Opinion News Analysis by Farah Termos, Staff Writer

November 3rd, 2020

Samuel Paty was walking back home from a school he taught in in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine when he was brutally beheaded by Muslim Russian Refuge of Chechen origins, a certain Abdullakh Anzorov. What sparked the motive was, according to the 6 + accomplices of Anzorov and Anzorov himself, how Paty showed his students, during a lecture on freedom of speech on the 6th of October, caricatures of Prophet Muhammed that originally belonged to the famous Parisian Magazine, Charlie Hebdo. These photos and caricatures were perceived as disrespectful by some students and their parents – who rejected the implicit disrespect against Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). 

These sinister attacks, which have long pushed for a radical agenda of extremist terrorism, are not new to France. More so, the country has had its fair share of “Islamist” terrorism: whether be it art, journalism, education or even daily life – This terrorism has infiltrated the suburbs and cities of France in almost every aspect of its very much “free” society. 

For as we can see, in the past 5 years or so, the country witnessed an internalized conflict on whether to coherently eliminate the association of “Islam” to “terrorism” – or just automatically attach the religion with the concept of violence due to the many attacks that Paris and its sister cities witnessed that have exclusively adopted the word “Islam”. 

Back in 2015, the French stormed the streets of Paris shouting and blasting the phrase “Je Suis Charlie” – after “satirical” Parisian magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was subject to a terrorist attack in its headquarters that killed 12 of its employees (many of which were journalists and artists). For France was notoriously famous for its extreme approach to freedom of speech in journalism, and Charlie Hebdo was known for its radically left journalism – to the point where the addition of objectifying caricatures of Prophet Muhammad was nevertheless an idea that wasn’t questioned. The terrorists, throughout their murder attempt, screamed “Allahu Akbar” – an Arabic phrase utterly used in Islam that translates to “God is the greatest”. 

Immigrants in France

France is a country that embraces, and forcefully so, integrates secularism. 24 year old Lana Al-Khouildi, a Tunisian, Dubai-raised immigrant in France, speaks exclusively to the Phoenix Daily: “I moved to France in 2014 and at that time, even though Islam was not under the spotlight (for good or bad reasons) France already had a problem with its immigrants”.  

This concept of secularism is figuratively shoved down the throats of those who immigrate to the country – and they are rather forced to preserve their religious identities to themselves, as any expression of religious sentiments is seen as benign, outdated and completely radical. However, this rejection of the concept of religious integration within society is not only exclusively implemented for/singles out Islam – but spreads nationwide for religions like Christianity, Judaism, etc. “If you look at the percentage of Christians in France,” Al-Khouildi states, “they used to structure the society by at least 50% - considering at least 20-30% were communists. Now, we have 5% of Christians that go to church every Sunday, Muslims that are misunderstood, Jews that are attacked by Antisemitic slurs based on myths that have always been going on.... I just think that France has entered a new religious era that is in no way respecting religion.”

For instance, In terms of education, public schools teach young generations (both immigrants and purely French) the concepts of secularism, freedom of speech and the “freedom of conscience” – regardless of what they are taught back home, or what is passed down in traditions/culture from parents to their children. 

Freedom of Speech is a sacred entity of education – where there is no place for religion to exist. Al-Khouildi continues: “The law of 1905 about secularism is supposed to protect minorities by giving them the right to be in the public space whatever their religion; However, because of the attacks and the international context that is giving a lot of importance to terrorist groups and extreme ideologies this law has been misinterpreted. People think that this law is here to make everyone comply, leave their traditions at the door before they come in”.

 France calls on freedom of speech – yet states that its people cannot coexist if they show differences in what they think - if an individual were to survive in France then they’d only survive inclusively – otherwise, they’d be ridiculed. “I feel like (the) government is using freedom of speech as a shield and not trying to understand the underlying dynamics that are helping extremisms take off in our country.”

Macrons Response: Islamophobia or Freedom of Speech? 

The French government, along with the president, strongly condemned the terrorist attacks with promises of eradicating and fighting brutally “Radical Islamism”. The country also ordered for the temporary shutdown of a grand mosque on the outskirts of Paris, and just before Patys Murder, President Emmanuel Macron prompted specific sentiments about the eradication of “Islamist Separatism”, that which he states is being practiced by radical Muslims in the country. It is clear now that France particularly rejects the concepts of all religions – yet, Macrons speech in early October *just now, weeks after being given, sparked outrage in Egypt, Pakistan, Iran along with Turkey, where both sides witnessed ambassador reclamation amidst tensions that stemmed from Macrons anti-islamist quotes. The Arab World even witnessed a trend to boycott French products - but to what extent is this extreme approach towards Macron reasonable? 

Why is it when Macron endorses secularism and proposes for a new secularism law to entail, that some countries respond so hysterically? The boycott of French products won’t do a thing. Whether you choose to accept it or not, the reality is that this extremist reaction by some individuals in these countries against France is so unreasonable. Why? It’s because there is only a reaction towards pure anti-radical islam sentiments. We do not see a prompt reaction by the same individuals towards China, where there is an ethnic cleansing of Ughur Muslims – or even towards Modi’s government in India, where Muslims were being targeted and killed in Kashmir. 

On another hand, France is known for not allowing Muslim women to wear Birkini’s (the conservative Muslim swimsuit) or veils in public places. Macron even stated that “Islam is in crisis (across the world)” in this viral speech. Thus, despite the fact that France is a bearer of freedom of speech in art – there is no place for religious freedom (sometimes even, when it especially involves Islam). The French’s concept of freedom is anything and everything but that which is built on religion (and more exclusively, Islam, given the country’s history with terrorists who unfortunately scrutinize and kill in its name – despite the actual teachings of the religion being far from that). 

So the question here is the following: Should freedom of speech be inclusive of religion and religious freedom? Or would religious freedom ultimately jeopardize France’s security?