Thread by @NabilaRamdani

Contributed to @Guardian Podcast 'Today In Focus': The murder of schoolteacher Samuel #Paty who had shown his class #cartoons of the prophet #Muhammad has rekindled a debate in #France over #secularism & the state’s role in regulating #FreeSpeech. (21'-29')

I emphasise that we can discuss the general problem of hateful #cartoons about the Prophet #Muhammad & his Muslim followers that spread collective guilt & humiliate often underprivileged #minority communities beyond acts of barbaric #terrorism. #Racism #Islamophobia #CharlieHebdo

I think that @EmmanuelMacron acted in a manner that was rash & unstatesmanlike following the vile murder of Samuel #Paty. He has effectively incorporated #cartoons mocking #Islam into its domestic policies. He defended them as part of French culture & #France’s global image.

.@EmmanuelMacron has effectively made hateful #cartoons mainstream & normalised them in his bid to put #Muslims in their place. This is the 1st ever French govt to place pernicious propaganda aimed at humiliating Muslims & placing them outside civilised society in its policies.

.@EmmanuelMacron made out that images of the #Prophet as a nude cretin with his genitals hanging out were somehow state-approved & should be displayed to school children as much as possible.He's solely suggested this would be a good thing in regards to #Islam but not other faiths

The #cartoons associate one of the most cherished & sacred figures in #Islam & all his followers with terrorism in general, stupidity & pornography.They evidently break all race & religious hate laws, of which there are many in #France.Yet #Macron is giving them official approval

Such malicious #caricatures have nothing to do with “free speech” and would not be allowed in Britain or Germany, for example. The @UN & world leaders from Angela Merkel to Justin Trudeau put this very well: "Freedom of expression has its limits. We must oppose #extreme speech".

Meanwhile,the myth is that this is all about the French refusing to accept a #blasphemy law. In fact, those who object to the #cartoons simply want the existing laws to be applied to vile images that whip up religious & racist #hate. They have mysteriously been made redundant!