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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad tweeted on Thursday (October 29) that Muslims had the right to “kill millions of Frenchmen” after a deadly attack in Nice, sparking widespread anger and leading to Twitter to remove your post.
Three people were killed in a church in the southern French city, and the attacker cut the throat of at least one of them, in what authorities were treating as the latest act of terrorism to shake the country.
Soon after, Mahathir, who was the Muslim-majority prime minister of Malaysia until his government collapsed in February, wrote a series of tweets.
Referring to the recent beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty in Paris, who showed students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, Mahathir said he did not approve of the attack but that freedom of expression does not include “insulting other people.”
“Regardless of what religion you profess, angry people kill,” said the outspoken 95-year-old, who in the past has sparked controversy for his comments about Jews and the LGBT community.
“The French in the course of their history have killed millions of people. Many were Muslims. Muslims have the right to be angry and kill millions of French for the massacres of the past.” But he added that “in general, Muslims have not enforced the ‘tit-for-tat’ law. Muslims don’t. The French shouldn’t.”
Mahathir, who served as Malaysian prime minister twice in a total of 24 years, said French President Emmanuel Macron “was not showing that he is civilized”, adding that he was “very primitive.”
“The French should teach their people to respect other people’s feelings. Since you have blamed all Muslims and the Muslim religion for what an angry person did, Muslims have the right to punish the French.
“The boycott cannot compensate for the evils committed by the French during all these years.” He made no direct reference to the Nice attack.
His comments drew widespread condemnation, and social media users labeled them “outrageous” and “disgraceful.”
Twitter initially marked his tweet about killing “millions of Frenchmen” as a “glorification of violence” but did not delete it.
However, shortly after, the tweet was completely removed.
The beheading of Samuel Paty prompted Macron to promise an offensive against Islamic extremism.
But the move has increased tensions, with protests against France breaking out in several Muslim countries and some urging a boycott of French products.
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