In a sign of the growing tensions between France and much of the Muslim world, French citizens were warned by the French government on Tuesday about traveling abroad, particularly in some majority-Muslim countries where anger against France is running particularly high after French citizens displayed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in solidarity with schoolteacher Samuel Baty.
The controversy flared when Baty, a history teacher, displayed the cartoons of Mohammad to his class in October in order to make a point about free expression. The father of one of his students began an internet campaign against Baty, uploading videos to YouTube and Facebook blasting the teacher and claiming that he showed cartoons of Mohammad with his genitals exposed. The campaign caught fire in the Muslim world, with worldwide calls for reprisal against Baty and against the French government, who naturally refused to take action against Baty.
Ultimately, Baty was murdered and beheaded on Oct. 16 by an 18-year-old Chechen Muslim refugee named Abdoullakh Abouyedovich Anzorov, who was himself caught and killed by police as he attempted to flee the scene.
Baty’s brutal murder, which was condemned as an act of Islamic terrorism by French President Emmanuel Macron, galvanized the French population and caused huge numbers of French citizens to publicly display cartoons of Mohammad in solidarity with Baty and principles of free expression.
This has served to further enrage the Muslim world, which has called for boycotts of French goods. Macron, for his part, has responded by condemning the “separatism” of France’s large Muslim community, which he views as a threat to national security.
The anti-France anger has become so acute in some countries that France’s foreign ministry warned its citizens traveling there on Tuesday to avoid all public gatherings and to specifically avoid dangerous protests occurring in those countries. Those countries include Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Mauritania. A statement released by the foreign ministry stated, “It is recommended to exercise the greatest vigilance, especially while travelling, and in places that are frequented by tourists or expatriate communities,” according to Reuters.
In addition to violent protests and calls for boycott, Turkish thug dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly questioned Macron’s health for his refusal to crack down on displays of the cartoon, which led the French government to recall its ambassador from Turkey.
*story by The Blaze