Other Fires: Islamophobia in Contemporary France

By Cory Williams and Marian Bleeke

 During and immediately after the April 2019 fire at Notre-Dame, Paris, conspiracy theories about the cause of the fire were ablaze online. Alex's Jones' right wing conspiracy theory site, InfoWars, published a story based on a single Tweet from Christopher Hale stating that the fire had been deliberately set and Twitter account that claimed to by CNN - but was actually a fake - claimed that the fire was an act of terrorism. Jack Posobiec, now a host with One American News Network who has close ties to white supremacists, compared the fire to a 9/11 for Catholics. That comparison attempted to make the fire make a certain kind of sense for American viewers: something summed up in a Tweet from Richard Spencer, "If the Nortre [sic] Dame fire serves to spur the White man into action—to sieze [sic] power in his countries, in Europe, in the world—then it will have served a glorious purpose and we will one day bless this catastrophe."

French far-right figures were active at the same time. Damien Rue posted a fake video that appeared to show Muslims reacting to the fire on Facebook with laughs and smiley faces. And Philippe Karsenty, who was convicted of defamation in 2006 and again in 2013 for claiming that the t.v. network France 2 had broadcast faked footage of the killing of a 12 year old Palestinian boy, warned Fox New host Shepard Smith that claims that the fire was an accident would be the result of "political correctness." This was apparently too much for Smith to take as he shut Karsenty down stating "the man on the phone with us has absolutely no information of any kind about the origin of this fire and neither do I.” Making sense of these statements by French figures requires some context. Specifically, it requires understanding the Islamaphobia that is part of contemporary French politics and culture. 

Americans may associate France with passion, love, jazz, bohemian artists, chain smoking, and body hair, seeing it as a liberal paradise where people are able to live as they wish. When America was slightly more public about it’s racism, many black Americans left the country for the more tolerant France. The country also itself up as a religiously neutral country, in which no one religion has more power or influence than the other. In the last few decades however, France’s place as a bastion of equality has come under serious question. With the rise of Muslim immigration throughout Europe, there has been a major rise in Islamaphobic rhetoric and even attacks. France, home to the largest Muslim population in Europe is of no exception here.

Igor Novikov, Miss Switzerland.  October 30, 2010.  CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Stating reasons such as women’s rights, fighting terrorism, and the French ideals of secularism (but more likely to be rooted in racism, fear, and misunderstaning the Islamic religion) multiple laws have been put in place that are either directly aimed at the Muslim community or disproportionately affect them over other religious communities. In a country where one of it’s most well known and beloved monuments is a cathedral, it may come as a surprise that France considers themself a secular nation (not committed to any one religion.) For over 100 years, the French government has been bound by their principle of laïcité, which prohibits them from recognizing any religion. This has led to the French custom of being somewhat discreet with one's personal religion and in turn has led to rifts with those of non-Christian religion. This has also led to legislation that directly affects religious based attire. On March 30 of 2021, the French senate voted in favor of a “Seperatism” bill that, if passed, would ban Muslim women from wearing hijabs in public. The legislation could also ultimately prohibit Muslim women from wearing burkinis in public pools and ban mothers that wear hijabs from attending school trips with their children. On top of that, the law would require community groups to sign a charter pledging their allegiance to the national principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity and also cap the funding they receive from abroad. 

 

Full-face Veil Bans in Europe, current in 2021.  National bans shows in red (France).Giorgi Balakhadze, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time France has dipped it’s toe in the pool of religious intolerance for the sake of secularism. Since their time as a colonial power throughout the Middle East, the French have considered the Muslim community too attached to their religion and saw them as opposed to modernism, all of which they saw as a threat to their view of laïcité. In the 1990’s, a memo was issued by the government which detailed the difference between more discreet forms of religious symbols (such as small crosses) versus the more overt ones (like the hijab), of which were deemed to be forbidden in public spaces. This was eventually turned into an official law in 2004. In 2010, they upped the ante by banning the wearing of full face coverings such as the burqa and the niqab, with the only exceptions being if the woman was traveling in a car or in a place of worship. Furthermore, in 2016, many French coast towns banned the wearing of the burkini, a swimsuit designed to protect the modesty of the women wearing. The mayor of the city of Cannes, one of the first to ban them, cited their possible connections to Islamic extremism as their reason for the ban while the mayor of Nice cited them as disrespectful and a provocation after the Nice terrorist attack in 2016. It should be noted that the burkini is not exclusive to Muslim women, it is also frequently used by those who are at a higher risk of skin cancer.

While the government is doing its own work to alienate one of its largest minority populations, the public is doing its own part. According to the National Observatory of Islamophobia, in 2020 there were 235 attacks on Muslims in France, a 53% increase from the 154 attacks that occurred in 2019. Additionally, attacks on mosques jumped 35% in the same year. Almost half of the Muslim population in France report having been discriminated against due to their religion. That number jumps even higher for women who wear a head covering. Additionally, 64% of the population feel that their religion is perceived negatively.

France has long billed itself as the shining star in terms of tolerance, liberalism, and equality. It was founded on the basic ideals of liberty, equality, and brotherhood after all. But in the strive to maintain that position, the country has begun to alienate some of their most vulnerable citizens. Their bans on face coverings have lead to a decrease in social interactions and economic contribution among devout Muslim women while anti-Muslim rhetoric at government levels has resulted in attacks on Muslim people. Instead of adjusting their own beliefs to suit everyone, they are committing to their colonial powers of yore by demanding everyone else adjust their beliefs to suit France.