Abdellah Zekri is president of France’s National Observatory Against Islamophobia. He discussed France’s recent election results with TSA.
TSA: Do you have new figures concerning Islamophobia in France?
Zekri: We will gather the newest statistics regarding Islamophobic acts in one week. I can tell you that the figure has drastically increased. There have been shots fired at mosques and assaults against men and women because they were Muslim. Just last week, a pregnant Algerian woman was assaulted in Toulouse because she wore the hijab.
TSA: Does the current political climate promote the rise of Islamophobic acts?
Zekri: One shouldn’t be surprised that Islamophobic acts increase while political figures’ discourse has stigmatized Islam and Muslims during the recent departmental elections. The blame is placed on Islam and on Muslims.
TSA: What role did Muslims play in the last departmental elections?
Zekri: Many of our own voted for the National Front (FN), which is a new occurrence. Stigmatized by the right and left, they prefer to vote FN. Many young people told me they voted for the FN because they didn’t know whom to support. The UMP is currently taking a more racist turn than the FN. The left also wants to create laws that question lunch substitutions in school cafeterias and impose the same menu on everyone, knowing that Muslims cannot eat pork. There is a collective hysteria concerning Muslims and Islam. One should not be surprised that young French Muslims vote FN.
