[ad_1]
A new edition of the dispute over the cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad looms between France and the Arab world. Several Arab countries launched a boycott against France on Sunday. The Arab world considers religious values more important than the recent beheading of a French teacher by a radical Islamist. The teacher had shown caricatures of Muhammad in class and was beheaded in the street. Islamic tradition forbids representing the prophet.
Under no circumstances, it is said, can freedom of speech justify an insult to Islam. French President Emmanuel Macron (42) seems to think little of that. Instead, he challenges “tyranny and fanaticism.” Macron had already defended freedom of expression on Wednesday and took the side of those who want to show or publish cartoons. France will not “do without cartoons and drawings, even if others withdraw from them,” Macron said at a funeral honoring the slain teacher Samuel Paty.
Macron defended his position on freedom of expression on Twitter Sunday night. Hate speech is not accepted and reasonable debate is defended. “We will always be on the side of human dignity and basic values.” Macron also spread the message in Arabic and English. «Our history is that of the fight against tyranny and fanaticism. We will continue, ”he wrote in French.
Erdogan’s verbal derailment
Now merchants in Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar have brought French goods out of their stores. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (66) also launched a verbal attack on Macron. He accused the French president of Islamophobia, doubted his mental health and called Macron, among other things, a case of illness that should be examined.
“What kind of problem does this person named Macron have with Islam and Muslims?” Erdogan asked at an event on Saturday. Macron should be in psychological treatment, the Turkish president added. His French counterpart does not understand freedom of belief. At the same event, Erdogan also described a police raid on a Berlin mosque on Wednesday as anti-Islamic due to suspected crown subsidy fraud.
Erdogan’s verbal attacks on Macron are not new. Last November, the Turkish president questioned the Frenchman’s mental health. At the time, Macron had witnessed “brain death” to the NATO defense alliance. Erdogan later said that Macron should have his own brain death tested.
France calls for an end to the boycott
Paris called its ambassador from Ankara in protest, an incident that had never happened before, as the Elysee circles confirmed. The Muhammad cartoons had already sparked violent protests in the Islamic world several times. Relations between the Muslim world and France could deteriorate. Erdogan’s verbal attack on Macron also exacerbates bilateral tensions between NATO partners Turkey and France, which already cross numerous issues.
France called for an immediate end to calls for boycotts. These would distort the positions defended by France in favor of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and religion, as well as the rejection of any call to hatred, he said this Sunday in a statement from the Foreign Ministry. The statements are being instrumentalized and politicized by a radical minority.
In light of Macron’s remarks, the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo warned against a campaign against Islam. In Kuwait, 50 consumer cooperatives said according to the “Al-Kabas” newspaper that they had withdrawn all French products from their branches. Also in Qatar, supermarket chains have announced that they will remove French products from their shelves until further notice. Videos could be seen on social media of employees at a supermarket in Amman, the Jordanian capital, removing French dairy products from refrigerated shelves. Users spread the French brand names on the internet and called for a boycott, and the hashtags were also circulating.
Already seen
In early 2006, more than 150 people died in violent protests against the Muhammad cartoons. The trigger at that time was the cartoons of the Danish newspaper “Jyllands-Posten”. In 2015, twelve people were killed in an attack on the French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo”, which also featured cartoons of the prophet. For devout Muslims, films or images depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a person are offensive and a form of blasphemy.
The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the publication of satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet. Such behavior “damages Muslim-French relations.” The Grand Imam of Cairo, Ahmed al-Tajib, spoke of a systematic campaign to force Islam into political struggles. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry stated that the posts hurt the feelings of Muslims. In a statement, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the re-publication of the “horrible cartoons”. In no case can freedom of expression justify an insult to Islam.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, 68, accused Macron of Islamophobia in a series of tweets. “President Macron has attacked and hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims in Europe and around the world,” he also wrote. Khan also called for a ban on Islamophobic content on Facebook. The Islamabad government published a letter to this effect on Sunday night addressed to the founder and head of the company, Mark Zuckerberg (36).
France misses Islamic outrage over teacher beheading
There is a willingness to incite hatred against France, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (73). This was also expressed in direct insults against Macron from “the highest level of the Turkish state.” Paris also criticized the Turkish side for not officially condemning the teacher’s murder or showing solidarity with France.
Turkey rejected the accusation Sunday night. The Turkish ambassador in Paris expressed regret, he said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry. Turkey regrets the “murder” of the teacher “as a country that has been fighting all forms of terrorism and violence for years,” as well as the victims of similar events, he said. (kes / SDA)
