French President Emmanuel Macron seems a worried man. He first proposed to reform Islam along French lines. Then after the vicious killing of a schoolteacher by a Muslim teenager, he extended France’s support to caricatures of the Prophet that most Muslims see as blasphemous.
Many Muslim countries erupted in protest. Criticism also appeared in the British and American press. Macron now claims he was misinterpreted, clarifying in an interview to Al Jazeera that he was defending "the freedom to speak, to write, to think, to draw.” He wrote to the Financial Times this week to denounce "media articles that divide us.” The newspaper removed an article Macron to which objected from its website.
Nevertheless, the damage has been done — and not just to the principle of free expression. Two of the loudest voices against Macron — Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan — have exploited Macron’s missteps to deflect attention from their domestic excesses and failures. There has been more terrorist violence, in France, Austria and now Saudi Arabia.