France's Macron issues 'republican values' ultimatum to Muslim leaders

[MenInG]

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked Muslim leaders to agree a "charter of republican values" as part of a broad clampdown on radical Islam.

On Wednesday he gave the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) 15 days to work with the interior ministry.

The CFCM has agreed to create a National Council of Imams, which will reportedly issue imams with official accreditation which could be withdrawn.

It follows three suspected Islamist attacks in little more than a month.

The charter will state that Islam is a religion and not a political movement, while also prohibiting "foreign interference" in Muslim groups.

Mr Macron has strongly defended French secularism in the wake of the attacks, which included the beheading of a teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class discussion last month.

Late on Wednesday, the president and his interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, met eight CFCM leaders at the Élysée palace.

"Two principles will be inscribed in black and white [in the charter]: the rejection of political Islam and any foreign interference," one source told the Le Parisien newspaper after the meeting.

The formation of the National Council of Imams was also agreed upon.

President Macron has also announced new measures to tackle what he called "Islamist separatism" in France.

The measures include a wide-ranging bill that seeks to prevent radicalisation. It was unveiled on Wednesday, and includes measures such as:

Restrictions on home-schooling and harsher punishments for those who intimidate public officials on religious grounds

Giving children an identification number under the law that would be used to ensure they are attending school. Parents who break the law could face up to six months in jail as well as large fines

A ban on sharing the personal information of a person in a way that allows them to be located by people who want to harm them

"We must save our children from the clutches of the Islamists," Mr Darmanin told the Le Figaro newspaper on Wednesday. The draft law will be discussed by the French cabinet on 9 December.

Samuel Paty, the teacher who was killed outside his school last month, was targeted by an online hate campaign before his death on 16 October.

Le Monde newspaper has published emails sent between Paty and colleagues in the days after he showed the cartoons in class.

"It's really distressing and particularly as it comes from a family whose child wasn't in my lesson and isn't someone I know," Paty wrote. "It's becoming a malicious rumour."

He later wrote in a separate email: "I won't do any more teaching on this topic - I'll choose another freedom as a subject for teaching."

Earlier this year, President Macron described Islam as a religion "in crisis" and defended the right of magazines to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Such depictions are widely regarded as taboo in Islam and are considered highly offensive by many Muslims.

Following these comments, the French leader became a figure of hate in several Muslim-majority countries. Protesters have also called for a boycott of French products.

In France, state secularism (laïcité) is central to the country's national identity. Freedom of expression in schools and other public spaces is part of that, and curbing it to protect the feelings of a particular religion is seen as undermining national unity.

France has western Europe's largest Muslim population.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55001167

 

[Giannis]

This midget is annoying af

 

[Dios]

Well done Macron.

 

[globalcitizen]

This is how you solve problems which need to be nipped in the bud. There is no reason for a child to not go to school
Now what is there to oppose. If it’s hard to do, please find a place which allows you to do that

Restrictions on home-schooling and harsher punishments for those who intimidate public officials on religious grounds

Giving children an identification number under the law that would be used to ensure they are attending school. Parents who break the law could face up to six months in jail as well as large fines

A ban on sharing the personal information of a person in a way that allows them to be located by people who want to harm them

 

[Madplayer]

Sounds like a treacherous enforcement of racist laws.
If this is made a thing, then at least muslim girls should be allowed to wear hijab at school.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Citizens should be educated.

No foreign interference in the country's religious affairs.

These two are the basic things that should be followed.

Then comes the question of using religion as a means of political secession.

 

[Zaz]

Citizens should be educated.

No foreign interference in the country's religious affairs.

These two are the basic things that should be followed.

Then comes the question of using religion as a means of political secession.

You're sounding like your advocating chinas policy with its "re education camps"

 

[rhony]

It's a missed opportunity. I like everything he wants to enforce. However, he should have said religion should be respected. If the people practising the religion are offended by an action then it's better to avoid the action like those cartoons.

Can't agree more on the kids education and the policy on Imams. Foreign interference in religious matters shouldn't be encouraged. They have to do what US did in the mosques after 9/11. Most of the radical speeches have vanished as every Imam knows an fbi agent is in the shadows in the same mosque and can lock him up any time. That element of fear is needed before spewing hatred and rubbish to gullible idiots.

Every person has a right to practise their religion as long as it's peaceful.

 

[sweep_shot]

Macron's inexperience in politics is in full display.

Disappointing.

 

[Abdullah719]

Home-schooling is on the rise globally and here comes Macron with another big brain moment.

 

[saeedhk]

He is spot on. The world must realize the brainwashing that goes on in religious schools. It is a must to regulate such institutes. I wish Pakistan could regulate what is preached in mosques.

 

[Asim_khan]

He is spot on. The world must realize the brainwashing that goes on in religious schools. It is a must to regulate such institutes. I wish Pakistan could regulate what is preached in mosques.

Huge fan of Fascism eh? For all your talk of protecting minorities, you'd be making Ahmedi's wear yellow stars given half a chance.

 

[faraz39]

If France can get away with this in 2020, imagine what they were doing during the colonization era. This is the real face of France.

They will never tell the synagogues to cut their links to Israel nor the Catholic churches to the Vatican. Right wing politicians can still invoke the "Judeo Christian tradition" to get votes.

 

[saeedhk]

Huge fan of Fascism eh? For all your talk of protecting minorities, you'd be making Ahmedi's wear yellow stars given half a chance.

What is wrong in regulating what goes on inside mosques? Many Muslim countries including Malaysia have been doing this for a long time. This prevents extremism.

 

[Lurker_Ind]

What is wrong in regulating what goes on inside mosques? Many Muslim countries including Malaysia have been doing this for a long time. This prevents extremism.

All religions should be monitored. Anyone who preaches hate must be warned first and put in prison later.

 

[Madplayer]

What is wrong in regulating what goes on inside mosques? Many Muslim countries including Malaysia have been doing this for a long time. This prevents extremism.

I agree with the regulation part. But there has to be a good system in place for that. France isnt doing well in developing a good system because it doesnt want to. However, in muslim nations it can and must be done. My suggestion is to have a system where mosques are interwoven with government registered Islamic schools and departments in universities. Credible, educated and aware Imams could be hired like that. Make the entire thing professional. It will yield huge benefits. But i dont think this can be easily done in western countries. However, it must be done in muslim nations.

 

[faraz39]

So will France also cut off Catholic church from the Vatican and Israel from the French synagogues? Both are outside influences to French religious institutions.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Muslim children with ID numbers is nothing short of fascism.

Hope the Imams tell Macron No.

If it wasnt for Muslims, France never would have won two world cups in recent history. Those players should come out in support of French Muslims, they have enough to move anywhere they want.

 

[the Great Khan]

All religions should be monitored. Anyone who preaches hate must be warned first and put in prison later.

so when is your PM going to jail then and most of your parliament?

 

[the Great Khan]

So all children will get id's to force them into secular education..mnnh, i wonder what people would say if say, Pakistan forced all children to get an id an attend religious schools..

also france is so insecure about its secular republican values that it is enforcing them like fundamentalist religious nuts do across the world..I guess they really havent changed much in a 1000 years..

Lets face it, france is a dying country and culture that relies on the blood of africans to keep it afloat..This is another sign of its desperation as it slowly decays into obscurity and irrelevance..

 

[Varun]

Lets face it, france is a dying country and culture that relies on the blood of africans to keep it afloat..This is another sign of its desperation as it slowly decays into obscurity and irrelevance..

Sounds like a loser's lament, probably backed up with another 'prophecy' to boot.

 

[Mamoon]

Sounds like a loser's lament, probably backed up with another 'prophecy' to boot.

A developed country with one of the largest economies in the world is a “dying country” because it does not want to bend over backwards to accommodate Islamic terrorism.

These are the same people who have been predicting the fall of Israel for the last 50 years because they are evil, the same Israel that continues to rise because of all the R&D and continues to forge better ties with the Arab world.

 

[the Great Khan]

Sounds like a loser's lament, probably backed up with another 'prophecy' to boot.

their economy is heavily reliant on the subjugation of the african continent. Their demographics clearly show a decline in their birth rate and at the same time their economy is taking quite a pasting due to covid. Yes they will probably survive just like everyone else, but they are a third rate power now and they will continue to lose the geopolitical game. they are fast losing their grip on the Med and this will continue.

If they elect Le pen they will continue this downward trajectory.

 

[srh]

Is Macron now going to count number of muslim children and keep tab on them?

 

[ahmedzee]

Can these values be implemented on others apart from Muslims too? Unfortunately religious freedom doesn't mean freedom for Muslims. Don't forget that this is French govt saying this, not a little group in France or other NGO.

Pathetic!

 

[cricketjoshila]

According to a few PPers

US is declining
France is decaying
Israel is dying
India is breaking

All that is good is in China, Turkey and Pakistan.

 

[KingKhanWC]

According to a few PPers

US is declining
France is decaying
Israel is dying
India is breaking

All that is good is in China, Turkey and Pakistan.

Who wrote Israel is dying? Please post the link. I think you are lying.

India has become a Hindu extremist state, this is obvious to a blind man.

 

[MenInG]

The head of France's main Muslim organisation on Thursday slammed a “unilateral” move by three Islamic groups not to sign up to an anti-extremism charter championed by President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron wants French Muslim groups to sign up to the charter as he seeks to secure France's secular system in the wake of a spate of attacks blamed on radical Islamists in 2020.

But the Committee for Coordination of Turkish Muslims in France (CCMTF) and the Milli Gorus Islamic Confederation (CMIG) — both catering to citizens of Turkish origin — as well as the Faith and Practice movement, announced late on Wednesday that they would not be signing up to the charter.

“Through these repetitive actions, the groups ... all risk being held responsible for this situation of division,” said Mohamed Moussaoui, the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), the umbrella grouping for France's Muslim groups.

This refusal “is not likely to provide reassurance ... on the state of the representative bodies of the Muslim religion”, he added.

A source close to the issue, who asked not to be named, said the three groups refusing to sign the charter were particularly concerned about the definition of foreign interference in religion and the definition of political Islam.

The row comes at a time of severe diplomatic tensions between France and Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly lambasted Macron's bid to crack down on radical Muslims in the country.

The Milli Gorus, a pan-European movement for the Turkish diaspora, is seen as inspired by the ideas of late prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, regarded as the father of political Islam in Turkey and Erdogan's mentor.

“We believe that certain passages and formulations in the text submitted are likely to weaken the bonds of trust between the Muslims of France and the nation,” the three groups said in a statement.

“Furthermore, some statements are prejudicial to the honour of Muslims, with an accusatory and marginalising tone.”

'Important clarification'
Five out of nine groups who make up the CFCM, a body set up almost 20 years ago to enable dialogue between the government and the Muslim community, have signed up to the charter after weeks of sometimes acrimonious debates.

But the failure of the CFCM to so far show a totally united front risks robbing the initiative of the consensus within the Muslim community that it is supposed to highlight.

A government source, however, insisted that the groups' refusal would not weaken the process, adding that “the masks are coming off”.

“An important clarification is being made,” the source said.

The charter rejects “instrumentalising” Islam for political ends and affirms equality between men and women, while denouncing practices such as female circumcisions, forced marriages or “virginity certificates” for brides. These practices, though prevalent in some Muslim communities, are more cultural than based on religion.

Macron railed against the promotion of “political Islam” in France in November last year after a teacher was beheaded outside his school.

He had shown pupils caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as part of a free-speech lesson.

The attack prompted a crackdown against alleged extremist mosques and Islamist associations, along with a vigorous defence of French secularism.

Dawn

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'No repentance nor apologies' for colonial abuses in Algeria, says Macron <a href="https://t.co/muKC9CCdHl">https://t.co/muKC9CCdHl</a> <a href="https://t.co/4NdbMCkoV7">pic.twitter.com/4NdbMCkoV7</a></p>— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) <a href="https://twitter.com/FRANCE24/status/1351878533165957125?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ManFan]

France’s economy may improve but its culture has been in decline post WWII and its international prestige since WWI.

Similar to England except that America carries the UK’s legacy forward somewhat.

Both UK and France never recovered from the trauma, economic setback, and loss of manpower of WWI. WWII meant they had to become bankrupt and forcefully end their global empires.

All in all, most of Europe is either grumbling all the time about their finances or lamenting their loss of prestige except Germany. The focus of power will shift to Asia now (China and India) along with the ME (Israel).

 

[Bigboii]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'No repentance nor apologies' for colonial abuses in Algeria, says Macron <a href="https://t.co/muKC9CCdHl">https://t.co/muKC9CCdHl</a> <a href="https://t.co/4NdbMCkoV7">pic.twitter.com/4NdbMCkoV7</a></p>— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) <a href="https://twitter.com/FRANCE24/status/1351878533165957125?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nations make mistakes
great nations acknowledge their mistakes...

 

[Colorblind Genius]

All religions should be monitored. Anyone who preaches hate must be warned first and put in prison later.

Like Yogi Aditiyanath?

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Who wrote Israel is dying? Please post the link.

I don't think anybody did here but a Jewish Rabbi did say something along these lines.

 

[James]

Very disappointing. Despite all of the hyperbolic criticism that the US and UK suffer for apparently moving towards fascism and totalitarianism (usually from the left wing in their own countries), here we have an example of policy, thinking, and curbing of civil liberties from France that is actually fascist and totalitarian. Will it get the airtime and scrutiny in the US and UK that it fully deserves? No.

 

[Giannis]

French colonialism worked very different from British colonalism, not that one is better than the other but French colonalism aimed at erasing native cultures and Francaizing them as they believe their French culture and ways were superior to those they colonized while the British didn't care too much about imposing their culture and instead focused more extracting (stealing) resources and profiting off indentured labor, the French did too but they all spent a lot of time trying to destroy cultures and impose the French way of life and that's how they're different from the British. This mentality still exists and you see this in France and Quebec and even in Belgium.

 

[Stewie]

A lot of what they want seems quite vague. How do you quantify whether a religion is a political movement or not? In the US a lot of politicians rely on support from evangelical churches and organization. Can we say they are politicizing Christianity? How do they define “foreign interference”?

And I think children who are being gone schooled should meet a certain standard, that part I do agree with if it’s done standard across the board to everyone.


What happened to all the talk of civil liberties and freedoms?

 

[miandadrules]

French colonialism worked very different from British colonalism, not that one is better than the other but French colonalism aimed at erasing native cultures and Francaizing them as they believe their French culture and ways were superior to those they colonized while the British didn't care too much about imposing their culture and instead focused more extracting (stealing) resources and profiting off indentured labor, the French did too but they all spent a lot of time trying to destroy cultures and impose the French way of life and that's how they're different from the British. This mentality still exists and you see this in France and Quebec and even in Belgium.

Belgian colonialism was even more brutal than the french.

 

[miandadrules]

A lot of what they want seems quite vague. How do you quantify whether a religion is a political movement or not? In the US a lot of politicians rely on support from evangelical churches and organization. Can we say they are politicizing Christianity? How do they define “foreign interference”?

And I think children who are being gone schooled should meet a certain standard, that part I do agree with if it’s done standard across the board to everyone.


What happened to all the talk of civil liberties and freedoms?

Yes they are politicising Christianity and it’s having a devastating effect.

 

[Giannis]

Belgian colonialism was even more brutal than the french.

Belgium has French influence plus they only had one colony vs France's worldwide empire

 

[MenInG]

An arson attack was carried out on a mosque in France’s southeastern Albertville city on Monday night, the mosque said in a statement on social media.

According to the statement, the entrance of the mosque, run by the Milli Gorus Islamic Confederation (CIMG), was damaged in the attack and there were no injuries.

A person was seen on security cameras setting the door of the mosque on fire, it said, adding that the police were informed and a complaint was filed.

The statement said an investigation was launched into the incident and hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

The CIMG has been criticized by the government and politicians for refusing to sign the Charter of Islamic Principles of France on the grounds that it alienates Muslims.

The Arrahma Mosque in France’s Nantes city also came under an arson attack on April 9. Islamophobic graffiti was sprayed on the walls of a mosque in Rennes city twice in 20 days last month.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/arson-attack-targets-mosque-in-france/2229580

 

[Tubs]

Belgium has French influence plus they only had one colony vs France's worldwide empire

Numbers doesn't speak to brutality. King Leopold (I think his name was??) was tyrannical. Under his rule, they amputated hands of the slaves if they didn't fulfil their quota.

 

[Tubs]

An arson attack was carried out on a mosque in France’s southeastern Albertville city on Monday night, the mosque said in a statement on social media.

According to the statement, the entrance of the mosque, run by the Milli Gorus Islamic Confederation (CIMG), was damaged in the attack and there were no injuries.

A person was seen on security cameras setting the door of the mosque on fire, it said, adding that the police were informed and a complaint was filed.

The statement said an investigation was launched into the incident and hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

The CIMG has been criticized by the government and politicians for refusing to sign the Charter of Islamic Principles of France on the grounds that it alienates Muslims.

The Arrahma Mosque in France’s Nantes city also came under an arson attack on April 9. Islamophobic graffiti was sprayed on the walls of a mosque in Rennes city twice in 20 days last month.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/arson-attack-targets-mosque-in-france/2229580

Disgusting, hope the perpetrator is made an example of.

 

[KingKhanWC]

An arson attack was carried out on a mosque in France’s southeastern Albertville city on Monday night, the mosque said in a statement on social media.

According to the statement, the entrance of the mosque, run by the Milli Gorus Islamic Confederation (CIMG), was damaged in the attack and there were no injuries.

A person was seen on security cameras setting the door of the mosque on fire, it said, adding that the police were informed and a complaint was filed.

The statement said an investigation was launched into the incident and hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

The CIMG has been criticized by the government and politicians for refusing to sign the Charter of Islamic Principles of France on the grounds that it alienates Muslims.

The Arrahma Mosque in France’s Nantes city also came under an arson attack on April 9. Islamophobic graffiti was sprayed on the walls of a mosque in Rennes city twice in 20 days last month.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/arson-attack-targets-mosque-in-france/2229580

Macron and his extermist government are to blame for inciting hate & inspiring terrorists to attack Muslims.

I feel sorry for Muslims who live in this dump of a place called France.

 

[Robert]

Very disappointing. Despite all of the hyperbolic criticism that the US and UK suffer for apparently moving towards fascism and totalitarianism (usually from the left wing in their own countries), here we have an example of policy, thinking, and curbing of civil liberties from France that is actually fascist and totalitarian. Will it get the airtime and scrutiny in the US and UK that it fully deserves? No.

I wouldn’t say fascist / totalitarian. I’d say authoritarian. Macron has been a disappointment because I thought he would keep the flame of liberalism burning but sadly he is using policy instruments to do the reverse for a substantial French minority.

USA seems to have corrected its slide into Trumpian madness which did seem more fascist - the great leader principle, the militarisation, the trade wars and wall building.

UK is following more of a Putin model in that oligarchs are able to buy more and more power through donations to a Tory party hollowed out by hard right authoritarians bent on removing civil liberties and constitutional curbs on their actions, wrapping themselves in a false patriotism.

The future looks bleak.

 

[MenInG]

PARIS: The head of French President Emmanuel Macron’s political party has threatened to withdraw support for one of their own candidates in regional elections after she wore a headscarf for a campaign poster.

The warning from Stanislas Guerini, who helped found Macron’s centrist movement in 2016, caused a rift in the governing Republic on the Move (LREM) party, with some MPs voicing open criticism.

Guerini reacted on Monday to an election poster of Sara Zemmahi, an engineer standing for the party in the southern city of Montpellier in regional elections that are set to take place on June 20 and 27.

The picture of Zemmahi, who is shown smiling in a white headscarf along with three LREM colleagues, was tweeted by the number two in France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella.

“Wearing ostentatious religious symbols on a campaign document is not compatible with the values of LREM,” Guerini wrote late on Monday in a reply to Bardella.

“Either these candidates change their photo, or LREM will withdraw its support.” Government spokesman Gabriel Attal backed the ultimatum on France Inter radio on Tuesday, adding that “legally, nothing prevents someone standing in an election from displaying a religious symbol, in this case a headscarf”.

He said it was a “political choice” to have candidates who do not display their religious beliefs.

Analysts say Macron has tacked to the right in recent months with security and immigration set to be key issues in presidential elections next year.

His government is in the process of passing new legislation to crack down on what he has termed “Islamist separatism” which would give the state more power to vet and disband religious groups judged to be threats to the nation.

Polls show RN leader Marine Le Pen at historic highs and as the main rival to Macron, who was elected in 2017 promising to be neither left, nor right.

France has a strict form of secularism called “laicite” which was borne out of more than a century of struggle for power between the state and the Catholic church.

The law obliges state workers to respect strict religious neutrality and prohibits them from wearing ostentatious religious symbols such as an Islamic headscarf, a Jewish kippa or a visible Christian cross.

But nothing prevents local elected figures from displaying their religion or prevents citizens from freely practising their faiths.

One of Zemmahi’s fellow candidates in Montpellier defended her, saying she was active in local charities and should not be judged by her appearance.

“I see Sara’s abilities — I don’t see what she’s wearing,” Mahfoud Benali, who is pictured with Zemmahi on the poster, told France 3television.

Local LREM MP Coralie Dubost also condemned Guerini’s ultimatum on Tuesday.

“When you have a young woman engineer, who does hours of charity work, who is involved in a party that has progressive values — whether she’s veiled or not, there is a place for her with us,” she told Radio J.

In a meeting of MPs on Tuesday, Guerini reportedly admitted that being seen to reply directly to the far-right was “an error”. “If some people have been upset, then I’m sorry,” he said.

Last September, a Muslim student representative was boycotted by several right-wing MPs and one from Macron’s party when she attended a parliamentary hearingwearing a headscarf.

Debate has raged for years in France about whether the Islamic headscarf is a political statement in favour of Islamism, or simply a cultural signifier and clothing choice adopted by many Muslim women.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2021

 

[MenInG]

A mosque in the northern French region of Oise has been closed because of an imam's radical sermons, said to have "defended jihad".

The mosque in the town of Beauvais will remain shut for six months, local authorities say.

Oise's prefect said sermons there called jihadist fighters "heroes" and incited hatred and violence.

France has been carrying out checks on Islamic places of worship suspected of having links to extremism.

Two weeks ago, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he was starting a process to close the Great Mosque of Beauvais, 100km (62 miles) north of Paris, because the imam was "targeting Christians, homosexuals and Jews" in his sermons.

Authorities gave the mosque 10 days to respond.

The mosque's imam was a recent convert to Islam, Agence France-Presse quoted local newspaper Courrier Picard as saying.

A lawyer for the association managing the mosque told the newspaper his remarks had been "taken out of context".

The lawyer said that the imam, who was "speaking on a voluntary basis", had been suspended from his duties.

But the interior ministry said the man, who was "presented as an occasional speaker but who, in reality, acts as a regular imam", had defended "a rigorous practice of Islam" and "its superiority to the laws of the Republic".

Last year, Mr Darmanin announced a crackdown on mosques with extremist links, saying some could be closed if found to be encouraging "separatism".

It was a response to the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty and the fatal stabbing of three people in a cathedral in Nice in October 2020, blamed on Islamist extremists.

France's interior ministry said it had investigated around 100 mosques and prayer halls over such extremism in recent months, out of a total of more than 2,620 in France.

BBC

 

[James]

He is a bargain basement Napoleon.

 

[MenInG]

The French government on Saturday forged ahead with efforts to reshape Islam in France and rid it of extremism, introducing a new body made up of clergy and laymen — and women — to help lead the largest Muslim community in western Europe.

With France bloodied by past Islamic extremist attacks, after hundreds of citizens went to fight with jihadists in Syria in past years, and thousands of French troops now fighting extremists in Africa, few disagree that radicalization is a danger. But critics also see the efforts as a political ploy to lure right-wing voters to President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party ahead of April’s presidential election.

The new body, called the Forum of Islam in France, is being introduced Saturday by the French Interior Ministry. Supporters say it will keep the country — and its 5 million Muslims — safe and free of foreign influence, and ensure that Muslim practices in France adhere to the country’s cherished value of secularism in public life.

Its critics, including many Muslims who consider the religion a part of their French identity, say the government’s latest initiative is another step in an institutionalized discrimination process that holds the whole community responsible for violent attacks of a few and serves as another barrier in their public lives.

The new body will include imams, influential figures from civil society, prominent intellectuals and business leaders. All of its members are hand-picked by the government, and women will make up at least a quarter of its members, according to French media reports.

It replaces the French Council of Muslim Faith, a group set up in 2003 by former President Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister. The Council served as an interlocutor between the government and religious leaders. It is being dissolved this month by Macron’s government because, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, it was no longer fulfilling its role in the Muslim community and French society as it was reeling from attacks in recent years that killed hundreds.

“We want to launch a revolution by putting an end to (foreign influence) on Islam,” Darmanin said in a recent interview with Le Parisien daily. “Islam is not a religion of foreigners in France, but a French religion that should not depend on foreign money and any authorities abroad.”

In his project, Macron envisions measures like training imams in France instead of bringing them in from Turkey, Morocco or Algeria — a plan many in the Muslim community approve of.

Muslims are divided over the project.

Some believers visiting the Grand Mosque of Paris for Friday prayers cautiously welcomed the idea while others worry it’s going too far in trying to control their faith, or say that the government has singled out Islamic institutions but would not dare suggesting such changes to Christian ones.

Hamoud ben Bouzid, a 51-year-old Parisian, was optimistic about Macron’s plan and his effort to include different voices from the Muslim community to show to the wider society its diversity. Members of the clergy “don’t speak for every Muslim citizen” of France, he said.

“We live in a secular country so why not expand the forum and give voice to many more Muslims in France?” ben Bouzid said. “I would like Muslims to be heard as citizens in this country, not as Muslims. As full citizens.”

Muslims in France have long complained of stigmatism in daily life, from being singled out by police for ID checks to discrimination in job searches. Whenever extremist violence hits, by foreign-born attackers or by French-born youth, France’s own Muslims come under suspicion and pressure to denounce violence.

Islam is the second religion in France, with no single leader and multiple strains represented, from moderate to Salafist with a rigorous interpretation of the religion to outright radical upstarts.

Last year the French parliament approved a law to strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs. The government says it was needed to safeguard France from radical Islamists and to promote respect for secularism and women’s rights. The law, which raised concern in parts of the Muslim world, has been used to shut down multiple mosques and community groups.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/macrons-government-seeks-to-reform-islam-in-france-01644073326

 

[MenInG]

Hassan Iquioussen "will be expelled from the national territory" in "a great victory for the republic," the minister wrote on Twitter, citing a decision of the Council of State.

The case landed before the highest court after Paris judges blocked the imam's deportation, which the interior ministry ordered in late July over "especially virulent anti-Semitic speech" and sermons calling for women's "submission" to men.

Iquioussen, 58, reaches tens of thousands of subscribers via YouTube and Facebook accounts from his home in northern France.

He was born in France but holds Moroccan citizenship.

His lawyers successfully applied to the Paris court for a block on the order, saying it would create "disproportionate harm" to his "private and family life".

An interior ministry lawyer last week told the Council of State Iquioussen "has for years spread insidious ideas that are nothing less than incitement to hatred, to discrimination and to violence".

But the preacher's lawyer retorted that some of the remarks including anti-Semitic or misogynistic speech dated back more than 20 years, pointing out that he had never been prosecuted for his public statements.

"Yes, Mr Iquioussen is a conservative. He has made retrograde statements on women's place in society," Lucie Simon said.

"But that does not constitute a serious threat to public order."

The interior ministry representative retorted that the imam's words "create fertile ground for separatism and even terrorism," insisting that he "remains an anti-Semite".

Darmanin had warned that he would try to change the law if judges found Iquioussen could not be expelled.

(AFP)

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...sedgntp&cvid=b97b19fa10ac47e2f6efdf676c62d90d