French Muslims to protest against ISIS beheadings


Muslims in France are gathering for a demonstration in Paris against extremist violence after the videotaped beheading of the French mountaineer Herve Pierre Gourdel. Friday's protest comes a day after the main mosque in Paris called for the demonstration against the killings happening in the name of Islam. It also comes in the wake of the launch earlier this week by British Muslims of a social media campaign "#notinmyname" in response to the ISIS's formidable actions. Many Western Muslims are torn between their fury at the atrocities committed in the name of Islam and frustration that they have to defend themselves at all. The head of the Bordeaux mosque said any demonstration should include all religions.The ISIS militants were also denounced as un-Islamic by prominent Muslim leaders from all around the world on Wednesday. The Muslim leaders asked people to stop using the term "Islamic" for the ISIS militants, rebuking the militants' unfounded logic that the group is protecting Muslims lands from non-Muslims. President Obama had made a similar point in his speech to the U.N. earlier on Wednesday, in which he also disconnected the group from Islam. Speaking of the ISIS's formidable activities, Obama had said, "No God condones this terror."