Macron Defends Religious Freedom Amid Rising Normalization of Islamophobia
Macron's office told AFP that the French President wanted to meet with Muslim representatives, including the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris and the president of the Coordination of Muslim Associations of Paris, to 'engage in dialogue and express the nation's support.'
This came just a week after the heinous murder of Aboubaker Cisse, a Malian man who was stabbed 40 to 50 times by an Islamophobic individual who fled the scene to Italy before he turned himself in to Italian police on Sunday last week.
He killed Cisse in cold blood in a mosque and filmed the murder, promising to kill more.
During the meeting held on Tuesday, Macron reportedly reaffirmed France's commitment to guarantee freedom of conscience and religious practice for all its citizens and residents.
The grand mosque and the Muslim association said Macron emphasized the 'inviolable nature of religious freedom,' announcing that measures will be taken to strengthen the protection of places of worship.
They also conveyed Muslims' frustration and concern following the heinous murder and the widespread climate of Islamophobia, which is also backed by certain media and political figures.
They further criticized the authorities' decision not to classify the perpetrator involved in the killing of Cisse as an act of terrorism.
Islamophobia continues to strike a nerve and frustrate Muslims across Europe, particularly France, where officials frequently also make anti-Muslim remarks and restrictions.
France's senate decided to ban the weakening of the hijab at sports events, sparking controversy and uproar among Muslims and commentators from around the world in 2022.
Several similar controversies emerged as French MPs have long shown hostility toward people wearing the hijab in the parliament.
In 2020, MPs left a parliament meeting over a student wearing a hijab.
In 2019, some MPs provoked a similar outrage for asking a Muslim woman to remove her veil while taking part in a plenary meeting of the Regional Council of Burgundy-Franche-Comté.
The French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools also bans wearing religious symbols in French public primary and secondary schools.
Islamophobic attacks are not limited to Cisse's heinous murder.
On Monday, a 26-year-old woman filed a complaint after she was attacked in Poissy in the Ile-de-France region in north central France. An unidentified perpetrator assaulted her, tearing off her hijab.
According to the news website Le Parisien, a total of 79 anti-Muslim acts were recorded between January and March this year.
The number represents a 72% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Hundreds of other cases, if not thousands, could be unaccounted for, in the case of the absence of official complaints. Tags: France islamophobiaIslamophebia
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