Le Drian is visiting with Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayeb. French President Emmanuel Macron is also endeavoring to calm Muslim sensibilities following protests worldwide by tens of thousands of Muslims, as well as “intense boycotting campaigns of French products across the Arab and Muslim world.” Macron, in an interview with Al Jazeera, “lowered his tone and said he understands Muslims’ sentiments over the cartoons.”
This show of sheer capitulation by France’s leaders will have dire consequences for the future of France. The nation is now sending the message to these global bullies that it is “heartily sorry for having offended thee.”
These are the positions of Al-Tayeb and Al-Sisi on the Western cornerstone of free society, the freedom of speech. Al-Tayeb, who is considered by many Sunni Muslims as the highest authority in Sunni Islam, recently said:
I declare that Islam, its teachings and its Prophet are innocent of this wicked terrorist crime….At the same time, I emphasize that insulting religions and attacking their sacred symbols under the banner of freedom of expression is an intellectual double standard and an open invitation to hatred.
Al-Tayeb stated, in other words, that French teacher Samuel Paty “invited” hatred, from which it is easy to conclude that al-Tayeb thinks Paty deserved what he got. Al-Tayeb also justified Muslim violence when Trump moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem, proclaiming: “Because of this decision, the East and the West ‘will drown in seas of blood.’”
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi’s view is similar. He stated that freedom of expression stops “when it comes to ‘offending the feelings’ of Muslims,” taking a stand that somewhat differs from the one he took in his phony speech in 2015 that drew resounding global applause and widespread news coverage. Back then, he said that “we are in need of a religious revolution” as he stood up for Islamic reform.
France is a globalist country with a globalist leadership that just doesn’t accept that no appeasing of Islamic supremacists will ever work.
Islam — as it is practiced and taught by the most influential global Islamic leaders — is incompatible with democracy. Had Western leaders not surrendered their freedom of speech to begin with and had been diligent about enforcing responsible immigration policies, their countries would not be under such a threat of jihad today.
Macron instead continues to play a double game: posturing to protect France’s freedom of speech while appeasing Islamic leaders who have no respect for France as a free society and never intend to budge from their 1,400-year-old position of advocating violence whenever Muslim feelings are hurt over perceived “blasphemy.”
The game France is playing, however, may fool a naive public into trusting that its leadership is actually doing something to protect national security, when it really isn’t.
“France FM says he has ‘deep respect’ for Islam in effort to ease tensions,” Daily Sabah, November 8, 2020:
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Egypt Sunday hoping to ease tensions following the publishing of provocative cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked ire in the Muslim world.
Le Drian met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and will also meet Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Egypt’s highest Muslim authority.
Le Drian’s highly anticipated meeting with Tayeb, head of Al-Azhar – considered the foremost religious institution for Sunni Muslims – will tackle French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s decision in September to reprint the cartoons.
Last month Tayeb denounced remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron of “Islamist separatism” as “racist” and spreading “hate speech.”
“I have emphasized, and emphasize here the deep respect we have for Islam,” said the French minister during a press conference with Shoukry…
….Following intense boycotting campaigns of French products across the Arab and Muslim world, Macron, in an interview with Al Jazeera, lowered his tone and said he understands Muslims’ sentiments over the cartoons.