Egypt claims freedom of speech ceases when offended by Muslims.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt said freedom of speech should stop if it offends more than 1.5 billion people, following the display in France of photos of the Prophet Muhammad that Muslims perceive sacrilegious. In the name of defending faith, religious symbols or icons, Sisi said that he firmly opposes any sort of violence or terrorism from anybody. “We have rights, too. We have the right not to be hurt for our feelings and not to be hurt for our beliefs,” he said during a speech to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad. Even if others have the right to say what is in their minds, I think it ends when it comes to upsetting more than 1.5 billion people’s emotions, “he added in televised remarks.”

The Grand Imam of al-Azhar University in Egypt, one of the most influential Sunni Muslim education centers in the world, also called on the international community to criminalize “anti-Muslim” acts. The head of the thousand-year — old organization, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, also said that al-Azhar firmly opposes the use of anti-Muslim sentiment in rallying votes in elections. Turkey’s leader, Tayyip Erdogan, called for a boycott of French products and a resolution was passed by Pakistan’s parliament encouraging the government to recall its Paris envoy.