Dozens of Arab Israelis protest outside French Embassy over Muhammad cartoons

Several dozen Arab Israelis are demonstrating in front of the French Embassy in Tel Aviv in protest of French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements defending cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Macron made his remarks following the beheading of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty by an 18-year-old Muslim extremist angered by Paty’s use of the cartoons in a class on free speech.

Visual depictions of Muhammad are strictly prohibited in most schools of Islamic law.

The protest in Tel Aviv was organized by the Islamic Movement. The Movement’s leader, Hamad Abu Daabis, can be spotted among the demonstrators, as well as Joint List MKs Mansour Abbas, Walid Taha, and Saeed al-Kharumi.

— Aaron Boxerman

Arab Israelis demonstrate outside the French Embassy in Tel Aviv over French President Emmanuel macron’s defense of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, October 29, 2020. (Islamic Movement spokesperson)