Emmanuel Macron slams media coverage of France’s position on Islamic extremism
- Macron says media coverage insinuating France is racist and Islamophobic amounts to ‘legitimising’ violence
- The president says foreign media have ‘failed to understand’ the significance of laicite, or secularism, as a pillar of French policy and society
“So when I see, in that context, several newspapers which I believe are from countries that share our values … when I see them legitimising this violence, and saying that the heart of the problem is that France is racist and Islamophobic, then I say the founding principles have been lost.”
In his column about their exchange, Smith said the French president had argued “foreign media failed to understand ‘laicite’,” or secularism, a pillar of French policy and society.
Domestic support for a firm line on the need for immigrants to embrace French values is stronger than ever since the grisly beheading last month of teacher Samuel Paty, who showed his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson on free speech.
While paying tribute to the slain man, Macron defended France’s strict brand of secularism and its long tradition of satire.
“We will not give up cartoons,” he vowed.