the appeal of the Grand Mosque of Paris to the government

Two days after the launch by the government of the conference against anti-Semitism on Monday May 6 – work undertaken to respond to the outbreak of these acts since October 7, 2023 – the Grand Mosque of Paris deplored the slightest mobilization against discrimination aimed at Muslims, in relation to the means allocated to reduce anti-Semitism.

The Grand Mosque of Paris has in fact, in a press release published Wednesday May 8, called on the government to condemn ” unequivocal “ discrimination against Muslims. She considered that the firmness hammered out Monday by Gabriel Attal at the Crif (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France) dinner should “apply equitably to all communities”. “We call on the Prime Minister and his government to set an example by explicitly and unequivocally condemning all forms of discrimination and stigmatization against French Muslims”she adds.

Muslim anti-Semitism, “an antinomic concept”

Monday May 6, at the Crif dinner, Gabriel Attal had promised a “exemplary firmness” in the face of anti-Semitism. He estimated that “Islamism is a serious danger for our Republic and one of the most dangerous, most destructive faces of anti-Semitism”.

The rector of the Great Mosque, Chems-eddine Hafiz, recalls having participated Monday morning in the launch of “ conference to combat anti-Semitism » launched by the government. But he worries “the extension into the public space of the false and contradictory concept of Muslim anti-Semitism, which unfairly stigmatizes French Muslims”.

He also returned to the criticism made to him for not having participated in the march against anti-Semitism organized by the presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly on November 12, 2023. “I have not changed, I have always been a peace activist and the fight against anti-Semitism concerns the whole of society,” he pleaded while describing as unbearable the discourse which tends to place the responsibility for this anti-Semitism on Islam.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the main group defending Jewish rights internationally, expressed alarm on Sunday, May 5, “unprecedented level” of anti-Semitic acts recorded in 2023, with the war between Hamas and Israel fueling a “fire which was already out of control”, in its global annual report.

An underestimation of anti-Muslim acts?

So that, “If current trends continue, the curtain will fall on the possibility of leading a Jewish life in the West: wearing a Star of David, attending synagogues and community centers, sending children to Jewish schools, attending a Jewish club on the campus or speak Hebrew »writes Professor Uriya Shavit of Tel Aviv University in this document.

In France, anti-Semitic attacks have exploded since the start of the year. During the first quarter of 2024, 366 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded, an increase of 300% over one year, Gabriel Attal announced on May 7.

The main representative organizations of Muslims have made actions targeting their followers a priority. At the beginning of February, the Forum de l'Islam de France created Addam, an association to fight against anti-Muslim acts. A function which was no longer supported by any association linked to the public authorities since the disavowal of the CFCM by the government at the end of 2021.

In 2022, the Ministry of the Interior had counted 188 anti-Muslim acts (a drop of 12% compared to the previous year), and 131 until November 2023 for three quarters of the past year. Figures which would be much lower than reality, according to Amèle Mansouri, lawyer and vice-president of the Addam association.