Lebanon Condemns Assault on Charlie Hebdo, Considering it 'Attack on Islam'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Lebanese officials and political leaders condemned Wednesday the attack on the Paris offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 people dead, saying the incident was not only an assault against France but also against Islam itself.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam sent a cable to French President Francois Hollande, condoling him over the victims and expressing “the solidarity of the Lebanese people with France.”
Salam stressed his “extreme condemnation of this unacceptable and pointless terrorist attack.”
As for Minister of Information Ramzi Jreij, he said in a statement that “this violation targets all the media, not only the French magazine.”
"Terrorism is the same wherever it occurs as it does not differentiate between a region and another nor between a journalist and another. It is a violation against the freedom of journalism, public freedoms and the freedom of opinion in France and all over the world,” he added.
Meanwhile, al-Mustaqbal movement chief MP Saad Hariri said that “those who take the name of Prophet Mohammed as a tool for revenge and committing the ugliest acts are a stray bunch.”
“They are not seeking to harm the Islamic-French relations as much as they are seeking to harm Islam -- as a religion, values, education and permanent call for moderation, dialogue and integration among faiths,” Hariri added.
Accordingly, he considered the attack as an “idiotic stab in the chest of Islam and hundreds of thousands of Muslims hosted by France since decades.”
"The attack is condemned and rejected by all Arabs and Muslims, who stand in the front lines with France and the international community in the fight against terrorism and extremism,” Hariri added.
For his part, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea stated that “terrorism is a dangerous threat to the entire human civilization.”
He noted that “this terrorist attack that targeted the Charlie Hebdo magazine is a proof that terrorism can hit anywhere and that all the countries are exposed to such violations.”
Geagea called on the international community and the world powers “unite their efforts in order to eliminate the phenomena of extremism and terrorism.”
The March 14 General Secretariat, meanwhile, declared that “the attack is condemned by all the Lebanese people,” calling on the French people not to "arbitrarily attribute terrorism to Islam."
"The March 14 forces condemn all those who kill in the name of religion and those who commit the ugliest acts in the name of God while they are so far away from religion and values,” it added.
It also asked “to keep on fighting terrorism through the unity of all the sincere in this world, who consider terrorism as a danger for humanity, whether they are Muslims or Christians.”
Also on Wednesday, Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel deplored the attack, calling it “a terrorist act par excellence that aims to target democracy and freedoms.”
He urged the international community to “shoulder its responsibilities regarding this type of acts, which must be reined in and deterred.”
M.Y.
Y.R.
07 January 2015, 22:36
12
Islamic institutions invented this brand of religious violence, to silence the free press. It is too little and too late to try to rebrand it as Unislamic.
In fact, Islam is in desperate need of a Revival, as cited by Egypt President: 'Muslims need to revolutionize their religion'; 'It has reached the point that this ideology is hostile to the entire world.'
Naharnet: Remember the Freedom of Press, without you would not be able to express.
07 January 2015, 22:59
23
attack on islam? not really. but it may lead to attacks on muslims.
08 January 2015, 04:47
21
More than there already is? Wow, you guys really are thirsty for Muslim blood.
08 January 2015, 01:03
01
How can be an attack to islam if the killed people make draws against the islam and mahoma, this is ridiculous
08 January 2015, 04:44
40
Hi Gabby. Have you ever read the bible? Only prophet to carry a sword??? Go open up the bible and see whats in it. You will be shocked unless yu are deliberatly acting ignorant.
Actually Muslims are free to leave Islam and become christian in most countries around the world but oly few do. Christians on the other hand are becoming Muslims every minute. It's really awesome, it's no longer weird to meet a latvian Muslim, a hungarian Muslim or british Muslim, alhamdulillah. Praise be to God who has no partner and no son and may peace and blessings be upon his final Prophet Muhammad sent to mankind.
08 January 2015, 04:45
30
Yeah, it's sad how the christian cults keep murdering people around the world, whether by the use of militias or state armies :(
08 January 2015, 12:53
20
of course crusader armies will continue ...until it eradicate the cult of fucktarded from this earth
08 January 2015, 05:17
21
Kanaan, it is essentially an attack on Islam. Here is why: this barbaric attack gives Westerners (including myself) another reason to question Islam as a religion. Hanin, while there may be some things written in the Bible, the Bible was written thousands of years ago. And the Crusades took place around a thousand years ago, so yes Christians have a history of violence. But that was a thousand years ago. It is 2015 now, do you see Christian extremists beheading people and chatting Allahu Akbar before blowing themselves up? Do you see Christianity being questioned as a religion today? (The corruption in the Vatican is one thing, but I'm talking about Christianity as a religion being questioned in terms of spiritual attitude).
08 January 2015, 05:24
21
And the answer is no, Christianity is not scrutinised like Islam is today. You don't hear people on television questioning verses of the Bible. What you hear is people on television saying Islam promotes violence and sectarian strife. What you hear is people asking why women are treated like slaves. What you hear is people saying KSA and Iran lead the world in executions (KSA beheads people, Iran has public executions)
08 January 2015, 09:04
20
I would not be surprised Israel is behind this attack: it is too well organized to be the work of anyone else.
if there is an Israeli attack in Palestine, it would reinforce this theory, or even it might be just to direct hate towards islam.
According to all statisticians Europe will have a majority of muslims by 2030, so this can be the work of the far right in France.
08 January 2015, 09:46
20
it can be muslims, but this attack is too well organized.
get out of your sectarianism and confessionalism to understand what I said!
I am a Christian.
08 January 2015, 13:03
20
Never argue with stupid people... they take you down to their level of stupidity and win based on their vast experience....
08 January 2015, 13:05
00
Je n'en parlerai pas parce que je serais amené, si je le faisais, à constater que l'islam est la fabrique de l'islamisme, que l'islamisme est la fabrique du terrorisme, et que donc l'islam est la fabrique du terrorisme. Jean Paul Brighelli (le Point)
08 January 2015, 13:05
00
Je n'en parlerai pas parce que je citerais Voltaire et son pamphlet sur l'horrible danger de la lecture, où il explique fort bien qu'une religion qui hait la culture au point de censurer ceux qui la brocardent ne doit pas être bien sûre de sa légitimité, en dehors de son droit inaliénable à dire des sottises et de sa vocation prosélytique...et les islamistes afghans nous ont enseigné que l'expression "étudiant en religion", qui traduit le mot "taliban", est une contradiction dans les termes. Après tout, leurs coreligionnaires ont jadis brûlé la bibliothèque d'Alexandrie de peur d'y trouver une idée qui contredise leur livre unique.
Jean Paul Brighelli (le Point)
08 January 2015, 13:06
00
Je n'en parlerai pas parce que je suggérerais qu'une religion qui a pour projet de convertir le monde n'est pas une religion, mais un totalitarisme. Jean Paul Brighelli (le Point)
08 January 2015, 13:06
00
Je n'en parlerai pas parce que je suggérerais qu'une religion qui a pour projet de convertir le monde n'est pas une religion, mais un totalitarisme. Jean Paul Brighelli (le Point)
08 January 2015, 14:33
00
What people do in the name of religion has nothing to do with whether that religion is truth or not. The bottom line is, The Creator is 1, unique and with no partners, He is the only One who deserves prayer/supplications to be directed to, not creatures. He sent prophets including Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad to guide mankind to the worship of The One Creator and to living their lives in the most righteous way. There is a Day of Judgment where man will stand to be rewarded or punished for his actions. The only religion that says this today is Islam. Judaism has gone off the right track (islam) by rejecting Jesus and by becoming a cult, Christianity changed the nature of God to a trinity and has a lot of idol worship and made achieving salvation only through the act of accepting the "death of God" and at the same time the "son of God"!?! Islam is the truth today, Islam was the truth at the time of Jesus and it was the truth at the time of every prophet that God sent...
