The terrorist attack on the offices of French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo earlier this month—an act that left 12 dead—sparked strong responses on both the national and international level. People all around the world stand together beneath the slogan “Je suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie,” a demonstration of solidarity against terrorism and in favor of free speech.

Gatherings and vigils of undeniably impressive proportions take place in France and many other countries as people condemn terrorism and honor the innocents killed in the Charlie Hebdo incident as well as the others killed in the three related shootings that followed. And, with far less coverage, French mosques and places of Muslim worship face grenades, gunfire and vandalism as the country’s already-present Islamophobia continues to spread at a threatening pace.

This is not about the right of a satirical publication to publish offensive cartoons of Muhammad—Charlie Hebdo has the right to free expression, as it should. This is not about whether or not the publishing of cartoons and articles mocking Islam condones the murders of 12 people—obviously, nothing justifies the act of terrorism committed in the Charlie Hebdo offices on Jan. 7.

This is about France’s—and the world’s—continuing and increasing tendency to conflate acts of terrorism by a small slice of a massive and otherwise quite peaceful religion with everybody who identifies as a Muslim. This is about those who, in their aggressive cries of “Je suis Charlie!” and defense of free speech, silence the overwhelming number of Muslims attempting to condemn the terrorism of a radicalized few.

There is nothing wrong with standing against terrorism and in favor of free speech. There is a whole lot wrong with assuming that the violent acts of radicalized Muslims correlate with a supposedly violent character of an entire religion and its adherents, despite huge numbers of Muslim voices condemning the violence of radical jihadists and promoting peace. While many people criticize Muslim leaders for not speaking out against the terrorist acts of radicals, the reality is that they do condemn terrorism time and time again.

In the case of the Charlie Hebdo shootings alone, several leaders of majority-Muslim countries publicly condemned the terrorist attack, along with notable Muslim organizations such as the French Council of the Muslim Faith. These condemnations are frequently silenced by assumptions of complacency or, in the case of the Charlie Hebdo shootings, overwhelmingly loud voices shouting against them.

Within the span of a week, we have come to hail France as the face of freedom of speech and press, ignoring the fact that just last year the country upheld its ban on face coverings in public places. The country also maintains a ban on the wearing of any obvious religious symbols in public schools.

While many political conservatives in the United States lament the sometimes-replacement of “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays” or the teaching of evolution in public schools, those who don the “Je suis Charlie” slogan seem to conveniently forget that Muslim girls cannot participate in the quiet, peaceful and religiously expressive act of wearing the hijab in French schools.

Standing against terrorism and in support of free speech is certainly noble, but one cannot stand in support of free speech while simultaneously deciding who can and cannot exercise that freedom, which seems to be the implicit reaction of many in the “Je suis Charlie” movement.

Charlie Hebdo has the right to publish cartoons mocking Muhammad and Islam—however, if a publication has the right to publish offensive content, Muslims have the right to be heard as well. Creating a false identity through conflation between terrorism and Islam as a whole silences religious expression and dehumanizes those Muslims who maintain the same level of innocence as those killed in the attacks of Jan. 7.