There is no human right, nor legal right in France, to not be offended. What is a human right, and a legal right, is freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
By EMILY SCHRADER Father Franklin Parmentier greets people ahead of a mass on Sunday at Notre Dame Basilica to pay tribute to the victims of last Thursday’s deadly knife attack in Nice, France.(photo credit: ERIC GAILLARD/REUTERS)
It’s no secret that the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad is a sensitive issue for Muslims, but regardless of the morality of France’s aggressive secular policies and how it impacts the Muslim community, there is no excuse for the heinous murderous acts we’ve seen in recent weeks in France – not to mention the targeted killings of Christians by terrorists in those acts. Anyone who says otherwise is blatantly standing on the wrong side of history.While Muslims around the world should never be held accountable for the individual acts of other Muslims, even when done in the name of Islam, it speaks volumes that rather than organizing rallies against beheadings or murder done in the name of Islam, some Muslim community leaders and organizations are holding rallies and issuing statements blaming France for the acts of terrorism.The Islamic Leadership Council of New York wrote in a statement, “The French President is directly provoking the Muslim world in his support of offensive and vulgar depictions of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)... the Muslim world will not tolerate such blatant disrespect of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and stands in solidarity with their French Muslim brothers and sisters.”The statement was issued on the heels of multiple horrific terrorist attacks in France that began with the beheading of a French teacher. The teacher had shown his students a cartoon that depicted the Prophet Muhammad for purposes of a discussion about free speech. Shortly after, two more terrorist attacks were carried out, specifically targeting Christians in France. The first, a stabbing attack at a church in Nice, killed three. The second, a shooting in Lyon, wounded an Orthodox priest.Contrary to what the Islamic Leadership Council stated, French President Emmanuel Macron did not defend the cartoons, but defended the right to free speech and free expression, and vowed to crack down on radicalism in France. But a mere statement in support of free speech was enough to spark furor from the Muslim world with protests and riots against France erupting around the world in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and even in the Israeli-Arab Muslim community.The protests have been a shameful display of incitement to violence and disrespect toward France and Macron personally. The protest in Israel was organized by the Islamic Movement, which incidentally did not condemn any of the acts of terrorism in France on their Arabic Facebook page, but repeatedly condemned Macron. Not to be forgotten, terrorist organizations, both Sunni and Shia, were quick to get on board, with Iran condemning France, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah openly promoting Holocaust denial in response because it’s “less offensive,” and Hamas claiming that “insulting religions and prophets is not a matter of freedom of expression.” But here is precisely where they are wrong.There is no human right, nor legal right in France, to not be offended. What is a human right, and a legal right, is freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The basic rights that enable us to live in a civilized and free society do not disappear because one group is offended, and they certainly don’t justify violence.No one has a right to not be offended, and the world must never give in to such bullying and thuggish tactics such as those used to censor and oppress contrary and dissident opinions, whether from the Muslim world, the Western world, or anywhere else. Nowhere is this attempted censorship more prevalent today than with the protests we see erupting against France over a cartoon (allegedly) insulting a religious faith. We must uphold freedom of speech and expression at any cost.Emily Schrader is the CEO of Social Lite Creative LLC.
