Bourget: Muslims claim more ‘respect’

Representatives of Islam denounced the barbarity of recent terrorist attacks during an annual gathering in Bourget. They also asked for more rights and respect for the Muslim community.

Le Bourget annual convention organized by the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF) attracted the largest gathering of Muslims in the West. The occasion allowed for representatives of Islam to condemn the jihadist attacks, all the while demanding “respect” for the Muslim community.

According to Dalil Boubakeur, president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, “Muslims are often accused of having insufficiently condemned violence and terrorism, as if they were directly responsible, this is wrong.”

Boubakeur also took the opportunity to spread a message of unity among the Muslim community three months after the attacks against the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. He asked that the religion receive the same “consideration” and “acknowledgement” as “the other communities in France.”

He used the convention to denounce “amalgamations” and a “form of guilting” that forces Muslims to justify themselves, “as if the despicable violence and terrorism has something to do” with Islam.

Amar Lasfar, president of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, defended the right of the “common Muslim,” to “be able to choose” as well as proposing “a substitute meal option.” Another debate concerning the construction of mosques was discussed. Dalil Boubakeur called for doubling the number in two years to address the dearth of places of worship. A request that the spokesman for the Bishops of France deemed “legitimate.”

The subject of radicalization was also addressed. Nadia Tira, a nurse in Reimes, reminded attendees that it was necessary to “take charge of those who have an erroneous reading” of Islamic texts, all while fighting Islamophobia.

Since the Paris attacks the number of Islamophobic acts rapidly increased in France. According to the National Observatory Against Islamophobia, there were 167 acts “anti-Muslim” recorded during January 2015, in contrast with 14 one year before.

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