French President claims ‘understands’ Muslim rage but insists on blasphemy against Islam

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): French President Emanuel Macron, who has sparked overwhelming outrage across the Muslim world after defending insult against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), has claimed he “understands” the backlash, but nonetheless insisted on his support for such blasphemy.

“I understand the sentiments being expressed and I respect them,” Macron alleged in an interview with Al Jazeera that the Qatar-based television network aired in full on Saturday.

Over the past two months, the French head of state has attacked the sentiments of nearly two billion Muslims worldwide on several occasions.

In September, he defended the “right to blaspheme” in France after French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished sacrilegious cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. On October 2, he claimed in a speech that Islam was “in crisis globally” and announced his plan “to reform Islam” to make the faith, what he called, more in line with French values.

Later, Macron supported a French teacher’s displaying of cartoons insulting the Prophet in his class. “France will never renounce caricatures,” Macron declared, defending the teacher for “promoting freedom.”

The French president’s effrontery has opened the floodgates of backlash from Muslims around the world, with numerous Muslim states and leaders issuing condemnatory statements against him and people rising in thousands-strong protests. Many Muslim companies and associations have also boycotted French items in protest.

Speaking to Arabic Al Jazeera television in an interview aired on Saturday, Macron reaffirmed his position, saying, “But you must understand my role right now, it’s to do two things: to promote calm and also to protect these rights.”

“I will always defend in my country the freedom to speak, to write, to think, to draw,” he added.

The French president also took aim at his Turkish counterpart, who has seen him fit for “mental checks” because of his anti-Islam position and blasted “those scoundrels who insult my beloved Prophet on such a scale."

Macron accused Erdogan of displaying "belligerent behavior with NATO allies," adding he hoped "things would calm down" and that the Turkish president "would not tell lies."

He also suggested that some politicians had resorted to "distortions" of his remarks, apparently referring to the Turkish president and others lambasting his position.

“I think that the reactions came as a result of lies and distortions of my words because people understood that I supported these cartoons,” Macron said.

“The caricatures are not a governmental project, but emerged from free and independent newspapers that are not affiliated with the government,” he added.

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