Why Macron's comments on cartoons are causing a stir

Emmanuel Macron's comments on the freedom to publish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad sparked a wave of protests across many Muslim countries.

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• Demonstrations and calls to boycott French products have emerged in several Muslim countries such as Turkey, Libya, Algeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan after Emmanuel Macron's remarks on the publication of religious caricatures.

• For some leaders, these religious demands are a way to enhance their legitimacy with a fringe of the conservative population and to create a diversion from their domestic politics.

• However, some countries, with their more nuanced critiques, denounce above all an Islamophobia hidden behind the right to freedom of expression.

Since the speech of homage to the professor of History assassinated in Conflans, in which Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that France would not renounce religious caricatures, demonstrations and sharp criticisms have emerged from several Muslim countries such as Turkey, Libya, the Algeria, Bangladesh or Pakistan.

While negative reactions to religious caricatures are not new, they take on a particularly political character here.

"The charge came from the President of the French Republic, so it is not surprising to have in front of the reactions of political leaders", explains Myriam Benraad, political scientist specializing in the Middle East and professor in international relations.

The first voice to be raised is that of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called for a boycott of French products and affirmed that Emmanuel Macron "had to be treated".

"As his country has been refused entry into the European Union, it claims a sovereignty which aligns with Islam", analyzes Julie Billaud, anthropologist specializing in Islam and professor at IHEID in Geneva .

“We see that there are regimes that are in full swing.

They make threats and intimidations that previously were specific to Islamist movements.

This is very worrying, ”continues Myriam Benraad, also a researcher at the Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World.

A pretext for some ...

At the same time, some countries which have raised their voices against France harbor resentments towards it.

They are geopolitical for Turkey or even linked to old questions of colonization for Algeria, which for its part denounced "a virulent campaign" against Islam.

For Myriam Benraad, author of the book

, there are therefore also "strategic issues which have nothing to do with religion and this benefits the regimes which basically do not 'what to do with these cartoon stories'.

Motivations with geopolitical accents, therefore, but also domestic politics.

Strongly denouncing the words of the French head of state is particularly beneficial to populist leaders anxious to increase their legitimacy and their capital sympathy with a fringe of the conservative population.

“This scandal is a means of creating a diversion on a good number of subjects, as in Algeria where the social protest movements had resumed with more vigor.

It's an opportunistic politicization, ”says the expert.

... A real denunciation of Islamophobia for others

However, the situation should not be analyzed from a global point of view.

Indeed, some leaders have had more nuanced comments and reactions than those of President Erdogan and have put their finger on what they see as a real danger in France.

"What poses a problem in the words of Emmanuel Macron is that the response to a feeling of violation of faith is through the question of freedom of expression," explains Julie Billaud.

We talk about this right to get rid of the problem of Islamophobia and hide that of the ostracization of part of the population.

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The question is therefore not to ban religious caricatures or humor, but to recognize that there has been "a drift in caricature with associations made between Islam and terrorism" - taking the example of the drawing of the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

According to her, invoking freedom of expression without further distinction would make it possible not to listen to what certain Muslim countries have to say.

The anthropologist fears that "this discourse, which came before far-right parties, will be normalized in society, that part of the population will be criminalized and that there will be more and more Islamophobic attacks without let no one get upset ”.

Normalization of speech and degradation of relationships

Monday, following the attacks of the Turkish president, the leader of rebellious France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon estimated that Emmanuel Macron had "totally lost control of the situation".

For experts, the overall situation effectively reflects at least a malaise in the relations that France maintains with these different Muslim countries.

However, these demonstrations only show the discontent of a part of the population.

“This does not reflect all the ideological and social trends in these countries where a certain number of activists and activists defend human rights and freedom of expression, counterbalances Myriam Benraad.

They do not have as much visibility as these demonstrations because they are often repressed and clandestine.

For now, President Emmanuel Macron's response has been to call on the governments of the countries concerned on Sunday to “stop” calls to boycott French products.

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• World

• Demonstration

• Islamophobia

• Recep Tayyip Erdogan

• Algeria

• Mohammed cartoons

• Caricature

• Islam