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The French government has called for restraint after learning that a satirical weekly plans to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday just as an anti-Islam video has ignited Muslim protests around the globe.<\/p>\nThe French government has called for restraint after learning that a satirical weekly plans to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday just as an anti-Islam video has ignited Muslim protests around the globe.<\/p>\n
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The Paris offices of the paper, Charlie Hebdo, were firebombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Mohammed, and in 2005 Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world in which at least 50 people were killed.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, asked about the publication, said any provocation now could only be condemned.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault issued a statement saying: \u201cIn the current climate, the prime minister wishes to stress his disapproval of all excess and calls on everyone to behave responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
France is home to Europe\u2019s largest Muslim population. Calls are already circulating on social networks and the Internet for protests on Saturday over an anti-Islam film that was made with private funds in the United States and posted on the Internet.<\/p>\n
Last Sunday police arrested about 150 people who sought to take part in an unapproved protest near the U.S. Embassy in Paris.<\/p>\n
In the torrent of violence blamed on the film, U.S. and other Western embassies have been attacked in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed last week in an attack in Benghazi, and Afghan militants killed 12 people in a suicide attack on Tuesday that they said was in retaliation for the film.<\/p>\n
Charlie Hebdo, renowned for its irreverent treatment of the political establishment and public figures, argued that it had the right to uphold that tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do caricatures of everyone, and above all every week, and when we do it with the Prophet, it\u2019s called provocation,\u201d the paper\u2019s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, told the news channel i>TELE.<\/p>\n
He said that if Charlie Hebdo stopped printing satirical work because of pressure or fear of offence, it would be reduced to selling 16 blank pages every week.<\/p>\n
Cartoons seen by Reuters that were due to be published on the inside pages of the paper included a series of images, including nude caricatures, poking fun at the Prophet Mohammed.<\/p>\n
Many Muslims object to any representation of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed or to irreverent treatment of the Quran.<\/p>\n
The main body representing Muslims in France, the French Muslim Council (CFCM), accused Charlie Hebdo of firing up anti-Muslim sentiment at a sensitive time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CFCM is deeply attached to freedom of speech but considers that nothing can justify insult and inciting hatred,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CFCM calls on the Muslims of France not to give in to such provocation and urges them to express their indignation calmly and in lawful manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charlie Hebdo has got into hot water on similar issues more than once.<\/p>\n
Former editor Philippe Val was pursued in French courts on charges of racial injury, and ultimately acquitted, after the paper reprinted the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The French government has called for restraint after learning that a satirical weekly plans to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday just as an anti-Islam video has ignited Muslim protests around the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Source: Al-Arabiya.com<\/em><\/p>\n