
July 2016, a gunman drives a large truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group
In November 2015, gunmen and suicide bombers launched coordinated attacks on the Bataclan concert hall, the main stadium, restaurants and bars in Paris, leaving 130 dead and hundreds injured.
In January 2015, two Islamist militants stormed Charlie Hebdo’s office and shot dead 12 people.
Also read: France is caught in the vortex of the controversy of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad
