Fez - In a reaction to the marches staged by Muslims of France to denounce the beheading of French tourist Hervé Gourdel by Algerian militants, the French newspaper Le Figaro conducted — and then deleted — on Thursday September 25th its “Question of the Day” gauging the reaction of Muslims to the decapitation.
As reported in the media, the Islamist group Jund al-Khilifa captured Hervé Gourdel, on Sunday September 20th in Algeria.
The question that Le Figaro broached was: “Do you consider the condemnation of Muslims to the murder of Hervé Gourdel as sufficient?” In one hour, four thousand and five hundred people had answered the question. Eighty two percent answered “no.”
This sensitive poll was the subject of heated debate. Delphine Legouté, a journalist in Europe 1, described it as “nauseous," and Cécile Duflot, who is an ecologist MP, considered it “irresponsible and indecent.”
After deleting the question and the responses, Le Figaro offered the following explanation to its readers: “Our question of the day can lead to regrettable interpretations, so Le Figaro has decided to remove it.”
Notre question du jour pouvant prêter à des interprétations regrettables, Le Figaro a décidé de la retirer.
— Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) September 25, 2014
The international community as well as the Muslims of France condemned this act. Dalil Boubakeur, President of the French Council of Muslim Faith, said, “We, Muslims of France, are shocked by the murder of innocents; we are horrified by this barbarism, by this terrorism.…”