A series of attacks in France.
Three people killed in a stabbing in a church in the southern city of Nice. A man shot dead in Montfavet near Avignon after threatening passersby with a gun. And in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, a guard attacked outside the French consulate.
These incidents follow the beheading of a French teacher who showed Prophet Mohammad’s cartoon in his class earlier this month.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has defended the cartoons in the name of freedom of speech.
Thousands have taken to the streets in several Muslim nations to denounce him. Tensions have been growing between Macron and the Islamic world over what many see as an attack by the president on the religion.
Can an understanding be reached between Western leaders and Islam?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra
Guests
Hamid Chriet – political analyst specialising in France and North Africa
Abdelwahab el-Affendi – professor of politics at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
HA Hellyer – Scholar of Religion and International Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
