Friday, January 16, 2015
Elder of Ziyon |
| Filipinos burn fake Charlie Hebdo poster saying it is a Zionist conspiracy |
Muslims marched in Middle East cities Friday to protest the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed by French magazine Charlie Hebdo, as Qatar warned the image would "fuel hatred".Qatar condemned the publication:
The largest rally was in Jordan, where around 2,500 protesters took to the streets of the capital Amman amid tightened security, while demonstrations also took place in east Jerusalem and Khartoum.
The crowd, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood and youth groups, set off from the Al-Husseini mosque in central Amman holding banners that read "insulting the prophet is global terrorism".
Jordan's opposition Islamic Action Front party, the political wing of the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, has branded the publication of the cartoon as "an attack on Muslims across the world".
King Abdullah II, who last weekend joined world leaders on an anti-terror solidarity march in Paris, on Thursday said the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo was "irresponsible and reckless".
A protest against the cartoon in Tehran was canceled, with no official reason given, as senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani told worshipers its publication amounted to "savagery".
In Tunis, worshipers at El-Fath mosque interrupted prayer leader Noureddine Khadmi as he delivered a sermon saying: "We are all against insults made against our prophet but it is not a reason to kill".
Charlie Hebdo journalists "deserved to be killed because they insulted our prophet many times," the worshipers cried out.
Saudi Arabia's top religious body, the Council of Senior Ulema, also criticized the publication of Mohammed cartoons that it said "have nothing to do with the freedom of creativity or thought".
Its secretary general Fahd al-Majid warned that publishing such images would only "serve extremists who are in search of excuses for killing and terrorism".
Qatar warned Friday that publishing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed would "fuel hatred and anger", as a leading Muslim body called for peaceful protests against French weekly Charlie Hebdo.
Qatar "condemned the reprinting by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and other European press of pictures offensive to Prophet Mohammed," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Freedom of speech does not mean insulting others, hurting their feelings, and mocking their religious beliefs and idols," said the statement published by the official QNA news agency.
"These disgraceful actions are in the interest of nobody and will only fuel hatred and anger," it warned, describing them as a "violation of human values of peaceful coexistence, tolerance, justice, and respect among people."
RT adds:
Pakistani police fired tear gas and used water cannons on protesters in Karachi, with AFP photo journalist injured in the protests.
Earlier on, dozens of Pakistani lawmakers marched near the country’s parliament in Islamabad, calling for "death to blasphemers."
"All political parties are with us… All Muslim countries should condemn these blasphemous cartoons," Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf said, NBC reported.
Egypt’s top religious institution, the Al Azhar mosque, has expressed its outrage at the magazine’s new cartoon, describing it as a “blatant challenge to the feelings of Muslims who had sympathized with this newspaper,” AP reported.
Muslims in Aleppo on Thursday marched through the southwestern Syrian city, burning a “Je suis Charlie” poster.
Protesters in the Philippines marched in the southern town of Marawi, burning images of the magazine’s new cover.
