France’s Islamophobia: Targeting the Muslim Minority to Win Votes

Ahead of France’s presidential elections and amid an accelerated campaign against mosques and Islamic NGOs, the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), Mohamed Moussaoui, has taken issue with what he called “latent racism” and “electoral debates” too “centered” on Islam, according to French outlet Le Figaro.

Moussaoui rebuked the central focus on Islam in electoral campaigns and warned of “harmful intermixtures” to the French national unity.

The CFCM president decried the “misuse” of the Muslim faith and religious practices “by extremists,” calling for vigilance within the French community “to protect each other.”

He questioned why electoral debates are centered on Islam “as if it were the source of all [France’s] difficulties and all evils.” Moussaoui argued that targeting Muslims under the pretext of fighting extremism and protecting the republic creates “walls between the citizens and division in our country.”

Regrettably, the CFCM’s president considered that the focus on Islam during political electoral campaigns is “a call to get rid of Muslims in France.”

Moussaoui lamented the recurrent attacks on Islam and Muslims “hidden beneath the acceptable outward appearance of freedom of expression, [which] is manifesting itself more and more openly.”

He also encourages “men and women aspiring to the management of our country’s public affairs to stay calm and avoid everything that can cause confusion, amalgamations, and risks of stigmatization detrimental to our unity and national cohesion.”

Islamophobia in France: general timeline

Amid a political climate of politicians competing to be combative against Muslims to win votes, France has been raiding Islamic organizations and mosques since the horrific attacks against Samuel Paty in 2020 and Charlie Hebdo’s former office.

An 18-year-old refugee from Chechnya heinously beheaded history teacher Samuel Paty, who made some ironic comments on the caricatures of the prophet Muhammad while lecturing on freedom of speech in his class.

In the same year, a stabbing attack occurred near the former Charlie Hebdo office in apparent retribution to the republishing of controversial caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. In September 2020, the satirical weekly magazine republished the caricatures, originally published in 2015, and retriggered condemnation and rage among Muslims.

Prophet Muhammad is a sacred symbol in Islamic culture. Depictions of him are unacceptable according to Islamic customs.

Islamophobic comments created frustration and panic among the Muslim community, who had reacted with shock to the beheading.

Amid soaring Islamophobia, French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 signed a bill targeting “religious separatism.” The measure responded to ongoing tensions in the European country over Islam. Its stated goal was to remove extremist ideology from schools, public services, and associations.

The bill did not mention Islam as its obvious target, yet French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin said the bill would halt “an Islamist hostile takeover” adding to already surging Islamophobia in France.

The Muslim community in the European country faced “pre-crime” arrests. A video that went viral online showed police harassing Muslims on baseless suspicions of extremism.

France’s Ministry of the Interior has shut down several mosques and dissolved Islamic organizations. However, Muslims did not stand idly by and took to the streets protesting the surge of Islamophobia and Macron’s problematic bill.

Politicizing Islamophobia to garner votes

Ahead of the 2022 elections, politicians have been intensifying their Islamophobic focus to garner popularity by scapegoating a minority population amid increasing economic hardships for lower and middle-class sections of French society.

It has become a trend to use the shielded ideology of “great displacement” to target minorities, Muslims, and migrants to garner votes.

It started first with the far-right’s Marine Le Pen, whose anti-semitism and now Islamophobia have been regarded as extreme. But with her gaining popularity in the last polls, centrists are now adopting her xenophobic ideology.

Paty’s decapitation by a Chechen refugee created fertile ground for attendees of Le Pen’s National Rally to further amplify their Islamophobic ideology. The far-right increased its political activity after the horrific attack, using the horrific outlier event to harass all refugees.

Experts perceive Le Pen’s achievement in the 2021 polls as a result of her Islamophobic amplification. Now, centrist politicians are adopting her flagrant ideology targeting the Muslim minority as means to win more votes.

Gerald Darmanin has ordered raids on Muslim minorities, closed mosques, and dissolved Muslim non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He even labeled sympathizers with victims of Islamophobic attacks as “enemies of the Republic.”

The controversial new representative of France’s extreme right, Eric Zemmour, has joined the Islamophobic campaign. The pundit established himself as an anti-Islamic and anti-migration politician. He repeatedly expressed a fear of immigration, calling to curb it before France becomes an Islamic Republic.

Zemmour stressed that if elected, he will ban the name “Mohamed.” This move mirrors the recent ‘anti-separatism’ bill proposed by Le Pen to ban minors from wearing hijab.

As Islamophobic propaganda is filling the French political scene and mainstream media, democracy in the Republic of France is at stake. Islamophobic ideology triggers social instability for the Muslim community in France, while falsely creating commonality among other voter groups.