Palestinians rap Charlie Hebdo cartoon of Prophet Muhammad
Thousands of Palestinians take to the streets of West Bank in protest of a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) published by the French satirical Charlie Hebdo.
During the Saturday rally, which was called by the Tahrir Party, protesters chanted, "France is the mother of terrorism. America is the mother of terrorism."
Some protesters held banners which read, "There is only one God and Muhammad is his messenger."
“We have taken to the streets in order to demand Muslim armies act the way France and the West deserve in response to the repeated offenses against the Prophet, peace be upon him," said Tahrir party member Baher Saleh.
Simultaneous protests were also held in the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and al-Khalil (Hebron).
The protests were called in response to the cartoon published by the French weekly a week after a January 7 attack by gunmen at its Paris headquarters killed 12 people.
On January 9, police ended a hostage-taking at a supermarket in the eastern Porte de Vincennes area of Paris, killing armed hostage-taker Amedy Coulibaly, who was also a suspect in the killing of a policewoman in southern Paris a day earlier. Coulibaly killed four hostages before his death.
International rallies
Similar demonstrations have been held around the globe, condemning the printing of the blasphemous cartoon as well the terrorist attacks in France.
On Saturday, some 1,500 people, including government officials, marched in Senegal to show their anger over the cartoon.
"I'm not Charlie -- I am a Muslim", and "Freedom of expression is not the freedom to insult", read some of the placards held by demonstrators.
On Friday, thousands of people took to the streets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Indian-administered Kashmir to condemn the disrespectful cartoon.
Also on Friday, some 800 Muslim demonstrators held a similar protest in the Australian city of Sydney.
Moreover, tens of thousands of the Iranians took to the streets across the country in protest of Charlie Hebdo’s publication of the sacrilegious cartoon on Friday.
Anti-Muslim violence
According to a leading Muslim group, the number of anti-Muslim incidents has risen sharply in France since this month’s attack on Charlie Hebdo.
The French Council for the Muslim Religion said on Friday that 128 incidents or threats against Muslims were reported from January 7 to 20.
SRK/NN/AS
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