ElBaradei warns against using the description "Islamic" and where it will lead to a comment on the French demonstrations

Former Egyptian Vice President and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned against using terms derived from the word "Islam" to describe the demonstrations and violence taking place in cities in France. This came in a post by ElBaradei on his page on the X platform (formerly Twitter), in which he said: “Words are extremely important!

The use of the term “Islamism” - which is derived from the word “Islam” - to denote violence is unfortunate and dangerous.. He continued that resorting to this term “leads to “Islamophobia” (Islamophobia), which - like other types of terrorism - destabilizes society at its core and leads to horrific consequences. There are conservative interpretations in every religion and belief, and they should be accepted in a democratic society, provided that they are peaceful and do not conflict with basic human values ​​and laws...” He added: “What we must resist and ‘fight’ is violence, whatever its pretext, whether it is motivated by religious or secular motives!”

ElBaradei's post coincided with more than 400,000 people taking to the streets in France, on Saturday, to participate in protests that were mostly peaceful, while the authorities arrested about a thousand people, at a time when several European countries are witnessing anti-government demonstrations. The French Interior Ministry said that about 110,000 out of approximately 410,000 protesters were in Paris, a number roughly the same as the number of people who demonstrated in the capital last weekend.

The demonstrators are protesting against issues ranging from lack of education funding to housing costs.