Jihad Watch : France24, reports that 25 generals signed the document, not 20. More from the France24 report:

The signatories of the letter went beyond the 25 retired generals. It included “more than 1,000 officials of different rank and files in the military, police and gendarmerie” who stated that they cannot remain “indifferent” and “passive spectators” under the current circumstances.

Tensions kept rising in France between mainstream France and mainstream Muslim groups, and now comes the letter by the generals in an effort to steer France back to its fundamental values.

It was the beheading of school teacher Samuel Paty that caused an awakening in France. French citizens witnessed mainstream Muslim groups and leaders express some regret about Paty’s murder, but many also added that Paty should not have insulted Muhammad. The French were not willing to tolerate any “ in this context; nor should they have done so. The condemnation of Paty’s murder should have been unequivocal. No hint of justification was acceptable. But instead, multitudes of Muslims from France, Pakistan and across the Islamic world justified his murder, some more tacitly and some blatantly.

Following Paty’s murder (as well as revelations about the horrific and shocking circumstances around it, involving schoolchildren and even relatives), the French government heightened its crackdown on “Islamic separatism.” In response, the Muslim lobby in France and beyond retaliated by accusing the French government of being “Islamophobic.” Condemnation came from as far away as Egypt, where the renowned Al Azhar in Cairo condemned Macron’s plan for fighting “Islamic separatism” as an “explicit call for racism and hate.” Macron came out in defense of the “right to blaspheme.” In Britain, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also supports this right to blaspheme.

In any Western society, there is no room to accommodate any religion that violates the tenets of a free society. The freedom of speech is a cornerstone of any free society. And in any Western society, one can easily see that there are no religions except Islam that persistently and relentlessly attack this freedom, taking their fight all the way to the United Nations. That’s because offending Islam is a crime under the Sharia — a law that is at odds with otherwise universally accepted principles of human rights. “Islamophobia” initiatives from mainstream Muslim groups are intended to put a stop to any speech that may be offensive to Islam and Muslims.

“French generals who called for military rule if President Macron cannot stop ‘Islamists’ from ‘disintegrating society’ will be punished, government declares,” by Ross Ibbetson, Danyal Hussain and Sophie Tanno, MailOnline, April 27, 2021: