French Muslims to Islamic State: We are also 'dirty French'
| Paris
After what鈥檚 been viewed by some as a tepid response to the menacing rise of Islamic State, French Muslims have begun to mobilize against a group that has recruited some 3,000 Europeans to its ranks.
Prompted by the beheading this week of a French tourist in Algeria, French Muslims are adding their voices to global protests such as Britain鈥檚 #NotInMyName, which denounces IS violence.
In response to the IS message released last weekend urging followers to kill Westerners, including the 鈥渄irty French鈥� 鈥� a message that appears to have been directly linked to the beheading of Herv茅 Gourdel 鈥� a group of prominent Muslims pushed back in a provocative letter published in the French daily Le Figaro yesterday entitled: 鈥淲e are also dirty French.鈥�
And today, hundreds streamed to the Grand Mosque of Paris for the first mass rally among French Muslims, mourning Mr. Gourdel and decrying the barbarism of terrorism playing out in the name of Islam.
"He was the victim of a cowardly murder," Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, told those gathered after聽noon聽prayers. "The Koran tells us that to kill one man is to kill all humanity.鈥澛犅燗 giant sign with Gourdel鈥檚 face was raised above the crowd. On the back, the words #NotInMyName were written, and underneath the expression in French, #PasEnMonNom.
The mobilization comes as the European Union's antiterrorism chief, Gilles de Kerchove, told the BBC that the number of Europeans who have gone to fight聽in Syria and Iraq has increased 30 percent since the start of the summer.聽France has supplied the largest contingent 鈥� 900 by some French government estimates. It also has Europe鈥檚 biggest Muslim population, estimated at 5 million.
While Muslim groups have penned outraged communiqu茅s about the terror that IS unleashed upon 海角大神 and Muslim communities in Syria and Iraq, some French have wondered why their voice hasn鈥檛 been louder.
In an editorial this week, Le Figaro lamented that France shelters many fanatics who are protected by the . 鈥淲hen will we see thousands of Muslims protesting the streets to say that Islamism is against Islam?鈥� it asked.
In Britain, young Muslims have caused a global sensation 鈥� one that even President Obama commended this week 鈥� with their #NotInMyName campaign, which was launched after the beheading of two American journalists and later a British aid worker, executed by a man with a British accent dubbed Jihadi John. The FBI has said it has identified the killer, but has kept his identity secret.
The video, made by the Active Change Foundation, as inhumane and unjust liars, and holding signs reading #NotInMyName.
Last weekend, Muslim groups in Germany organized a day of prayer against the IS.聽Similar marches have been held in Norway and Denmark.
At today's rally, Zohra Bouchiba, a French Muslim, was handing out fliers for a prevention group for youngsters tempted by jihadism.聽鈥淲e should have been out here a long time ago,鈥� she says.聽
But some have expressed concern about singling out Muslims in a country where French nationality officially transcends religion or ethnic diversity. Le Figaro created a firestorm yesterday with an online poll that asked readers if Muslims have protested enough against the threat of terrorism. At one point, more than 90 percent of readers said 鈥淣o,鈥� according to a snapshot taken on Twitter. Across social media, the paper was condemned for seeming to turn Muslims into accomplices if they stand silent. Le Figaro has since taken the poll down and apologized.聽聽聽
Distinguishing between a religion and 'madmen'
Moussa Bourekba, in Nouvel Observateur news magazine, said he would not apologize in the name of his religion.聽聽鈥淚 don鈥檛 go around asking Catholics to apologize in the name of all 海角大神s every time there is a pedophile scandal,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎nd I would never ask Protestants to publicly condemn [Norwegian murderer] Anders Breivik. Just like these people, the madmen who killed Herv茅 Gourdel are not of my community.鈥�
French Muslims are also often divided among national lines, whether Algerian or Moroccan, which can make it hard to form a quick united front.聽鈥淭he organized Muslim community in France is a house of many mansions and turf wars remain a problem,鈥� says Karim Bitar,聽a senior research fellow at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris.
But outrage over the Gourdel killing has, for now, transcended divisions and religion from Nice to Nantes, where groups have organized marches and ceremonies, many of them in front of local mayor鈥檚 offices.聽French flags are flying half-staff today and聽tomorrow.聽聽
Jacques Santos, a Parisian, attended the march today despite not being Muslim. It聽is up to every French person 鈥� Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, or atheist, he says, 鈥渢o fight against terrorism."聽
