There is no persecution of Muslims in France and the campaign of "denigration" and the multiple calls to boycott French products in several countries of the Middle East are not justified.
This is essentially what the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM), an organization which aims to represent Muslims in France to state bodies on questions of religious practice, said on Monday October 26.
"France is a big country, Muslim citizens are not persecuted, they freely build their mosques and freely practice their religion," Mohammed Moussaoui, the president of the CFCM, told AFP as protests and calls for boycott began. multiply in the Muslim world after recent remarks by President Emmanuel Macron on freedom of expression and the right to caricature the prophet.
"Smear campaign"
"We know that the promoters of these campaigns say they defend Islam and Muslims in France, we call on them to be wise (...) all campaigns of denigration of France are counterproductive and create division," added Mr. Moussaoui.
On the subject of the cartoons, the president of the CFCM underlines that the law "does not oblige to like these cartoons, it even gives them the right to hate them", but supports the position of President Macron who, according to him, "calls for no not give up caricature, all caricatures, under pressure from terrorists ".
Mr. Macron's remarks sparked a flood of criticism in the Muslim world, from political and religious leaders, elected officials but also ordinary citizens on social networks and provoked demonstrations and calls to boycott French products.
A meeting between President Emmanuel Macron and the CFCM was to take place today at the Élysée.
The president has already received representatives of religions in recent weeks to discuss the bill on "separatism".
With AFP
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