French Poll Finds Slim Majority Supports Free Speech Over Religious Sensitivity

A recent poll taken in France indicates a slim majority of French citizens believe newspapers should be able to publish cartoons that are offensive to religion.

The ifop poll, published Sunday by Le Journal du Dimanche, indicates that 42 percent of those asked believe publications should avoid printing cartoons that insult religion, including Islam. The poll found that 57 percent of voters believe that freedom of the press trumps religious sensitivities, and newspapers should be able to publish what they want.

The recent poll also addressed domestic extremism, with 68 percent of French citizens saying that French citizens wishing to travel to the middle east to join extremist groups should be prevented from doing so. The poll also found 68 percent of those askd believe that French citizens who have already traveled abroad to join terrorist organizations should be prevented from returning to the European country.

The recent poll sheds light on the national sentiment toward terrorism after the terrorist attacks that took place two weeks ago and left 17 dead.

The largest attack took place at the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper headquarters, where masked gunmen shot 12 employees, including the editor and cartoonists, as retribution for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohamed.

A police officer and four hostages were also killed during a standoff at a Jewish supermarket in a Parisian suburb.

Muslims in France have requested more protection from police out of concern that there will be a growing anti-Islam sentiment and backlash in France following the recent attacks.

"All Muslim organizations in France are concerned about the numerous anti-Muslim acts seen in the past few days and call on the authorities to be vigilant to ensure the security of mosques," Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris and president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, told CNN in a recent interview.