Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir MohamadReuters

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad claimed that Muslims have the "right to kill millions of French people" as France was rocked by a series of Islamist terrorist attacks.

In an Op Ed titled 'Respect Others,' Mohamad addressed the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty over his presentation of cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohamed in his classroom.

"The killing is not an act that as a Muslim I would approve. But while I believe in the freedom of expression, I do not think it includes insulting other people. You cannot go up to a man and curse him simply because you believe in freedom of speech," Mohamad wrote.

He criticized French President Emmanuel Macron's stand in defense of free speech following the killing.

"Macron is not showing that he is civilized. He is very primitive in blaming the religion of Islam and Muslims for the killing of the insulting school teacher. It is not in keeping with the teachings of Islam. But irrespective of the religion professed, angry people kill. The French in the course of their history has killed millions of people. Many were Muslims."

He went on to say that "Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past. But by and large the Muslims have not applied the “eye for an eye” law. Muslims don’t. The French shouldn’t. Instead the French should teach their people to respect other people’s feelings."

"Since you have blamed all Muslims and the Muslims’ religion for what was done by one angry person, the Muslims have a right to punish the French. The boycott cannot compensate the wrongs committed by the French all these years," Mohamad concluded.

Mohamad posted a tweet with the line "Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past." Twitter flagged the tweet for promoting violence before removing it entirely shortly afterwards.

Mohamad's Op Ed was published the same day two separate terrorist attacks occurred in France.

In one attack, at least three people were murdered in a stabbing attack at Notre Dame Cathedral in the southern city of Nice, France. According to local reports, one of the victims, a woman, was beheaded by the terrorist.

In another incident, a suspect with a knife reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar" was fatally shot during an attack on police officers in Avignon.