Rabat – France is witnessing an alarming increase in acts of Islamophobia against mosques across the country.
French news outlet EST Republican reported that two mosques in Besancon were vandalized during the night from Friday to Saturday last week.
The attackers used red paint to draw the crosses of Lorraine on the walls of the mosques.
The Lorraine cross symbolizes French resistance to Nazi occupation in the 1940s.
The news outlet said that the unidentified vandalizers also targeted some cars parked near the mosques.
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Tahar Belhadji, the spokesperson for the Saint-Claude mosque denounced the Islamophobic acts, saying that they cause concerns among the Muslim community.
“We hear everything and anything about Islam right now, through some media and some politicians who are arguing about our religion. They are sowing fear among our fellow citizens,” he warned.
Several mosques have witnessed similar Islamophobic acts in recent weeks and months.
Earlier this month, the Coordination Committee of Turkish Muslims in France condemned Islamophobic acts that targeted mosques in the small cities of Montelbon, Pontarlier, and Roubaix.
Unknown people painted the Cross of Lorraine around the mosques, sparking fear in the Muslim community.
The mayor of Pontellier went to the vandalized mosque in his city to stand in solidarity with the city’s Muslim community, according to France 3.
“We cannot accept that. We must respect each other. It is totally intolerable, unspeakable,” the mayor said of the acts of vandalism.
The French local official also denounced the use of the Cross of Lorraine.
“ It is a symbol of the resistance movement against Nazi occupation. It is very inappropriate to use the cross of Lorraine to mark opposition to Islam.”
