Charlie Hebdo stabbing
On September 25, 2020, two people were injured in a stabbing outside the former headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.
An 18-year-old man of Pakistani origin was suspected to have carried out the attack and was arrested along with six others.
This is the second attack targeting the magazine with the worst being in January 2015 where two Islamist gunmen who identified themselves as belonging to the Al-Qaeda group in Yemen forced their way into its office and killed 12 people.
Murder of Samuel Paty
On October 16, a middle school teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded by an 18-year-old refugee of Chechen ethnicity, Abdoullakh Abouyedovich Anzorov.
Anzoroz beheaded Paty with a cleaver and was shot and killed by police minutes later.
Earlier, Paty had shown students in his class cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad, published by Charlie Hebdo. One of the cartoons also depicted the prophet naked that enraged the Muslim world.
Nice Stabbing
On October 29, three people were killed in a stabbing attack at Notre-Dame de Nice, a Roman Catholic basilica in Nice, France.
The attacker, a Tunisian man by the name of Brahim Aouissaoui was shot by the police and taken into custody.
Macron’s remarks
Earlier this month, Macron has described Islam as a religion “in crisis” worldwide while vowing to present a bill to strengthen a law that officially separated church and state in France.
After the attacks, specifically one involving the Charlie Hebdo magazine, Macron had defended the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad on the grounds of freedom of speech.
Macron had given a long interview on Qatar-based TV channel Al-Jazeera to justify his remarks and appeal to the Muslim world
“I understand and respect that we can be shocked by these cartoons, but I will never accept that we can justify physical violence for these cartoons. I will always defend in my country the freedom to say, write, think, draw.”
As tensions escalate between Macron and Muslim nations that are angered by his remarks, officials have said that France is also looking at appointing a special envoy to explain Macron’s thinking on secularism and freedom of expression to counter the growing anti-France sentiments.
Macron has been persistent in defending his stance, responding to a Financial Times article that accused him of further creating a hostile environment for French Muslims.
Macron made clear that his country is fighting for “Islamist separatism, never Islam,” and that he will not allow anybody “to claim that France, or its government, is fostering racism against Muslims.”
Muslim countries’ response
Protests have erupted across Muslim nations in Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Gaza, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, while some countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan are supporting a ban on French products.
Iran: Macron has been personally caricatured in the Iranian press as the devil while having an effigy of him burned.
Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Macron needs “mental treatment” because of his hostility towards Islam and that he had “lost his way”. The president also called for a nationwide boycott of French products.
Pakistan: Pakistan’s Prime minister Imran Khan said that Macron had chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims. In a tweet, Khan wrote, “This is a time when President Macron could have put healing touch and denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarisation and marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalisation.”
Pakistan’s France’s ambassador in Islamabad was also summoned while thousands of protestors flooded cities in Pakistan angered by Macron’s remarks.
Palestine: Thousands of Palestinians rallied in Jerusalem's Old City chanting "There is no god but God, Macron is the enemy of God" and "Mohammed, your nation will not give in," in protest of Macron’s defend of the published cartoons seen as offensive to Islam.
Saudi Arabia: The Saudi foreign ministry had said that it “rejects any attempt to link Islam with terrorism and condemns the offensive cartoons of the prophet”.
Bangladesh: In Bangladesh, 50,000 protesters took to the streets to protest France's support for cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad, demanding the shutdown of the French Embassy in Dhaka.
Indonesia: Muslims shout similar demands to the French Embassy in Jakarta. Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo also warned the French President that his remarks “had insulted Islam” and “hurt the unity of Muslims everywhere.”
Malaysia’s response
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns any provocative acts that seek to defame the religion of Islam.
Malaysia is committed to upholding the freedom of speech and expression as fundamental human rights for as long as these rights are exercised with respect and responsibilities,” said its minister, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein.
In a series of tweets, former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also expressed his thoughts on the issue. Commenting on Macron’s actions, he wrote that “Macron is not showing that he is civilized” and that “he is very primitive” for blaming the entire religion of Islam for the killing of Paty.
Mahathir earlier wrote that "Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past.". The tweet however was removed by the media giant for violating its rules in which Mahathir responded that his comments has been wildly misinterpreted.
Last week, a motion was also proposed by Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar that was further debated during Parliament session, urging the government take firm action and strongly protest the statement made by Macron. He suggested that a note to be sent to Macron demanding him to withdraw the statement and apologise to all Muslims and the world community.
Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar added during the debate that although Malaysia upholds the principle of freedom of speech, the right should be exercised with respect and responsibility, and not exceed the boundaries of religion.
He advised Malaysians abroad to always be vigilant and sensitive to any current developments by taking the initiative to register and contact the Malaysian embassies and consulates in the countries they are residing.
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