Racism? Really? What race is “Islamist separatism” again? I keep forgetting.
Anyway, we have seen this many, many times before. Any counterterror initiative, no matter how mild, no matter how carefully worded, no matter how many “moderate” profiteers it puts front and center, will be condemned as “racist” and “hateful.” The effect of this is to make people afraid of opposing jihad violence or Sharia oppression of women and others. And who benefits from that?
“Egypt’s Al-Azhar condemns Macron’s remarks on ‘Islamic separatism and isolationism,'” Ahram Online, October 3, 2020 (thanks to Henry):
The Islamic Research Academy at Al-Azhar, Egypt’s top religious authority, has condemned French President Emmanuel Macron’s announced plan for fighting “Islamic separatism,” which Al-Azhar described as an “explicit call for racism and hate.”…
In a statement on Saturday, Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy, which works to reform Islamic culture and safeguard it from political and ideological intolerance, said that President Macron has directed “false accusations that have nothing to do with the true context of religion.”
It said that Islam calls for “tolerance and peace” among people, including those who do not believe in it.
The academy said it completely rejects Macron’s remarks, which it said “destroy all joint efforts by religious figures to eliminate racism and bullying against religions.”
The academy also said that some people insist on making false accusations against Islam, including those of separatism and isolationism, and are confused by the fact that some people exploit some religious texts to fulfil malicious goals.
The religious body called for abandoning attacks against religions, as this obstructs constructive dialogue and backs hate speech. It also said that such “attacks” can hinder attempts to establish co-existence among people in a society.