Rodney Shakespeare, a British professor and co-founder of the Global Justice Movement, tells the Tehran Times that French President Emanuel Macron is just like "a pimply, juvenile boy" who has heard of the phrase "free expression" and is trying to hide French involvement in "precipitating terrorist attacks".

Shakespeare also says, “The West is completely contemptuous of Islam and willing to demonize Islam because the West is arrogant, short-sighted, and determined to further Zionism.”
The following is the text of the interview:

Q: Why has Emanuel Macron personally supported the reprinting of cartoons considered blasphemous to Islam and Prophet Muhammad?  Do you think he intends to set aside domestic challenges by insulting Islam?

There are three reasons why Macron supports the deliberate causing of offense, including the printing of offensive cartoons.

Firstly, he is like a pimply, juvenile boy who has heard of the phrase "free expression" and thinks it means that he can now insult his parents, his teachers, the local mayor, and poor people in general as well as deface buildings with slogans in red paint.  For fun, this pimply adolescent, when seated in a cinema, then shouts "Fire!!" and when in the ensuing panic people are killed proudly says that he was exercising his right to free expression.

Secondly, Macron will do anything to hide the fact that France, like the USA, UK, and Israel, is deeply involved in precipitating terrorist attacks because it welcomes and supports the philosophical and financial source of Wahhabi/Takfiri/ISIL/Daesh terrorism, which is Saudi Arabia to which the West sells arms.  

Thirdly, the West supports the hideous autocratic Takfiri-encouraging West Asia regimes like that of Saudi Arabia because these regimes suppress Arabic democratic expression, which is particularly angry about the occupation and annexation of other people's lands in the West Bank and Golan Heights.

In short, the West is completely contemptuous of Islam and willing to demonize Islam because the West is arrogant, short-sighted, and determined to further Zionism.

Q: Could the adoption of such an offensive policy be defended as freedom of expression?

All decent people know that you cannot slander other people; you cannot libel other people and that, in particular circumstances, almost anything can cause grave offense.  However, the West, including France, is completely hypocritical and, on the one hand, chooses to suppress reasonable, true comment whilst, on the other hand, allowing vicious untruths.  An example of the former is to say that people who protest against Israel's expansionism are anti-Semitic (when in fact they are anti-Zionist, which is completely different), and an example of the latter is to deliberately accuse Shia Iran of attacks and beheadings, etc. when, in reality, it is Sunni Saudi takfiri Wahhabism (aided by the West) which is responsible.

Q: How do you assess the West's double standards in the face of freedom of expression?

The West allows no fair comment on annexation, occupation, and the creeping genocide, Gaza, but it allows unfair comments (and provocative cartoons) to demonize Islam.  The contradiction happens because of the West's commitment to an expanding Israel and its commitment to supporting cruel, anti-democratic autocratic West Asia regimes.

Q: Why is Islamophobia increasing in Western countries? What relation is there between these offensive remarks and Islamophobia?

Islamophobia is now increasing because the West is on the verge of a huge economic and social collapse (whose causes started long before the arrival of the Covid19 virus), and there is now an urgent need to find a scapegoat, i.e., somebody to blame.  The main cause of the collapse is the nature of the global financial system, but that system is so fundamental to Western society that the governments, in a combination of arrogance and necessity, will never admit that the failings of the financial system are central to the coming disaster.  Instead, they are preparing to blame Islam, and, for that, they actually want more and more horrifyingly violent (beheading, etc.) attacks.

Q: What is the role of Zionists in such a policy announcement?

Zionists control most mainstream Western media outlets, and so they greatly influence, even usually control, Western policy.  In the coming collapse, the Zionists will double their efforts to blame Islam, including efforts to instigate Iran's major attack.  Trump of America is deeply involved in the anti-Iran activity because Iran upholds the rights of the Palestinians.  Biden and Harris will be the same.  And, remember, there are at least sixty million Christian Zionists in America committed to Israeli expansionism.

Q: Analysts blame mainstream Western media for giving wrong information about terrorism and its causes whilst ignoring the vast majority of Muslims who are trying to teach people about true Islam. What do you think? 

It is time for Muslims to stop thinking defensively about Islam and, in a peaceful, immensely positive, and constructive way, point out that, nestling within Islam, there is a New Paradigm capable of bringing about progress and harmony in the world, including major progress towards environmental, housing and poverty issues, etc.

Q: In your view, what are the appropriate responses to this offensive act?

New Islamic paradigm thinking actually implements the thinking of Imam Khomeini, who said that justice (in all its forms) must be exported, but that does NOT mean military aggression or the occupation of other people's lands.  Rather it means identifying the false assumptions which underlie Western politics and economies (there are fifty-nine of them) and then starting to consider their opposites whereon a truly original and constructive Islamic worldview will appear.