BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:00 P.M.) – The Archbishop of Sebastia of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, condemned the “hate speech” towards Muslims from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Archbishop Hanna said in a post on his official Facebook page that, “On the basis of our Christian values and our Christian affiliation to the most ancient church in this world, we express our condemnation, disapproval and rejection of any attack that affects religious symbols in all religions,” and added that “insulting our Muslim brothers, it is something that we reject and condemn altogether. ”
Archbishop Hanna expressed his rejection of the rhetoric of incitement and hatred regardless of its source and whoever promotes it, stressing that “Christians and Muslims in this East and in Palestine in particular, must face any abhorrent inflammatory speech by devoting a culture of affection and human brotherhood and working together to thwart the plans. And the plots aimed at stirring up division in our ranks. ”
French President Emmanuel Macron said in previous statements that his country adhered to publishing “cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad” as part of its keenness on secularism, which angered Muslims across the world, especially Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called for a boycott of French goods and said that his French counterpart needed a “mental health examination”.
Erdogan also attacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel, against the backdrop of the German police storming a mosque, calling on the world to support the “oppressed Muslims in Europe.”
