Nanterre Mosque Receives Death Threats, Prompting Investigation

"If your Islamist, Salafist, or terrorist brothers of all kinds, or your national organizations, attack in any way our schools, [...] our churches or synagogues, [...] the sacred symbols of the one and indivisible French Republic, then the fires of hell will fall upon you. [...] we will hunt you out of France to the last," reads a letter titled "Notice to Muslims in France," signed by "The friends of Charles Martel," in reference to the Frankish military leader, popular on the far right for having confronted the Umayyad troops, an Arab and Muslim dynasty, in Poitiers in 732, and addressed to the Ibn Badis institute - which includes a mosque and an uncontracted school.

"The information circulating on the various social networks indicating that we have received death threats is unfortunately true," the institute reacted in a statement published on November 2, 2023, which also indicates that it filed a complaint on Sunday, October 29, 2023. The disturbing letter was only revealed last week "to avoid generating fear among Muslim citizens." The Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed to actu Paris that an investigation has been opened.

This threatening letter has prompted reactions from Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. "I strongly condemn the threats received against Muslim places of worship. [...] I hope for the strongest condemnations against all carriers of hatred," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Like the minister, the mayor of Nanterre, Raphaël Adam, also condemned "with the utmost firmness the threats against our Muslim fellow citizens."

The war between Israel and Hamas tends to produce shockwaves in France. The Grand Mosque of Paris said in a statement that it was "extremely concerned about the sharp rise in acts and speeches that undermine groups, individuals and property because of their religious affiliations."