The rector of the Great Mosque of Paris supports "Charlie Hebdo"

Chems-eddine Hafiz, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris -

The rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, Chems-eddine Hafiz, supported the editorial staff of 

, in a column, where he also explains his decision to sue, in 2006 and as a lawyer, the satirical newspaper for having caricatured Mohammed.

“May

continue to write, draw, use its art and above all live.

May the drama that hit this publication, the police officers and our Jewish compatriots serve as a lesson to the national community, but also to those who claim to be Islam, to those who call themselves "friends of Muslims" and who do not condemn clearly these terrorist crimes: how the murder of cartoonists has advanced the cause of Muslims?

And how can destruction and barbarism serve the image of Islam?

“, He asks, while the trial of the jihadist attacks of January 2015 against

, the police and the Hyper Cacher

opened on Wednesday before the Special Assize Court in Paris

.

The satirical newspaper, targeted by terrorists for publishing cartoons of Muhammad in 2006, republished them in its Wednesday issue.

Justifications

In 2006, then one of the lawyers of the Great Mosque of Paris, Chems-eddine Hafiz had sued Philippe Val, director of the publication of Charlie Hebdo.

“Many have reproached us for it (…) I want to explain this today, because the Great Mosque of Paris, which has always defended republican principles, was at no time nourished by a desire to prohibit irreverence, to condemn blasphemy or censor cartoonists, ”writes Chems-eddine Hafiz, who succeeded Dalil Boubakeur in January 2020 as rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris and is also vice-president of the French Council for Muslim Worship.

He explains that he decided to prosecute

because of the particular "national and international context", made up of violent demonstrations against the weekly in Muslim countries and "community tension" in France.

"Our action aimed, above all, to pull the rug from under the feet of extremist circles and to channel the debate towards the courtrooms so that it does not take place in the street" argues Hafiz Chems-eddine.

Citizen action

“Our action was that of French citizens who wanted to use a constitutional right.

It was a way for us to prove our integration when extremist circles wanted to use violence and bring discord in the public space, not without manipulating and instrumentalizing the youth and the most fragile and malleable minds ”, adds- he.

Hafiz Chems-eddine also wishes “that all Muslims - and those who seek to infantilize them - understand the cultural traditions of satire and democratic space which allows all expressions even those that seem excessive.

In our country, only the law sets the limits ”.

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