On Monday, Palestinian religious scholars in Gaza joined worldwide protests condemning inflammatory anti-Islamic practices and official statements by French media and government officials.
Like many Muslims across the world, the Gaza scholars called for an economic boycott of France in response to anti-Muslim comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron, and his decision to circulate defamatory cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.
The Gaza protest was held in front of the French Cultural Center in Gaza City and came in response to a call made by the Palestinian Scholars Union to take a stance against French provocations.
Some of the placards that the protesters held in Arabic translate to: “Prophet Mohammed stood up against injustice, built solidarity and cooperation” and “Prophet Mohammed laid the foundation for coexistence between Muslims and Non-Muslims”, while others called for immediate “Economic boycott” of France.
Besides the provocative Prophet Mohammed cartoons, Macron earlier this month claimed that Islam is “a religion in crisis”, announcing plans for tougher laws to confront the alleged “Islamist separatism” in his country, Anadolu News Agency reported.
(All Photos: Fawzi Mahmoud, The Palestine Chronicle)
There’s a Gordian knot here which may be next to disentangle. In France, there is a tradition, a cultural tradition, of separation of church and state, and along with it a tradition of free, iconoclastic speech and expression when it comes to religion. People from anywhere coming into France to live need to be aware of that. On the other hand, there is the issue of respecting the beliefs of those people who do decide, as they have the right to, to practice their religion. These two values are clearly in conflict when it comes to press freedom in depictions about Islam and its prophet. A compromise would be nice…one in which both sides see the opposing perspective, and concede a bit.