An Egyptian secularist group posted a statement on Facebook in Arabic, French and English.

The woman in the image is Marianne, the symbol of the republic and thus of opposition to tyranny.

On behalf of the entire team at Cilantro Secularists, we would like to express our deepest condolences to our friends the people of France .. It pains us to see your suffering today at the hands of Islamic terrorists.

The world will continue to suffer for many decades to come from the brutality of the Islamists and their willingness to spill innocent blood to fulfill what they believe are “celestial demands” .. we also know that sadly .. Muslims will suffer as a result of this poisonous ideology either directly or indirectly.

This poisonous ideology is lavishly funded through major gulf states .. and nobody dares to confront it for fear of violence or “accusation of apostasy” which can depending on which Islamic state you live in get you killed on the street or in a formal death chamber or at least cost you a heavy toll on your personal security.

Only one group of people face these challenges everyday and enter these ideological battles with hardly any financial resources .. the people who promote secularism in Arab countries.