Muslim Leaders Warn Macron Over ’Islamophobia’ and ’Separatism’ Policies in France

"For several months, Muslims in France have increasingly become the target of the worst stigmatization and invectives from political figures and certain media who have made Islamophobia a commercial asset, thus fostering amalgams and suspicion of a whole segment of French society," reads an open letter from this collective, relayed by l’AFP.

Six days after Emmanuel Macron’s speech in Les Mureaux aimed at tackling "Islamist separatism", this collective, made up of about fifty mosques or associations from eastern Paris or the Île-de-France region, as well as the platform Les Musulmans (close to the Collective against Islamophobia in France), calls for "constructive dialogue" instead of "vague general concepts like ’radical Islam’, ’political Islam’, or more recently ’separatism’."

The collective protests against the unbearable nature of "the stigmatization and harassment that Muslim women who have decided to wear a headscarf to freely live their faith are subjected to." It also enjoins: "This pressure is no longer acceptable and must cease immediately." This treatment is not understood when we know that "(...) Muslims, in their overwhelming majority, live in peace and harmony in French society and respect the secular framework and the laws of the Republic," it assures.

The collective says it has the support of federations such as the RMF (close to Morocco) of Anouar Kbibech, former president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, the Turkish Milli Görüs, or the Faith and Practice (Tabligh) association.