“Protesters chant ‘Allahu Akbar’ in Jakarta after Indonesia condemns Macron for linking terror to Islam, while 50,000 gather in Bangladesh as worldwide rage over cartoons continues,” by Jack Newman, Mailonline, November 2, 2020:
Protests against Emmanuel Macron have continued across the Muslim world in the wake of his comments over depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.
In Jakarta, more than 2,000 demonstrators wearing white Islamic robes gathered in front of the French embassy to express their outrage, and burned an effigy of the French President.
Meanwhile in Bangladesh, at least 50,000 people took part in the biggest demonstration yet over Macron’s remarks defending the controversial cartoons.
A rally which started at Bangladesh’s biggest mosque was stopped from getting close to the French embassy where security has been stepped up.
Police estimated some 50,000 people took part in the protest, which demanded a boycott of French products, while organisers said there were more than 100,000.
Protesters chanted ‘No defamation of the Prophet Mohammed’ and burned an effigy of the French leader.
Macron sparked protests across the Muslim world after the murder last month of teacher Samuel Paty – who had shown his class a cartoon of Mohammed – by saying France would never renounce its laws permitting blasphemous caricatures.
The third major anti-France demonstration in Bangladesh in the past week was called by Hefazat-i-Islami, one of the biggest radical Muslim political groups in the country of 160 million people.
Many people came from towns outside Dhaka to take part in the rally.
Junaid Babunagaori, the firebrand deputy chief of Hezafat, called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to move the Bangladesh parliament to condemn Macron.
‘I call on traders to throw away French products. I ask the UN to take stern action against France,’ he told the rally.
In Jakarta, authorities blocked streets leading to the embassy where more than 1,000 police and soldiers were deployed in and around the building barricaded with razor wire.
The protesters chanted ‘God is Great’ and ‘Boycott French products’ as they marched. Their banners and placards slammed Macron, and some protesters stomped on Macron posters in the blocked streets.
Smaller protests also occurred in other Indonesian cities, including in Surabaya, Makassar, Medan and Bandung.
On Saturday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo strongly condemned terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice as well as remarks by Macron that were deemed offensive toward Islam and Muslims.
At a national memorial for a teacher who was beheaded near Paris last month, Macron said the teacher ‘was the victim of a conspiracy of stupidity, hate, lies … hate of the other … hate of what we profoundly are.’
Widodo said freedom of expression that tarnishes the honor, sanctity and sacredness of religious values and symbols could not be justified and must be stopped.
‘Linking religion with terrorist acts is a big mistake,’ Widodo said. ‘Terrorism is terrorism, terrorists are terrorists, terrorism has nothing to do with any religion.’…
Protests against Emmanuel Macron have continued across the Muslim world in the wake of his comments over depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.
In Jakarta, more than 2,000 demonstrators wearing white Islamic robes gathered in front of the French embassy to express their outrage, and burned an effigy of the French President.
Meanwhile in Bangladesh, at least 50,000 people took part in the biggest demonstration yet over Macron’s remarks defending the controversial cartoons.
A rally which started at Bangladesh’s biggest mosque was stopped from getting close to the French embassy where security has been stepped up.
Police estimated some 50,000 people took part in the protest, which demanded a boycott of French products, while organisers said there were more than 100,000.
Protesters chanted ‘No defamation of the Prophet Mohammed’ and burned an effigy of the French leader.
Macron sparked protests across the Muslim world after the murder last month of teacher Samuel Paty – who had shown his class a cartoon of Mohammed – by saying France would never renounce its laws permitting blasphemous caricatures.
The third major anti-France demonstration in Bangladesh in the past week was called by Hefazat-i-Islami, one of the biggest radical Muslim political groups in the country of 160 million people.
Many people came from towns outside Dhaka to take part in the rally.
Junaid Babunagaori, the firebrand deputy chief of Hezafat, called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to move the Bangladesh parliament to condemn Macron.
‘I call on traders to throw away French products. I ask the UN to take stern action against France,’ he told the rally.
In Jakarta, authorities blocked streets leading to the embassy where more than 1,000 police and soldiers were deployed in and around the building barricaded with razor wire.
The protesters chanted ‘God is Great’ and ‘Boycott French products’ as they marched. Their banners and placards slammed Macron, and some protesters stomped on Macron posters in the blocked streets.
Smaller protests also occurred in other Indonesian cities, including in Surabaya, Makassar, Medan and Bandung.
On Saturday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo strongly condemned terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice as well as remarks by Macron that were deemed offensive toward Islam and Muslims.
At a national memorial for a teacher who was beheaded near Paris last month, Macron said the teacher ‘was the victim of a conspiracy of stupidity, hate, lies … hate of the other … hate of what we profoundly are.’
Widodo said freedom of expression that tarnishes the honor, sanctity and sacredness of religious values and symbols could not be justified and must be stopped.
‘Linking religion with terrorist acts is a big mistake,’ Widodo said. ‘Terrorism is terrorism, terrorists are terrorists, terrorism has nothing to do with any religion.’…
