Indonesian Muslims take to Jakarta streets to protest France over Islamophobic Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Indonesian Muslims marched to the heavily guarded France Embassy in Indonesia's capital on Monday to protest France's President Emmanuel Macron and his staunch support to the Islamophobic Charlie Hebdo caricatures insulting the Prophet Mohammad. Waving white flags bearing the Islamic declaration of faith, more than 2,000 demonstrators, many wearing white Islamic robes, filled a major thoroughfare in downtown Jakarta. Authorities blocked streets leading to the embassy where more than 1,000 police and soldiers were deployed in and around the building barricaded with razor wire. The protesters chanted 'God is Great' and 'Boycott French products' as they marched. Their banners and placards slammed French President Emmanuel Macron, and some protesters stomped on Macron posters in the blocked streets. Smaller protests also occurred in other Indonesian cities, including in Surabaya, Makassar, Medan and Bandung. On Saturday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo strongly condemned terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice as well as remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that were deemed offensive toward Islam and Muslims. Widodo said freedom of expression that tarnishes the honor, sanctity and sacredness of religious values and symbols could not be justified and must be stopped. 'Linking religion with terrorist acts is a big mistake,' Widodo said. 'Terrorism is terrorism, terrorists are terrorists, terrorism has nothing to do with any religion.' Protest organizer Slamet Ma'arif told the crowd, including members of the Islamic Defenders Front vigilante group, that Macron was being aggressively hostile to Islam and called for a boycott on French products. 'It hurt us deeply and we demanded him to retract his words and apologizes to the Muslim communities all over the world,' he said from a truck modified with loudspeakers.