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French Muslims fear being drawn into international cultural war

 


There was no shortage of people last month who had things to say about recent events in France.

After the murder of French professor Samuel Paty on October 16 by a lone assailant after showing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in class, French President Emmanuel Macron doubled down on governments’ defense of the caricatures of the Muslim prophet – after which his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a boycott of French products as protests erupted in the Muslim world.

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But in the midst of all this commotion, one community was little heard: Frances Muslims.

In Paris, many Muslims approached by Middle East Eye declined to comment on the controversy over the cartoons and the reactions of Macron and Erdogans.

We don’t want to comment on it. We have nothing to say, said dryly the owners of an Islamic bookstore in the city’s 11th arrondissement.

Same reaction from Guillaume Sauloup, the head of communication for the Paris Mosque, who declared that his institution had nothing to do with the current events in France.

I don’t want to speak on behalf of the Muslim community, said Abou Bakar, a Parisian who spoke to MEE on the streets of the French capital. My opinion is personal, as are my spiritual beliefs.

The cautious responses are symptomatic of a general climate of tension and suspicion against the Muslim community in France. In the weeks following Patys’ murder, the French government pledged to crack down on separatism within the nation, singling out Muslims in France.

For French Muslims who have agreed to speak to MEE, the current situation is a continuation of long-standing tensions over Islam and Islamophobia in France – as some view with suspicion in the face of recent foreign outrage in France. About the caricatures.

A difficult context

France is believed to be home to the largest Muslim community in Europe, although no official statistics exist in the country on religion and ethnicity. This is the result of an immigration policy dating back to the late 1940s, when the country embarked on post-World War II reconstruction efforts at a time when North Africa was still largely under French colonial rule.

In theory, second and third generation immigrants today enjoy the same rights as their French fellow citizens – but in practice, discrimination is rife.

Statistically, if you have North African or sub-Saharan traits, you are eight times more likely to be checked and / or arrested by the police than, say, someone of Caucasian type, explains Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, a specialized French sociologist. in French colonization. legacy and what he calls state racism.

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These practices have been denounced by human rights groups, but they continue and are even supported by the state, co-author of the book. Racisms of France added.

For more than a decade, the French Muslim community has been at the center of countless political debates on the compatibility of visible expressions of religiosity, such as the hijab, with new interpretations of the French conception of secularism, secularism. Critics and rights activists have warned that legislation and public discourse have led to the stigmatization of Muslims in the country, while distorting the legal definition of secularism.

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, called for the dissolution of several Muslim organizations – including the charity BarakaCity and the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) – following the murder of Paty, accusing them of bear some responsibility for separatism, as well as being complacent or even in favor of acts of violence in France – allegations that the organizations have denied.

While BarakaCity has already been dissolved, the CCIF could meet the same fate. Its advocates see the CCIF as a useful association that documents anti-Muslim acts where the state does not.

The CCIF does vital fieldwork that allows us to document many cases of violence against Muslims that the state does not see because it only focuses on cases where charges are laid at a police station, argues Alima Boumediene -Thierry, human rights lawyer and former member of the European Parliament from the Frances Green party. However, institutions such as the European Court of Human Rights have stated that the CCIF has some useful statistics.

Some French Muslims have tempered the assessment of the situation in France, saying it could be worse.

“ Fascist movements are on the rise in France, there is no doubt ”

– Ozgur, French activist

Many Muslims in France and abroad are amazed at the resilience of French society, says Ozgur, a French left-wing activist of Turkish origin. They have faced brutal terrorist acts over the past five years and yet there has been no retaliation in the form of popular lynching as seen elsewhere.

However, the activist says he fears for the future, because for the first time a right-wing activist was killed by police on October 29 after trying to stab a French trader of North African origin.

I hope it doesn’t happen again, but fascist movements are on the rise in France, there is no doubt about it. Hopefully we don’t have a similar scenario in the United States with militias taking to the streets.

Political calculations

For some, the position of the Elysee Palace following the October 16 attack – made even worse by another attack on October 29 in which three people were killed – is political.

I believe Macron is preparing for the next elections (2022). He knows his main competitor is going to be Marine Le Pen and that means he has to push to the far right, that’s all, says Nabil, a French citizen of Tunisian origin working in a Parisian restaurant, referring to the leader. of the National Rally. party against which Macron won 66% of the vote in the second round of the 2017 presidential election.

“ In my opinion, Erdogan and Macron should be painted with the same brush ”

– Hamit, Parisian restaurateur

France is not more racist than before I think. In the 1960s, they threw Arabs in the Seine, you know? he added, alluding to the brutal repression of demonstrators that rocked the streets of Paris at the height of the war for independence in Algeria.

While Macrons’ support for the cartoons is seen by some as a political calculation, others who spoke to MEE were also unimpressed by Muslim heads of state who quickly expressed their outrage at the cartoons.

This controversy is also a boon for Erdogan: it allows this autocratic leader to create unity among the more conservative parts of Turkish society, but also all over the Muslim world, Ozgur said. He escapes the dire economic situation in Turkey as well as the declining popularity that the AKP (the ruling party) has faced in recent months.

Hamit, who owns a Turkish restaurant in the Menilmontant district, agrees.

In my opinion, Erdogan and Macron should be painted with the same brush, he says. I do not support any politician. I think most people see beyond their rhetoric and know they are trying to stay in power.

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