France to Close 20 Embassies in Fear of Cartoon Backlash
France announced on Wednesday, September 19, 2012, that it would close 20 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world that Friday — a precautionary move after the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The announcement came amid unrest across Muslim-majority countries over an American-made anti-Islam film that had already left dozens dead. French authorities feared protests, which in much of the region typically peak after Friday prayers.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France respected freedom of expression but questioned the timing — "What is the utility of publishing these cartoons right now?" — while editor Stephane Charbonnier defended them, saying the drawings would "shock those who will want to be shocked" and refusing to be held responsible for violence around the world.
The episode became one of the defining free-speech controversies of the decade — and a grim prelude to the attack on Charlie Hebdo's offices in January 2015.
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