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Berlin – On Saturday, the El Hidaya Mosque in Roussillon, southeastern France, was the target of a violent act of vandalism.
Around 5 a.m., masked individuals smashed the entrance windows, overturned furniture, and plastered the mosque’s walls with hate-filled leaflets. Several similar flyers were found scattered on the ground.
The religious association overseeing the mosque has filed a formal complaint. Authorities have launched an investigation to identify those responsible.
This attack follows a troubling pattern of recent anti-Muslim incidents across the country.
A few weeks earlier, a man was arrested after desecrating the Errahma Mosque in Villeurbanne, where a burned Quran was found at the building’s entrance.
According to figures released by French authorities, 79 anti-Muslim acts were recorded between January and March 2025, a 72% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
This rise reflects a climate of growing hostility, driven in part by increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward Muslims, including within French political circles.
The Grand Mosque of Paris issued a strong condemnation of the attack, calling it an “Islamophobic act.”
In a statement, the institution said that “the Grand Mosque of Paris firmly condemns the Islamophobic act committed this Saturday, June 28, 2025, against the El Hidaya Mosque in Roussillon, which is affiliated with the federation of the Grand Mosque of Paris.”
It expressed its full support for Nouredine Louchene, president of the ACMR (Association Cultuelle des Musulmans de Roussillon), as well as for the local Muslim faithful and all the residents of Roussillon.
The Grand Mosque of Paris also urged authorities to move swiftly.
As the investigation continues, the Roussillon attack adds to mounting concerns over the safety of Muslim communities in France, and raises pressing questions about the response of society and the state in the face of a rising tide of hate.
