State-sponsored Islamophobia in France encourages violence

On June 27, El Hidaya Mosque successful Roussillon successful Southern France was attacked and vandalised. Windows were smashed and furnishings overturned; the walls were plastered with racist flyers. Earlier the aforesaid month, a burned Quran was placed astatine the entranceway of a mosque successful Villeurbanne of Lyon.

Unfortunately, virulent Islamophobia successful France has not stopped astatine vandalism.

On May 31, Hichem Miraoui, a Tunisian national, was changeable dormant by his French neighbour successful a colony adjacent the French Riviera; different Muslim antheral was besides changeable but survived. A period earlier, Aboubakar Cisse, a Malian national, was stabbed to decease successful a mosque successful the municipality of La Grand-Combeby by a French citizen.

There has been a important spike successful Islamophobic acts successful France – thing the French authorities stay reluctant to publically remark on. One report showed a 72 percent summation successful specified incidents betwixt January and March 2025 compared with the aforesaid play successful 2024.

There are assorted factors that person contributed to this, but cardinal among them is the French state’s ain Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Muslim policies.

The astir caller iteration of this was the merchandise of a report titled “The Muslim Brotherhood and Political Islamism successful France” by the French government. The papers claims that the Muslim Brotherhood and “political Islamism” are infiltrating French institutions and threatening societal cohesion and names organisations and mosques arsenic having links to the group.

The study came retired conscionable days earlier Miraoui was changeable dormant and 2 weeks aft the French authorities raided the homes of respective founding members of the Brussels-based Collective Against Islamophobia successful Europe (CCIE) surviving successful France.

With the emergence of anti-Muslim attacks and favoritism successful France, it is progressively hard to judge that the obsession of the French authorities and authorities with what they telephone “Islamist separatism” is not, successful fact, inciting unit against the French Muslim population.

The thought that French Muslims are someway threatening the French authorities done their individuality look has been championed by the French acold close for decades. But it was successful the precocious 2010s that it entered the mainstream by being embraced by centrist politicians and the media.

In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron, who besides embraced the word “separatism”, called for the instauration of a “French Islam”, a euphemism for domesticating and controlling Muslim institutions to service the involvement of the French state. At the bosom of this task stood the thought of preserving “social cohesion”, which efficaciously meant suppressing dissent.

In the pursuing years, the French authorities started acting connected its obsession with controlling Muslims with much and tougher policies. Between  2018 and 2020, it unopen down 672 Muslim-run entities, including schools and mosques.

In November 2020, the French authorities forced the Collective Against Islamophobia successful France (CCIF), a nonprofit organisation documenting Islamophobia, to dissolve; the organisation past reconstituted successful Brussels. In December of that year, they targeted 76 mosques, accusing them of “Islamist separatism” and threatening them with closure.

In 2021, the French Parliament passed the alleged anti-separatism law, which included a assortment of measures to supposedly combat “Islamist separatism”. Among them was an hold of the prohibition connected spiritual symbols successful the nationalist sector, restrictions connected location schooling and sports associations, caller rules for organisations receiving authorities subsidies, much policing of places of worship, etc.

By January 2022, the French authorities reported that it had inspected much than 24,000 Muslim organisations and businesses, unopen down much than 700 and seized 46 cardinal euros ($54m) successful assets.

The Muslim Brotherhood boogeyman

The study released successful May, similar galore authoritative statements and initiatives, was not aimed to clarify argumentation oregon guarantee ineligible precision. It was expected to politicise Muslim identity, delegitimise governmental dissent and facilitate a caller question of authorities attacks connected the Muslim civilian society.

The study names assorted Muslim organisations, accusing them of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood. It besides argues that campaigning against Islamophobia is simply a instrumentality of the organisation. According to the report, the Muslim Brotherhood uses anti-Islamophobia activism to discredit secular policies and represent the authorities arsenic racist.

This framing is aimed to invalidate morganatic critiques of discriminatory laws and practices, and frames immoderate nationalist designation of anti-Muslim racism arsenic a covert Islamist agenda. The accusation is clear: Muslim visibility and dissent are not conscionable fishy — they are dangerous.

The study besides dives into the Islamo-gauchisme oregon Islamo-leftism conspiracy theories – the thought that “Islamists” and leftists person a strategical alliance. It claims that decolonial question is challenneling Islamism and references the March Against Islamophobia of November 10, 2019, a wide mobilisation that drew participants from crossed the governmental spectrum, including the left.

The study that was commissioned nether the hardline erstwhile Interior Minister and present Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who backmost successful 2021 accused far-right person Marine Le Pen of being “too soft” connected Islam.

All of this – the report, the legislation, the constabulary raids and rhetorical attacks against the French Muslim assemblage – follows the agelong French assemblage contented of seeking to regularisation implicit and power Muslim populations. The French governmental centre has had to clasp Islamophobia to incorporate its falling popularity. It whitethorn assistance with constrictive electoral victories implicit the rising acold right, but those volition beryllium short-lived. The much lasting interaction volition beryllium a sigmatised, alienated Muslim assemblage which volition progressively look state-incited unit and hatred.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.