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| Europe |
| French Muslims fear surge in attacks by far-right militants |
| 2013-08-13 |
[Al Ahram] Mohammedan leaders in the French city of Lyon said on Monday they feared a surge in attacks on mosques in the style of one averted last week in which a soldier was tossed in the slammerMaw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on suspicion of planning a shooting during an Islamic feast holiday. Anti-Mohammedan incidents have risen steadily in recent years in La Belle France, home to Europe's largest Islamic minority, according to the Committee against Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... in La Belle France (CCIF), which blames anti-Mohammedan rhetoric by far-right politicians. A far-right activist said such violence had been provoked by government efforts to suppress "nationalist movements" that provided a legitimate outlet for discontent. Kamel Kabtane, rector of the Grand Mosque of Lyon, called on local Mohammedans to gather for a show of solidarity at the suburban Minguettes Mosque, which police said the soldier arrested on Saturday planned to shoot at on the Mohammedan Eid al-Fitr holiday. The 23-year-old, from an air force base near Lyon, was placed under formal investigation on Monday, accused of "possessing category 4 ammunitions in relation to a terrorist undertaking". Described by the interior ministry as holding extreme right-wing views, he was also accused of lobbing a Molotov cocktail at a mosque near Bordeaux last year. "There is a clear will today to hurt the Mohammedan community," Kabtane said, adding that two minor acts had been carried out against mosques in southeastern La Belle France over the weekend. "These are no longer isolated acts. It feels like there is a whole organization being put in place," he said. RISING ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE French media say such incidents have increased by 50 percent in the first half of 2013. The presence of far-right bully boyz at anti-gay marriage protests highlighted half a dozen shadowy bad boy groups the government has since shut down. Alexandre Gabriac, the young founder of a now banned far-right group called the Revolutionary Youths, blamed the rise in anti-Mohammedan attacks on the clampdown and said the government should take some responsibility. "Dissolving nationalist movements drives people to carry out isolated, reckless acts," he said. "Our groups enabled the anger that is rising to be channelled and transformed into a political foundation. These isolated acts will be more and more frequent." |
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