INDONESIANS URGED NOT TO BE PROVOKED BY CHARLIE HEBDO by Fardah

    Jakarta, Jan 16, 2015 (Antara) - French weekly Charlie Hebdo's decision to publish more cartoons of Prophet Mohammed despite an attack on its Paris office that killed 12 people has been viewed by many Muslim leaders as provocative and foolish.

         The leaders, however, urged Muslims not to get provoked and respond to it wisely by refraining from anarchic acts.

         Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said press freedom should respect other people's beliefs, including Islam that bans any kind of pictorial depiction of Prophet Muhmmad.

         The minister told the Indonesian Muslims not to be provoked by the magazine that often ridicules Islam.

         The Paris-based satirical magazine's latest edition carries the Prophet Muhammad cartoon holding a sign saying, "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie), with the words "All is forgiven" in French above it on a green background.

         Charlie Hebdo, as reported by the world's mainstream media on Tuesday, printed three million copies of its memorial
edition. The number exceeds its regular circulation of some 60,000 copies.

         Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) is well-known for courting controversies with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders of all faiths and has published numerous cartoons ridiculing Prophet Mohammad.

         Following the bloody attack on Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, the Indonesian government, legislators, and ulemas had joined the global outrage against the incident.

         "Indonesia strongly condemns the attack. Our deepest condolences go to the families of the victims," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said when delivering her first annual press statement in Jakarta on January 8, 2015.

         Abdul Kadir Makarim, chairman of the East Nusa Tenggara Islamic Ulema Council (MUI), said in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on Jan. 15 that Charlie Hebdo has once again provoked 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world by publishing a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad.

         "Regardless of whatever excuses and background they use, it is not right to publish a picture depicting Prophet Muhammad," he said.

         He agreed with Egyptian body Dar al-Ifta that stated Tuesday that the depiction of Prophet Muhammad on the cover of the latest issue of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo has been provocative and unjustified.

         Earlier, Slamet Effendy Yusuf, an associate chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, expressed disappointment over Charlie Hebdo's move to again publish the caricature of Prophet Muhammad.

         While Yusuf condemned the attackers of Charlie Hebdo who killed 12 people and called them fools, he also said that the editors who decided to publish the latest Charlie Hebdo issue with Prophet Muhammad's caricature on its cover were equally fools.

         "This means Charlie Hebdo's editors are not smart. They have not taken a cue from the killings of their colleagues," remarked Slamet Effendy Yusuf.

         The attack on the French satirical magazine's office in Paris cannot be justified and deserves to be called an inhuman act of terrorism, he stated.

         However, the "Je Suis Charlie" campaign organized by the supporters of free speech and freedom of expression to express solidarity with the publication is also not entirely acceptable, especially when it is done under the concept of freedom of expression, he reiterated.

         "It is wrong to generalize all people as Charlie Hebdo. The West must learn to respect the East's view that freedom of expression must be implemented with responsibility and empathy towards what others believe," he noted.

         He emphasized that the West must be able to rectify its behavior. Even in the West, numerous articles have been published emphasizing the importance of implementing freedom of expression with responsibility and morality, according to him.

         "Freedom of expression must not offer room for insult and abuse of what billions of people in the world consider holy. Attacks similar to the one in Paris will continue to occur if the media continues to adopt this attitude, and the public allows it to continue," he remarked.

         Yusuf stated that any form of insult on any religion, be it Judaism or Christianity, and holy figures of religion such as Jesus or Mohammad, is not justifiable.

         "Moreover, in Islam, any visualization of Prophet Muhammad is banned," he pointed out.

         Similar condemnation was voiced by Abdul Mu'thi, the Secretary of Muhammadiyah's central executive board. He, however, called on Muslims in Indonesia and other parts of the world to exercise restraint despite the provocation.

         "Muslims need to exercise restraint. It will be better if we can look at it as a test of our patience. We should be able to respond to it wisely by refraining from anarchic acts," he noted.

         The French Government has failed to disband the magazine that will not remain silent either, remarked the secretary of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic organization.

         "There must be some productive communication between France and other countries, especially from the Muslim World, so that any unexpected eventuality can be avoided in the future," Abdul Mu'thi pointed out.

         Chairman of Muhammadiyah Din Syamsuddin, speaking on the sidelines of a dialog on "Charlie Hebdo Violence: Between Press Freedom and Interfaith Tolerance" held in Jakarta, on January 15, 2015, also urged the Indonesian Muslims in particular not to be provoked by the French weekly. 
    Overreactions will only trigger Islamophobia and Westernphobia that will further harm the world peace, he cautioned.

         "It does not mean that we have to remain silent, but we must find smart and tactical ways to deal with these not-smart, careless and foolish people (who have ridiculed Islam). We must not react the way they did," he added.

         Din Syamsuddin said he condemned the killing of 12 people in Charlie Hebdo's office, but added that he also denounced the magazine for insulting Islam.

         "Prophet Muhammad is sacred. It is unjustifiable that they did it in the name of freedom of speech or freedom of expression, because the insult is obvious and can be considered as verbal violence," he noted.

         He called on world leaders and peace-loving global communities to unite and find the best way to interpret freedom of expression.

         According to the International Union of Muslim Scholars, any publication of the Prophet Muhammad drawings will give further "credibility" to the perception that "the West is against Islam". It stressed that the images will further "stir hatred, extremism, and tension."
    "It is neither reasonable, nor logical, nor wise to publish drawings and films offensive or attacking the Prophet of Islam," the International Union of Muslim Scholars, based in Qatar and headed by preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi, said in a lengthy statement quoted by transnational media.

         The statement, published late on January 12, 2015, read: "If we agree that (those who committed the attacks) are a minority that do not represent Islam or Muslims, then how can we respond with actions that are not directed against them, but against the Prophet worshipped by a billion-and-a-half Muslims?"
    Similarly, a prominent Saudi cleric, Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamedi, told AFP that the publication of the latest image was a mistake.

         "It's not a good way to make people understand us. Jesus or Moses, we should respect all messengers (of God)," and should not be made fun of in pictures or words, Ghamedi said. "I believe it will create more problems."
    While mainstream Muslim leaders around the world have strongly condemned the attack that killed 12 people, many said the decision to print a new cartoon of Muhammad was a provocation that will create a further backlash.

         Such cartoons "fuel feelings of hatred and resentment among people" and publishing them "shows contempt" for Muslim feelings, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestinian lands, Mohammed Hussein, was quoted as saying in a statement by Reuters.

         In Iran, a leading conservative cleric, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, said the publication of new satirical images of Mohammad "amounts to declaring war on all Muslims".

         Egypt's Al-Azhar, a thousand-year-old seat of Islamic
learning that has described the Paris attack as a criminal act, called on Muslims to ignore the magazine's cartoons, labelling them "hateful frivolity", Reuters reported.

         In the meantime, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the West of hypocrisy for its stance over the attack on satirical journal Charlie Hebdo and hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket in Paris, while failing to condemn anti-Muslim acts in Europe, according to Reuters.

         Speaking alongside visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Erdogan also denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for attending a solidarity rally in France on Sunday with other world leaders after the Paris attacks.

         "How can a man who has killed 2,500 people in Gaza with state terrorism wave his hand in Paris, like people are waiting in excitement for him to do so? How dare he go there?" he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

         "You should first answer for your killing of children and women," added Erdogan. ***4***
(f001/INE/B003)