MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-12-04 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Trump was aracist for his fear of Muslim
|
wsj.com
France Probes 76 Mosques Suspected of ‘Islamist Separatism’
Noemie Bisserbe
7-9 minutes
PARIS—France launched investigations into dozens of mosques across the
country on Thursday as part of a contentious crackdown on what the
government of President Emmanuel Macron considers “Islamist separatism.”
France’s top cop, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, told French radio
that authorities were probing 76 different mosques, digging into their
finances as well as activities like Islamic schooling for children. Mr.
Darmanin said authorities suspect some imams of spreading hate against
other religions or criticizing values of the French Republic like gender
equality.
“There are in some areas—sometimes very concentrated—places of worship
that are indeed clearly anti-republican,” Mr. Darmanin said, speaking on
RTL radio on Thursday.
Authorities also suspect some worshipers who attend these mosques of
condoning terrorism, he added.
“If these doubts are confirmed, I will ask for their closure,” Mr.
Darmanin said.
The investigation is part of a government campaign to root out what Mr.
Macron calls “Islamist separatism,” which he describes as a politically
conscious campaign to deviate from the values of the French Republic and
to foster a parallel society where religious laws take precedence over
civil ones.
“ ‘It’s easy to go after mosques and blame them for everything. But
mosques are not the problem.’ ”
— M’hammed Henniche, a Muslim leader
The government intensified its efforts this fall after three people were
killed in a knife attack inside a basilica in Nice and a middle-school
teacher was beheaded in a Paris suburb. Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old
history professor, was killed after showing caricatures of the Prophet
Muhammad in class as part of a lesson on free speech.
Next week the government is expected to present a new bill that, if
passed by Parliament, would require imams to be trained in France, ban
home schooling, and monitor foreign investment in religious
organizations in France. It would also improve public services in the
working-class suburbs, known as banlieues, where many French Muslims reside.
French authorities haven’t released the names of the mosques targeted in
the investigations. But some Muslim leaders in France say the measures
risk stigmatizing France’s Muslim community, one of Europe’s largest,
and strip them of their identity.
“It’s easy to go after mosques and blame them for everything. But
mosques are not the problem,” said M’hammed Henniche, president of the
association that runs the Great Mosque of Pantin, a working-class suburb
northeast of Paris. The government shut the mosque for six months for
posting an incendiary video made by a parent at Mr. Paty’s school on the
mosque’s Facebook page, which has tens of thousands of followers.
Mr. Henniche said he has offered local authorities to set up
surveillance cameras inside his mosque and replace its imam to be
permitted to reopen.
Demonstrators in Paris protested against a bill that would restrict the
public’s ability to film police in France.
Photo: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Zuma Press
Authorities have defended the measures as part of their effort to
enforce “laïcité,” France’s strict separation of religion and state. Mr.
Darmanin said on Thursday that the investigation targeted only a
fraction of the country’s 2,600 mosques.
“Almost all Muslims in France respect the rules of the Republic and they
are the first victims” of radical Islam, Mr. Darmanin said.
Mr. Darmanin has become a lightning rod for criticism from opposition
lawmakers and civil rights groups in recent weeks. Lawmakers from his
own party have also privately criticized Mr. Darmanin, whose comments
they say are blurring the line between practicing Muslims and Islamist
separatists, who are being targeted by the bill, according to people
familiar with the matter.
In an apparent reference to French people who eat halal food, as
required by Islamic religious law, Mr. Darmanin said ethnic food aisles
were partly responsible for the spread of “communautarisme.” That is a
loaded term in France, signifying the idea that the republic is being
divided into ethnic communities.
“It’s always shocked me to enter a supermarket and see an aisle for this
cuisine communautaire,” Mr. Darmanin said. “That is how communautarisme
begins.”
Mr. Darmanin has also garnered criticism for defending a bill that would
restrict the public’s ability to film police, including from news
organizations and free-speech groups. They have assailed the bill as a
threat to the role journalists play in holding the government and police
accountable.
The bill, which is being considered in Parliament, would outlaw the
posting of photos and videos of police operations that include “the face
or any other identifying element” of police officers with the goal of
“physically or mentally” harming them.
Mr. Darmanin and other French officials have defended the legislation as
an effort to protect police officers from being targeted online and
beyond, and said the government’s intentions were misunderstood.
Tensions mounted last week as multiple incidents of police action
captured on video and later broadcast online and on television led to
internal investigations and police suspensions. Last week, journalists
photographed police forcefully clearing a migrant camp from Place de la
Republique. Days later, a video of French police officers beating a
Black music producer inside his music studio surfaced online, sparking
widespread condemnation.
At least 133,000 people took to the streets on Saturday to protest
against the bill and police brutality.
“We may have made some mistakes, starting with me,” Mr. Darmanin said on
Thursday. “But we need to protect our police,” he added.
Three Killed in Terrorist Attack at Church in Nice, France
0:00 / 2:05
1:42
Three Killed in Terrorist Attack at Church in Nice, France
Three Killed in Terrorist Attack at Church in Nice, France
Footage shows police entering the Notre Dame basilica in Nice, France,
where a man stabbed three people. It's the third such assault in a
month, as a debate around depictions of Prophet Muhammad in France has
stoked anger in several Muslim nations. Photo: Sebastien
Nogier/EPA/Shutterstock (Originally published Oct. 29, 2020)
--
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that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
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DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
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