France and “Freedom of Expression”; Islamophobia is permissible, Holocaust denial is forbidden.
Officials of the French government, whose country has a long history of opposing any research on the Holocaust, recently once again cited the recent offensive action of the Charlie Hebdo magazine as an example of “freedom of expression”.
Yesterday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said about Iran’s reactions to Charlie Hebdo magazine’s insulting actions against the religious and political authority of Iran and the Islamic world: “Don’t forget that in France, unlike Iran, there is freedom of expression, which is governed by a judge within the framework of the independent judiciary.” supervises; An issue that, without a doubt, Iran does not know correctly.”
Charlie Hebdo magazine’s offensive action is not new. In 2015, this publication had provoked the anger of Muslims all over the world by insulting the sacred space of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and the religion of Islam, and interestingly, the authorities of Western countries, including France, at that time also supported the concepts of “freedom of expression” They were trying to justify the insulting behavior of this publication.
Permissible scope for insulting Islam
However, what is clear is that the scope of this “freedom of expression” has only been expanded to the extent that insulting Islam is allowed, and there are clear red lines for this publication and any other press or voice when the issue is related to Judaism or the Holocaust issue. has it.
Holocaust denial (négationnisme) has a history dating back to the years after World War II. Many European countries, including France, have sentenced those who deny it to prison and fines, and if the work is published, the books or articles of these people have been taken out of reach.
European political and judicial officials say that the denial of the Holocaust causes the public opinion in Europe to accuse Jews of staging and lying to make them appear oppressed, and as a result, to find an attitude mixed with hatred towards the members of this ethnic-religious minority.
