Pécresse Calls for Ban on Foreign Funding of French Mosques

"Neither a foreign state, nor a foreign person, unless he resides in France, has the right to finance a mosque." Valérie Pécresse believes that on the "financing of places of worship, we must go further" than the series of measures against "foreign influences" on Islam in France, announced on Tuesday, February 18 by President Emmanuel Macron.

The proposal of the president of the Île-de-France region does not pose a problem for foreign donations intended for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris, because the cathedral "is a place of worship, but also a work of art. As part of the renovation of heritage, the State and local authorities are already participating in the renovation of synagogues, mosques or churches. So it is quite possible to make the distinction," she argued.

On the issue of Islam, she stressed that the diagnosis made by Emmanuel Macron is incomplete and that the remedies are therefore far from reality. She defines "Islamism, as a desire for power, with a strategy of infiltration into the structures of social life: in associations and sports clubs, in prison, in schools and hospitals." And so, the president was wrong to brush aside the principle of secularism, reports lemonde.fr.

Valérie Pécresse recalled the secularism charter she has put in place in the Île-de-France region "to fight against proselytism in the associative fabric", and which conditions any funding on respect for secularism. According to her, the "concept" of Islamophobia is the weapon of victimization to prevent any criticism.