A ‘Palestinian’ journalist, reacting to March’s Toulouse murders, in which a Muslim extremist shot and killed three Jewish children and a rabbi, said that France’s measures against radical Islam are justified.
According the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Ahlam Akram, a female Palestinian journalist living in London, wrote: “Wouldn’t any mother [prefer] for her son [to] be detained for a while rather than have him sacrifice his life for the sake of goals that do not [even] serve the Muslims? Why do we condemn European governments for denying citizenship to those who have committed unprecedented crimes? I am among those subjected to increased security checks at airports, yet I do not curse the European governments for it.”
“It is the extremist Muslim ideology that I curse one thousand times whenever I travel,” Akram added.
Akram's remarks may not have been possible if she were not residing outside the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA has a long history of inhibiting freedom of the press. Recently, it has been limiting access to a number of websites and arresting journalists, who have been reporting unfavorable information about the PA or President Mahmoud Abbas.
While the so-called “Arab Spring” intended to bring a wave of freedom, enlightenment and promise to the Arab world, the crackdowns on journalists and media personnel continues and such adverse statements have, until now, been met with fierce opposition, usually ending in arrests.