Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair argued that while “there is no justification” for the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, it isn’t “very sensible to insult someone” in an interview CNN’s Jake Tapper released on Thursday.
In reaction to Pope Francis’ statement that “you cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others,” Blair stated “I personally don’t think it’s very sensible to insult someone” regardless of what the insult is aimed at. And “I agree with it [the Pope’s statement] in the sense that it’s never wise to insult people when there’s no need to do that.”
Blair added “you’ve got to be very clear that nothing justifies going and killing innocent people. So, whether you think it’s sensible for the cartoon to be published or not is one thing. But where we’ve got to stand together, and absolutely, clearly together is in saying ‘there is no justification for the killing of those people.'”
“The sensible thing is to realize you’re not stigmatizing all Muslims by saying ‘there’s a problem within Islam with a section of Muslim opinion.’ You’re actually saying what many Muslims themselves know…you’re not going to help them by pretending it doesn’t exist.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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