Mosque Rector Slams Economist’s ’Islamist Language’ Remarks, Ignites Debate on Muslimophobia

The Renault group used to conduct recruitment campaigns "in three languages", including the "Muslim, Islamist language", economist Jean-Marc Sylvestre said on Monday on the BFMTV channel. Enough to provoke outrage from the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris. In a statement, he says he condemns "with the utmost firmness the remarks made yesterday (Monday, editor’s note) on BFM, where the Arabic language was described as a "Muslim language" and even "Islamist". Chems-Eddine Hafiz denounces words of "extreme gravity" that "reduce, in front of millions of viewers, an entire cultural and linguistic universe to a supposed threat".

For the religious leader, this type of amalgamation instills in public opinion the false and dangerous idea that anything related to Islam would be a security issue. "This is how Muslimophobia becomes commonplace, and ends up indiscriminately striking French people of the Muslim faith, including non-practitioners. [...] in a context of a sharp increase in anti-Muslim acts, to hear such remarks on a national prime-time channel is a catastrophic signal and the media, instead of enlightening, become vectors of hatred and stigmatization", he added, pointing to a "professional and moral fault".

For these facts, the Grand Mosque of Paris is seizing the Arcom (Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority) so that "this drift does not go without consequences". The religious institution firmly recalls that "freedom of expression protects the right to criticize a religion, but never the right to target, humiliate or discriminate against people for their faith". And to conclude: "The fight against Muslimophobia is neither a community claim nor a partisan debate: it is a republican duty. And the Republic has a duty to protect all its children, French people of the Muslim faith, including non-practitioners, against the media and political stigmatization that targets them".