France's Muslims fear voices of hostility

By Hajer M'tiri PARIS Just a week after the deadly terror attacks in Paris, many of France's Muslims fear a backlash from the state and right-wing politicians even more than they fear individual outbursts of Islamophobia. French Muslim campaigners and citizens alike have told Anadolu Agency that a combination of rhetoric from some media figures and political leaders has stereotyped a whole community. During the last week alone, 24 anti-Muslim incidents were recorded – including attacks against woman wearing headscarves – announced the National Observatory Against Islamophobia on Thursday. These figures only reflect those complaints which were lodged with police. However, the community fears a government crackdown on Muslim institutions more than individual anti-Muslim acts, according to Yasser Louati, spokesperson for the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF). "The effect of the Paris attacks on France's Muslims is going to be terrible. Just hours after the attack, we already received complaints about people being attacked," Louati tells Anadolu Agency. "Thirty minutes after the attacks, we had columnists for some media outlets and right-wing politicians already blaming the Muslim community and holding them responsible for what happened. Just 30 minutes; this is an outrageous indecency. "I went online to check reactions and statements and they [politicians and others] were already asking Muslims to go out and show solidarity... Solidarity with whom? “We were, and have been targeted, as well," says Louati. The Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital saw at least 129 people killed. President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency and closed France’s borders within hours. Parliament is debating whether to extend it for a further three months. Several politicians, including France's far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, have called for the closing of “radical” mosques and placing of restrictions on the 10,000 or more people loosely indexed as possible threats to the state. Le Pen has said that the country must “clamp down on Islamist fundamentalism” by deporting “radical imams” as well as stripping French citizenship from those deemed a threat. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said on several occasions that France needs to "expel all these radicalized imams". He told French MPs on Thursday: "Because the terrorist threat is here, because we must protect our citizens and act with efficiency, the state of emergency must be prolonged. “Faced with the threat, we are making the state of emergency more efficient: house arrests, searches, closing of radical mosques. "Those terrorists are the consequence of the failed war on terror .We [successive French governments] haven’t faced it the right way; we have been failing for 14 years...” These comments have prompted apprehension among many French Muslims. “We can’t fight terrorism through security-based measures; you have to win the ideological battle first," Louati says. "As for the calls to shut radical mosques: first, how do you define a ‘radical’ mosque? And if they existed, they would probably have been shut down a long time ago by the authorities." Louati says that "weakening" imams and mosques who are delivering an informed knowledge of Islam to Muslim youth is the starting point of creating such terrorists. He claims that politicians and leaders from France’s ruling Socialists are making such similar bellicose statements, taking such measures to look like "tough anti-terrorism" fighters. "The most outrageous part is that while families are still crying for their loved ones, their lost children, brothers, friends… Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy... right-wing politicians are using the blood of those victims as a fuel for their political goals, for their electoral campaigns," Louati says. "As for the government's leaders, they are running after the far-right-wing, arguing or agreeing with what they say. They are playing their game," he adds. France is set to hold local elections in December. Twenty-seven-year-old Ihssene, a French Muslim engineer, tells Anadolu Agency that she passed the point of paying attention to strange looks or comments since the post-9/11 era. "Maybe I became immunized," she jokes. As for extending the state of emergency, the measures taken by the government and the general political atmosphere, Ihssene says: "I can feel it in the air, many Muslims around me are worried. "If you are a Muslim and you practice your religion, go to the mosque, are active in associations, [if] you have a foreign-sounding name – you may be afraid that your profile is ready and easy to be stereotyped, especially in this context where the government sees everything red." Mohamed, a 28-year-old PhD student, sees the government’s announcements as "expected at this delicate time" but warns that a "balance should be made between security and freedom, and not a choice between the two". CCIF spokesperson Louati says that after the Paris attacks, Muslims are caught "between two fires" – they are under pressure from terrorists but also being held responsible for attacks by every part of society and politicians. "The terrorists are asking us to be on their side and, because of our stand we – here and worldwide – are been targeted by their attacks. “At the same time, a part of society is pointing their finger at us and the government is setting up a major crackdown on our institutions," he claims. Solidarity and unity Louati says that he is expecting more violent Islamophobic acts than after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January this year, but added "we cannot let a tiny fraction of those groups represent the whole of the country”. "The Paris attacks are more violent, the horror is massive and some people are using that to justify whatever they want," he adds. Abdallah Zekri, president of France’s National Observatory Against Islamophobia, tells Anadolu Agency that the situation is fluid: "Fortunately, we're not at the stage of January 2015 – when 50 anti-Muslim acts were reported in just five days. But we see that the situation is changing," he said. "We [Muslims] entirely feel what the national community is feeling; we suffer just as each one of our fellow citizens [suffered] since Friday," Zekri added. Louati also emphasized an atmosphere of solidarity and unity. "Despite the threats, we received a huge amount of solidarity. Thousands of e-mails and messages saying: ‘We are with you’; ‘Muslims should not feel sorry’; ‘they have no reason to apologize’. “We know the difference. We make the distinction between ideology and religion. "They [terrorists] hit us all as one country, as one body. Look at the victims: [the killers] hit us all without making distinction of race, color or religion…They hit us indiscriminately," Louati said. He continued: “The attacks are just horrible, painful. They made no difference when they targeted us as French people; they hit the most diverse corner of Paris." Louati said solidarity and unity is the best way to fight back. "The biggest favor we can do to those terrorists is to show them a weak country, blaming one another," he adds. "That’s why our leaders have a humongous and historic responsibility; they cannot let division spread in the society, otherwise it is going to get ugly," Louati says. President Francois Hollande said on Thursday that the authorities will be "ruthless against all forms of hatred. No xenophobic act, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, should be tolerated. "France responds to hatred with fraternity, terror with the law, fanaticism with hope. By simply being France," Hollande added.