President Macron said that Islam was in crisis around the world and in need of liberation. Islam as a religion is not in need of liberation, but it is true that the politics of the Muslim world is in crisis and certainly needs liberating.

But if only he, and European establishments, could remove the colonial blinkers of prejudice and anti-Islam hatred from their eyes, and view Muslims from the lens of their own history, they might recognise how much in common the current Muslim struggles have with historical French and European struggles for political change.

The Muslim world, for sure, has its fair share of Louis XVI’s supported by religious authorities. They also have masses of people struggling for liberation and accountable government. They have the odd Robespierre too.

The added problem of Muslim liberation is that while European governments have liberated themselves from the absolutist authoritarian rule of monarchs and tyrants, they deny Muslim people the very same right to freedom and to liberate themselves by supporting their unjust rulers. And of course many would argue that they then find themselves at the receiving end of some political violence as a result of that support.

People of all colours and religions will always find a way of freeing themselves from injustice and absolutist tyranny. The history of political change is sadly littered with much violence, because as the French learnt, those in power and their supporters will resist political change using violence and terror, and sometimes bloodshed and violence comes afterwards too.