French Government's Silence on Attacks Targeting Algerians
MP Saad Laanani, representing Algerians residing in the 2nd zone of France, criticised the silence of the French authorities regarding the racist and Islamophobic attack against two women of Algerian origin in France. This attack followed the brutal murder of Aboubakar Cissé in a French mosque.
This serious criminal attack, given the racist insults that accompanied it, was not addressed by either the French media or official bodies, who are supposed to be at the forefront of affirming their fight against such acts. Placing the entire government of François Bayrou in the dock, questioning its commitment to defending all French citizens, regardless of their religious or ethnic background.
MP Saad Laanani condemned the silence of French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Justice Minister Gérald Moussa Darmanin in a statement obtained by Echorouk, he said, 'Neither Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau nor Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin have commented on this racist attack. They do not understand the gravity of the increasingly alarming situation for our community in France. How can they be the first to promote legislative measures targeting our community? They are the same ministers who constantly fuel the blatant xenophobia that has swept across France.'
The attackers uttered racist, anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric, such as 'Go back home, it's up to you to leave, you dirty Arabs!' The two victims were given between five and eight days of sick leave due to the brutal attack, according to the MP, who spoke of 'a long series of hostile acts against our community in France.'
The French Interior Minister often makes reckless accusations against members of the Algerian community and Muslims in general, in incidents whose perpetrators have not been confirmed. However, he held his tongue over this crime, as it is considered one of the repercussions and consequences of the racist, anti-Muslim rhetoric he and those who share his hostility toward immigrants and Muslims in particular promote daily through right-wing media.
According to the MP, the French authorities' handling of the racist crime against the two Algerian nationals is an extension of the reprehensible practices of the Interior Ministry, Bruno Retailleau, such as awarding the medal of internal security to five police officers, who are still under investigation in the 2023 death of the young Algerian father, Mohamed Bendriss, and the blinding of his cousin.
The former Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, had previously ordered the suspension of the officer accused of premeditated murder in the killing of Nahel Marzouk, allowing him to continue receiving his salary despite his pretrial detention. When the Nanterre Public Prosecutor's Office recently requested that the police officer who shot Nahel be tried for murder, the then-Minister of Justice (Gérald Darmanin) expressed his support for the officers involved, prompting the MP Saad Laanani to state that 'their implicit support for racial stigma and murder is a national disgrace.'
According to Laanani, combating hatred is not the responsibility of the community itself but rather of society as a whole. However, French society today, except for some factions, is reluctant to promote equality and respect. He called for 'breaking the vicious cycle of hatred against Algerians, especially since those who are supposed to be protecting the community (Retailleau and Darmanin) are the ones fueling the hostility.'
Before this incident, Bruno Retailleau had been the subject of sharp criticism from a wide range of political factions in France for his handling of the murder of the young man, Aboubakar Cissé, in a French mosque. He did not arrive at the crime scene until two days after it occurred. And before that, he had refused an invitation to break the fast extended to him by the dean of the Paris Mosque, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, claiming that the occasion was unofficial, although he had previously accepted invitations to visit churches and Jewish places of worship, a matter considered to be an embodiment of his anti-Islam stance.
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