Keywords: France, Islam, Africa, "Charlie Hebdo"

On January 7, 2015, the office of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, was attacked. 12 people were killed, 11 were injured. The event in Paris caused a huge public outcry around the world, including in Africa, where more than 400 million people live. There have been religious conflicts and civil wars in a number of countries for a long time. Official authorities, religious figures, media and public leaders - no one was left indifferent, the range of opinions and assessments is enormous. The terrorist attack provoked discussions on a variety of issues and issues, including the limits of freedom of speech.

On January 8, 2015, the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack - the brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi-were eliminated. Their accomplice, Amedy Coulibaly, stormed a kosher grocery store near the Porte de Vincennes in Paris on January 9, 2015, killing 4 people. During special operations of the French security forces on January 9, 2015, Coulibaly was killed.

This tragedy became one of the most dramatic pages in the modern history of France. The investigation continues, but it is already clear that the perpetrators of the attacks were French of Algerian origin, supporters of radical Islam. They may have had accomplices who are still at large.

International scandals with public insults to Islam have occurred before. However, in terms of the number of victims from them, the shooting of the Charlie Hebdo editorial office certainly occupies a position that is out of the ordinary. In 1988, the publication of the novel "Satanic Verses"by the English-speaking Indian writer Salman Rushdie caused great indignation among Muslims around the world. This work was banned in India, South Africa, Pakistan, Egypt, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sudan, Malaysia, Qatar. Rushdie's books were burned, and mass demonstrations were held in India, Pakistan, and Iran. Islamists announced a reward of several million dollars for the writer's head.

According to a similar algorithm, a scandal unfolded with a report about the abuse of Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo Bay in 2005. In February 2006, there was a "cartoon" scandal with a Danish newspaper. In September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI was criticized by Muslims. Speaking at the University of Regensburg, Benedict XVI quoted the phrase of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II (1350-1425) from the emperor's philosophical and religious dispute with a contemporary who remained unknown: "Well, show me what new Muhammad brought, and you will find there only something evil and inhuman, such as his order to distribute with the sword." the faith that he preached. " ¹

After the shooting of Charlie Hebdo, 5 weeks passed, and a new terrorist attack with a "caricature background" occurred in Copenhagen. On February 14, 2015, an unknown person opened fire in the Porokhovaya Kegochka cafe in the very center of the Danish capital, where a public seminar on "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Speech" was being held. It is assumed that the target of the terrorist was the Swedish artist Lare Wilke, who, however, was not injured. 4 people were killed, including 3 policemen. A few hours later, a shooting occurred in the Great Synagogue of Copenhagen, killing a security guard. The next day, the suspect in both attacks, previously convicted Omar Abdel Hamid al-Hussein, was killed in a shootout with a police officer.

The relevance of these events for our country is due to the residence of more than 15 million people in Russia. muslims. The most active part of Muslims is in the North Caucasus, where the influence of radical elements is traditionally great, ready to promote their vision of Islamic norms and customs with weapons in their hands. Many of them have gained real combat experience in the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) group. According to the Russian Federal Security Service, at least 1.7 thousand Russian citizens and about 20 thousand citizens of other states are currently fighting in Iraq.²

Virtually all of Africa's leading political leaders condemned the attacks and expressed their deepest condolences to the French leadership and the French people.

Representatives of regional unions of African countries, such as the Economic Community of West African States, expressed similar views

(ECOWAS), which called for continuing the fight against extremism and terrorism in all its manifestations. The meeting of the African National Congress in South Africa on Thursday, January 8, 2015, began with a minute of silence in memory of the victims in the French capital.

On January 10-11, 2015, the March of the Republic in Paris gathered over 1 million people (in other cities of the country there are still at least 2.5 million), including 44 representatives of foreign countries, among them 10 were from African countries-Mali, Algeria, Tunisia, Gabon, Niger, Togo, Benin, Egypt, Senegal. It is noteworthy that the leaders of the two countries did not march in a general column of Parisians, but marched in a separate group along a street guarded by security services.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Government were among the first African countries to express solidarity with French citizens and send their condolences.

Tunisian officials have condemned the Paris attacks. The President of the country made an entry in the book of condolences to the families of those killed in the residence of the French Ambassador, noting that he is confident in France's ability to overcome this incident with courage and determination.

President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf expressed her deepest condolences to French President Francois Hollande and the entire French people. In her message, she noted that this tragedy is close and understandable to her country, which adheres to common values with France.

Mauritius, whose government, represented by Prime Minister Anirudh Jugnauth, sent a telegram of condolences to the French President, did not remain indifferent to the Paris events. The President of Seychelles, James Michel, also visited the French Embassy on the morning of January 13, 2015, as a sign of solidarity with the people of France, and signed the book of condolences.

However, even at the official level, the religious aspect sounds weighty. Despite the fact that the President of Senegal took part in the March of the Republic, in the country itself, where 94% of the population professes Islam, after violent protests, any distribution of "Charlie Hebdo" and the newspaper "Liberacion", which also published cartoons, was banned ³. The president's participation in the March of the Republic provoked a wave of criticism, although representatives of the Islamic clergy of the country, for example, the cleric of the Modu Kara Series, supported this act of the president.⁴

The Moroccan Foreign Minister refused to participate in the March in Paris at all because his request not to display cartoons during the march was not granted.⁵

RELIGION IS MORE THAN RELIGION IN AFRICA...

Radical Islamic organizations supported the terrorists and their accomplices. The Al-Qaeda terrorist group claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks. One of its leaders, Nasser al-Ansi, said that the Quashi brothers acted on the orders of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Ahmed Coulibaly was associated with ISIS. ⁶ The accuracy of this information may be questioned in connection with the elimination of the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks.

The leader of the Tunisian terrorist organization Ansar al-Sharia, Kamel Zarrouk, threatened to kill two Tunisian journalists who spoke out in support of victims at the hands of terrorists.

Threats against France were also voiced by the leader of the Islamist group "Boko Haram" Abubakar Shekau. In two video messages, he approved the actions of the terrorists and promised to arrange new terrorist attacks if the publication of cartoons continues. In his opinion, it is impossible to be a Muslim and not condemn democracy.⁷

The Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab called on its supporters in Europe to commit terrorist attacks similar to the shooting of the Charlie Hebdo editorial office. On their official website on the Internet, the radicals supported the actions of the terrorists, seeing the shooting of the editorial office as a heroic act of revenge for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

The position of official Islam in Africa cannot be called absolutely peaceful.

Moderate representatives of the Islamic clergy of Somalia, in particular, the imam of the Masjid Rahma Mosque in Mogadishu, Omar Sheikh Abdirahman, spoke negatively about the cartoons, but at the same time disavowed the use of force to solve this problem. Mustafa Ahmed, a journalist with the analytical publication Irin News, called on Somalis and Muslims living in non-Muslim majority countries to only peacefully condemn such insults to Islam and seek respect for themselves through pressure on the authorities within the framework of Law ⁸.

Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs Mohamed Aissa said in an interview that Algerian imams who have received special training are involved in creating a positive image of Islam in France. In his opinion, "the confusion between Islam and terrorism is only in the hands of extremists." As for the terrorist attacks in Paris, the minister believes that this is a purely French problem, since the perpetrators of these attacks have never been to Algeria, did not visit mosques and religious schools there.⁹

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, represented by Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa, condemned the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Charlie Hebdo and warned that such actions could only increase the resentment of Muslims around the world in the future.¹⁰

The Council of Imams and Ulemas of Kaduna State in Nigeria, following a press conference, said that the tragedy in Paris could have been avoided if the French authorities had held the editorial office of the satirical weekly accountable for publishing cartoons and convinced journalists not to do so again. "It is time for the West to reconsider the concept of freedom of speech and expression when it comes to religious issues." ¹¹

Meanwhile, Muslim organizations in South Africa, such as Islamic Unity, point to the demonization of Islam in the Western media. In their opinion, the blame for the terrorist attacks lies not only with radical Muslims, there are questions about the work of the French police.

and special services. Muslims around the world should not apologize for the actions of a few radicals. In other countries, people are constantly dying at the hands of terrorists, for example, on the day of the Charlie Hebdo editorial office shooting, an explosion in the Yemeni capital killed ³⁸ people, but the world media, continuing to promote the tragedy in Paris, did not react in any way to the deaths in Sanaa12.

Not without religious excesses.

In Niger, where 80% of the population is Sunni Muslim, protesters in Niamey and Zinder burned down Christian churches and a French cultural center, expressing outrage over Charlie Hebdo publications. The buildings of several bars, hotels and French companies were also damaged. The country's President, Mahamadou Issoufou, condemned these ¹³ demonstrations, during which, according to the "World Council of Churches", about 70 Christian churches were burned down.¹⁴ For overclocking more than 1 thousand units. Police fired tear gas at the protesters, killing 10 people and injuring 45 others.

Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Nigeria accused Western countries of ignoring the terrorist threat from the Islamist group Boko Haram, whose activities have already led to the death of hundreds of people, and said that Nigeria now needs no less support than France. In his opinion, terrorist attacks in Europe are given more attention than those in Nigeria, Niger or Cameroon15, and the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has found time to express solidarity to the French people, but is not able to do the same for his own citizens, who are killed in terrorist attacks much more often than the French. However, it does not cause such a resonance and rarely goes beyond the borders of the country.

Thus, we can observe that the reaction to the terrorist attacks in Paris on the part of religious structures and individual figures in Africa is closely related to the religious composition of the population of each individual country. The greatest resonance was observed in countries with a significant proportion of the Islamic population. However, Christian organizations, especially in Nigeria, did not remain indifferent to the discussion of this topic.

AFRICAN REACTION

A special place in the assessment of the shooting of the Charlie Hebdo editorial office belongs to the Nigerian media and public figures due to the permanent religious conflict in this country.

The tragedy in Paris has intensified the search for ways to resolve the religious conflict in Nigerian society. Islam entered Africa much earlier than Christian missionaries from Western Europe and had a significant impact on the local culture. According to some Nigerian journalists, Nigeria should distance itself from the purely negative image of Islam imposed by the West and focus on solving domestic political problems, fighting corruption, developing its own economy, overcoming unemployment and stabilizing relations between the North ^and South16.

A series of articles by journalist Mesued Mustafa in the Ethiopian newspaper "Reporter"is worthy of attention. The author pointed out the hypocrisy and duplicity of the absolute majority of the world's media in assessing the recent terrorist attacks in France, the constant attacks of Boko Haram in Nigeria, etc. The murder of a few Europeans causes much more outrage in the world's media than the murder of several hundred Africans. There is a need to develop a clear and unambiguous standard for assessing terrorist attacks, wherever they occur. In his opinion, there are no "good" and "bad" terrorists, any assistance and interaction with terrorist structures, especially with the Islamic State, should be stopped.¹⁷ In another article, M. Mustefa explained why he sees the Charlie Hebdo cartoons not as a manifestation of freedom of speech, but rather as an insult and hatred covered up by freedom of speech. Freedom of speech and freedom to insult are two different things ¹⁸.

Of interest is the position of Nigerian journalist Okey Ndibe, who points out that the world community will not pay the same attention to the terrorist attacks in Nigeria as it does to the terrorist attacks in France, until Nigerians and, above all, their leaders begin to respect themselves and their people. The contrast in the behavior of the French and Nigerian presidents after the terrorist attacks is striking. Francois Hollande arrived at the scene of the terrorist attack as soon as possible, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and victims, declared three days of mourning in France, and a few days later led the March of the Republic in Paris. Goodluck Jonathan either does not react at all to terrorist attacks in his own country, for example, in Baga, or reacts with great delay and expressionless ¹⁹.

This behavior of the Nigerian president caused a flurry of criticism from one of the young political leaders of South Africa - Julius Malema. According to him, the National Assembly (the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa) will consider a request for possible interference in the internal affairs of Nigeria due to the Boko Haram terrorist attacks.²⁰

There is also an opinion that terrorist attacks in Nigeria occur so often (there were 95 attacks in the first six months of 2014) that the media no longer respond to it.

The Union of Journalists in Algeria, which has recorded a significant number of victims of terrorist attacks among media workers, condemned the actions of French terrorists and wished the victims a speedy recovery.

Yassmina Khadra, a well-known Algerian writer and former military officer, commented on the situation around Charlie Hebdo in an interview with the Arabic edition of Al-Jazeera, pointing out that terrorists are a product of French society, and not of the Islamic world. God, in his opinion, does not need the protection of mortals ²¹.

In Morocco, most publications condemned the Paris attacks, but almost all political parties did not express solidarity with the victims of these attacks on the eve of the elections.

The Egyptian Human Rights Organization has asked the French authorities, despite all the bloodiness and inhumanity of these terrorist attacks, not to take measures that could worsen the situation of migrants from Arab countries in general and the Egyptian community in particular. And Egypt's Minister of Waqfs, Mohammed Mukhtar Gomaa, warned against taking anti-terrorist measures as a way to put pressure on the Islamic states of the region. ²²

Such statements are somewhat inappropriate against the background of the persecution of Christians in Egypt, for example. According to the Egyptian newspaper Egypt Independent, on January 11, 2015, 21-year-old student Karim Al-Banna was sentenced to 3 years in prison for atheism and insulting Islam. In June 2014, a Copt, also for insulting Islam, received six years ⁱⁿ prison23.

There was no strong public reaction in Cameroon. According to local media reports, many Cameroonians were even waiting for printed copies of Charlie Hebdo to be delivered to their country to view the cartoons, probably out of curiosity.

In Kenya, where Muslims make up 10% of the population, the three largest newspapers in the country - the Star, Business Daily and Apolodzhayzing-reprinted cartoons from Charlie Hebdo, but after protests from Muslims they were forced to make a public apology. The Kenyan Media Council, appointed by the Government, even raised the issue of accreditation of journalists from these publications.

Tichaona Zindoga, a journalist from Zimbabwe, where 80% of the population is Christians of various denominations, pointed out the problem of the border of freedom of speech in the West. The events in the Charlie Hebdo editorial office, in his opinion, demonstrate the absolute faith of Western journalists in the ideal of freedom of expression, which, for example, for the realities of Zimbabwe, where the "Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2004" ²⁴ and the"Law on the Protection of Public Order"are in force."("Public Order and Security Act, 2002" ²⁵), not applicable in practice. However, such freedom of speech in the West is one-sided. You can talk about the threat of Islam and mock the Prophet Muhammad, but you can't evaluate such actions as propaganda of violence and incitement to war. And no one in the West even thinks about bringing to justice those who allow themselves to publish materials with Islamophobic content.²⁶

Lassana Bathily, a 24-year-old Muslim migrant who works at the same kosher grocery store near the Porte de Vincennes in Paris, helped rescue 20 hostages, is a source of national pride for Mali.²⁷

A mixed reaction to the events in Paris took place among South African cartoonists, who have repeatedly become participants in" cartoon " scandals, but without such sad consequences. Although they also received threats. In particular, the Muslim organization Jamiatul Ulama, through the Supreme Court of South Africa, obtained a ban on the publication of cartoons from the magazine Charlie Hebdo. The judge explained this decision by saying that, although freedom of speech is a fundamental principle of a democratic society, it is not a primary value.

South Africa's most famous cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, who goes by the pseudonym "Zapiro", demanded the harshest condemnation of the murder of journalists in Paris and assurances from the country's leadership to protect media freedom in the country28. Journalists and cartoonists from a number of other African countries - ^Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria-stand in solidarity with him29.

It is noteworthy that the reaction of the African media turned out to be almost identical to the reaction of the world media, which were divided into three camps on the issue of Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Most of the leading publications decided not to publish cartoons. This position is held mainly by American publications - "NBC", "CNN", "ABC", "CBS", "New York Times". The opposite point of view can be found among the European media that published cartoons in solidarity with their French colleagues, namely: the German edition of Hamburger Morgen-post, the Danish newspaper Berlingske, as well as some American publications. Other publications, such as the Daily Telegraph and Daily News, published a photo of the cover of the controversial issue of Charlie Hebdo, but with a blurry cartoon.

what's next?

Thus, we can see that the reaction of Africans to the terrorist attacks in Paris is not limited to sympathy for the victims and has a clear religious background. The dead cannot be returned, but the insult to the Prophet must not be ignored. However, the question of the limits of freedom of speech was also raised by representatives of Christian communities in several African countries, not to mention Muslims in Africa.

We should also not forget that the French authorities, pursuing their foreign policy goals, have long and successfully supported radical Islam in other countries, as indicated, in particular, by the famous American scholar of African studies Horace Campbell. This was the case in Mali, the Central African Republic, Libya and Syria, where France supported the actions of Islamist groups, while continuing to condemn the actions of terrorists where it was profitable for it. Very strange is the unexpected suicide of French Police Commissioner Elric Fredu just before the publication of his report on the first results of the investigation. Since 2012, E. Fredu was deputy head of the police department in Limoges, where the Couachy brothers spent their school years.³⁰

The French authorities were aware of the terrorists ' close ties to al-Qaeda. Cherif Kouachi spent many years recruiting people for the war in Iraq, in 2005 he was arrested while trying to enter Iraq through Syria, and in 2008 he was sentenced to one and a half years for terrorism. His brother, Saeed, trained in al-Qaeda camps in Yemen. Amedy Coulibaly met Cherif Kouachi in prison, where he was sent for robberies.

However, it was impossible to prevent a terrorist attack with the tools available in the arsenal of the authorities. There is no death penalty in France, prison sentences for terrorism are extremely short and often only lead to an increase in the popularity of the convicted person among radicals and extremists. 70% of prisoners in French prisons practice Islam, providing a breeding ground for radicals. The number of Muslims is steadily increasing (there are now about 6 million people living in France). Muslims, or 8% of the population), and the number of radicals is growing proportionally.

After the terrorist attack, cartoons from the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo were reprinted in many other French publications. Perhaps this is the freedom of speech that French society cannot possibly give up. The first issue of the weekly magazine after the terrorist attack, which had a circulation of 3 million copies (instead of the usual 60 thousand), also contained cartoons and was sold out in a matter of hours. The print run was later increased to 7 million copies. instances.

Summing up, we can assume that given the current state of affairs in the EU countries with freedom of speech and the press, regarding publications with Islamophobic content, there is a high probability of repeating such terrorist attacks in the future.

¹ Pope Benedict XVI's speech, 12.09.2006 - http://al-kitab.livejournal.com/8490.html

² FSB Director: about 1.7 thousand Russians are fighting in the ranks of militants in Iraq / / ITAR-TASS, 20.02.2015 - http://tass.ru/politika/1780775

^{Mwendia S.} 3 Charlie Hebdo in Africa: Senegal bans magazine's distribution // This is Africa, 16.01.2015 - http://thisisafrica.me/charlie-hebdo-africa-senegal-bans-magazines-distribution

⁴ Charlie Hebdo attack: African newspapers apologise over cover // BBC News, 15.01.2015 - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30829167

^{Jannic-Gherbonnel} 5 F. African Press Review 12 January 2015 // Radio France Internationale, 15.01.2015 - http://www.english.rfi.fr/africa/20150112-african-press-review- 12-january-2015

^{Adamu A.} 6 Vous etes Charlie? // Daily Trust, 16.02.2015 -http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/columns/friday-columns/44534-vous-etes-charlie

⁷ Boko Haram returns to sending emails, attacks Borno Barracks // Daily Trust, 14.01.2015 - http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/44311-boko-haram-now-communicates-via-e mail-youtube

⁸ Somalia: Somalis Respond to Paris Attacks, Denounce Violence -httpy/allafrica.com/stories/201501130094.html

⁹ Algerian Imams in Europe Committed to Presenting Real Image of Islam // ALGERIA PRESS SERVICE, 18.01.2015 - http://www.aps.dz/ en/algeria/5708-algerian-imams-in-europe-committed-to-presenting-real-image-of-islam

^{Mwendia S} 10. Charlie Hebdo: African newspapers apologise over cover//This Is Africa, 16.01.2015 - http://thisisafrica.me/charlie-hebdo-african-newspapers-apologise-cover/

^{Ahmadu-Suka M.} 11 Charlie Hebdo massacre avoidable // Daily Trust, 16.01.2015 - http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/44513-charlie-hebdo-massacre-avoidable-ulamas

¹² South Africa: Islamic Unity Convention's Comment On French Terror Attacks // PAMBAZUKA NEWS, 14.01.2015 - http://pambazuka.net/en/category/features/93708

¹³ Niger Police Fire Tear Gas As Charlie Hebdo Opponents Take to the Streets - http://allafrica.com/stories/201501192078.html

¹⁴ Niger: WCC Condemns Attacks On Churches in Niger -http://allafrica.com/stories/201501231265.html

¹⁵ Nigeria: Yes, Nigeria Needs the Same Support As France -http://allafrica.com/stories/201501201693.html

^{Princewill T.} 16 Charlie Hebdo and the fear of islamization in the Nigerian context // Vanguard, 21.01.2015 - http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-fear-islamization-nigerian-context

^{Musetefa M.} 17 We all pay the price for terrorism // The Reporter, 07.02.2015 - http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/opinion/viewpoint/item/3118-we-all-pay-the-p rice-for-terrorism

^{Musetefa M.} 18 Hate speech and freedom of speech // The Reporter, 31.01.2015 - http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/opinion/ viewpoint/item/3089-hate-speech-and-freedom-of-speech

^{Ndibe O.} 19 "Je suis Charlie" and Nigerian Envy // Premium Times, 21.01.2015 - http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/?p-166604

^{Hassan A.} 20 South African Politician, Malema, Attacks Jonathan, Says President "Irresponsible" Over Silence On Baga // Sahara Reporters, 14.01.2015 - http://saharareporters.com/2015/01/14/south-african-politician-malema-attacks-jonathan-says- president-%E2%80%9Cirresponsible%E2%80%9D-over

^{Pilane P.} 21 Charlie Hebdo murderers are children of France, not children of Islam // The Daily Vox, 22.01.2015 - http://www.thedailyvox. co.za/charlie-hebdo-murderers-are-children-of-france-not-children-of-islam/

²² Egypt: Awqaf Ministry Condemns Charlie Hebdo Attack -http://allafrica.com/stories/201501091700.html

^{Jannic-Cherbonnel F.} 23 Op. cit.

²⁴ The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2004 -http://archive.kubatana.net/docs/legisl/aippa_amd_act_050110.pdf

²⁵ The Public Order and Security Act, 2002 -http://archive.kubatana.net/docs/legisl/posa060203.pdf

²⁶ Zimbabwe: What to Do With 'Freedom' of Expression? -http://allafrica.com/stories/201501110278.html

²⁷ Malian Hero of Jewish Supermarket Attack to Get French Nationality // Radio France Internationale, 15.01.2015 http://thisisafrica.me/charlie-hebdo-africa-senegal-bans-magazines-distribution

^{Ferreira F.} 28 South Africa: Condemn Paris Media Massacre - Zapiro // Business Day, 09.01.2015 - http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2015/01/09/condemn-paris-media-massacre-says-zapiro

^{Matthaei K.} 29 African Press Saddened By Paris Attack, Some Question Media Ethics // Deutsche Welle, 08.01.2015 - http://www.dw.de/african-press-saddened-by-paris-attack-some-question-media-ethics/a-1818 0259

^{Campbell H.} 30 Manipulation in Paris: Racism, Islamophobia and the capitalist crisis in Europe // PAMBAZUKA NEWS, 21.01.2015 -http://pambazuka.net/en/category/features/93796

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