According to French Muslims, murder in the mosque does not stand on its own, Minister Retaillleau under fire

The murder of Aboubakar Cissé (21) does not stand on its own. The rector of the Great Mosque of Paris Chems-Eddine Hafiz registers this Le MondeJust a week after the Malian Cissé was stabbed to death in a mosque in La Grand-Combe, a town in the southern department of Gard. « It is the highlight of a climate (…) that could arise due to collective indifference: a climate in which Islamophobia is no longer shameful, but simply, banal and almost administrative, » Hafiz writes.

The murder took place last Friday. On video images of the mosque you can see that Cissé and his attacker Olivier H. (21) talk briefly with each other after which they go to the prayer room. Here Cissé seems to do how to pray, after which H. suddenly gets up, brings out a knife and the kneeling Cissé sticks more than forty times. H. recorded a video afterwards in which he shows his dying victim and talks about « your fucking Allah. »

After this, H. fled, on Sunday evening he indicated himself in the Italian city of Pistoia – what he did there is unclear. With the Italian police, H., a Christian Frenchman of Bosnian descent born in Lyon, denied that he had acted from ‘Muslim hatred’. He simply said he had killed « the first person on his path. » Making the video he said he could no longer remember.

‘No surprise’

Because of the location of the murder – a mosque where H. never came – and his video, according to the police and lawyers of the family, it seems plausible that the motive was indeed Muslim hatred. That creates great fear among French Muslims, but according to rector Hafiz, the brutal attack was no surprise to many. « For a long time, looks, insults and attacks are no longer exceptions, » he writes. « The tragedy of La Grand-Combe only surprised those who refused to see that. »

The rector plays a sentiment that many French Muslims have. Many experience discrimination in finding a track or living spacethey receive crooked eyesare with racist terms scold. Some prominent French use unadulterated racist or otherwise insulting language when they talk about Arabs, Muslims and Islam, especially in radical-right media such as the popular TV channel Cnews-that dozens of times reprimand for hate speech, among other things. French mosques have to deal with threatening letters every week.

According to research, 46 percent of French would see Islam as ‘a threat to the identity of France’

The experiences are supported by figures. The Ministry of the Interior registers annually around the two hundred ‘antimosling’ (‘forms of discrimination or violence against persons or institutions because of their actual or alleged Islamic beliefs’) – probably a significant underestimation because only the cases known to the authorities have been included. And according to the National Advisory Committee for Human Rights CNCDH, more and more French people share prejudices about Muslims and Islam.

So 46 percent of the French See Islam as « a threat to the identity of France. » This is not only about French people who vote for radical rights: the sentiment is also widely shared among supporters of classical right parties (79 percent among voters from the conservative party Les Républicins) and middle parties such as those of President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister François Bayrou (57 percent). Within left -wing parties, the percentages are lower, but also 42 percent of the voters of the Parti Socialiste see Islam as a threat to the French identity.

Reactionary minister

The proportion of Islam-critical, radical-right voters has been increasing steadily for years-it is not excluded that France will have a radical-right president at the end of Macrons period in 2027. In the meantime, more central parties are taking over ideas from the radical-right booklet. For example, Macron and his Prime Ministers opt for increasingly stricter immigration policy and ministers are hired for their fierce views on matters such as Islamism, A dome term for radical and political Islam.

Such as Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleeau (Les Républicins). Until recently, he was kept out of the inner circles of power because he was considered too extreme and reactionary (that’s how he is against same -sex marriage), but is now a support pillar of the government. Retailleaur has been speaking for years about the alleged danger of Islamism, this week He warned that in 2026 there will be « members of the Muslim Brotherhood on the electoral lists. » He also wants to prohibit wearing headscarves during sporting events.

According to many left -wing French people, politicians such as Retailleeau have a responsibility for the heated discussions about Islam. For example, parliamentarian Aurélie Trouvé of the radical-left party LFI said demonstration After the murder of Cissé that « Islamophobia is deadly. And political leaders are responsible for this. » She then quoted a number of Retaillleau statements.

Demonstration against Islamophobia in Paris after the murder of Aboubakar Cissé. The board says ‘Extreme right kills in France, Retaillleau is complicit’, a reference to the French Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau.

Photo Teresa Suarez / EPA

Others criticize retaalleau because he had not contacted With Cissé’s family and only after two days to La Grand-Combe traveled, while he was on the spot at another murder. Moskeerector Hafiz mentions Retailleeau in Le Monde Not by name, but he also mentions a statement by the minister as an example for the « unrestrained public discourse » about Islam. Retaalleau finds himself that France is trying to politize the murder of Cissé and states that he « as quickly as he could » go to La Grand-Combe travel.

The relatives of Aboubakar Cissé are also critical of the state. They find it incomprehensible that the murder is not being investigated by the terrorist public prosecutor’s office, as usual with terrorists. Thursday they announced that they would charge for that still forcing. « I saw the video and it wasn’t long before I understood that it was a terrorist act, » said the lawyer of the family, Mourad Battikh, on BFM TV. « Put in the shoes of the believers, for those who become clearer every day that there is a double measure. It is downright shocking. »

Pretogers demonstrated in Paris against Islamophobia last Sunday, after the murder of Aboubakar Cissé in a mosque in southern France.

Photo Teresa Suarez / EPA

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