Surge in Anti-Muslim Attacks Sparks Concern in Southwest France Ahead of Election

The KO Market food halal grocery store, located in the ZAC de Redon in Bon-Encontre in Lot-et-Garonne, was ravaged by fire in the night of Saturday, January 29 to Sunday, January 30, 2022. According to the investigators, it would be an arson, because inverted swastikas were painted in white on the facade of the building. "The criminal act is beyond doubt. But the investigation will have to determine whether it is an extremist act carried out against this halal business," said a police officer to La Dépêche.

In Toulouse, Djamel Sekkak discovered a bloodied boar’s head, impaled on a sign just steps from his business, report BFM and RMC. "It’s very worrying, we see a little blood flowing, which means, be on your guard, be careful: the next time will be even more serious," he says, adding that he will file a complaint for the fifth time in less than four years, each time for anti-Muslim acts. "It’s anger, it’s abominable. We love France, why are we here if we don’t love France?" questions the business leader.

In a tweet, Dominique Sopo, president of the SOS Racisme association, denounced the "liberation of racist speech carried by Eric Zemmour (candidate of the Reconquête party)". According to him, its "symptoms" are these acts of vandalism. "The overstatement of Islam, immigration, the great replacement, all these lies that for some become truths, naturally lead to this climate of hatred, to this climate of discrimination against Islam and Muslims," comments Abdallah Zekri, general delegate of the National Council of Muslim Worship. Once and for all, are we full-fledged French or French apart?".

Faced with these recurrent anti-Muslim acts, he calls on the Ministry of the Interior "for special surveillance of places of worship, and more particularly of mosques".