Maatouk added - in an interview to the episode (10/15/2020) of the "Scenarios" program - that Macron, in his talk about separation from the values ​​of the republic, only mentioned Islam and Muslims, noting that many members of Macron's party and parliament members refused. His speech, considering it as "mobilizing and intimidating the French from Islam and Muslims."

And the speech of French President Emmanuel Macron, and the talk it contained about Islam and the Muslims of France, still raises a lot of controversy inside and outside his country.

Macron justified what he said by "defending the republic and its values," and fighting what he called "Islamic separatism" through a plan including tightening supervision over schools, mosques and Islamic societies.

The plan has many dimensions, and according to many French Muslims, it is an explicit targeting of a particular segment of French society, and an attempt to control its choices and lifestyle.

On the other hand, a member of parliament for the ruling "Republican Forward" party, Cecile Riek, said that the plan to combat "Islamic separatist tendencies" announced by Macron, and will be translated into a draft law, targets all separatist tendencies, not just Muslims.

Riek added that Macron does not want to interfere in the administration of the affairs of the Islamic religion, stressing that he seeks "to confront all those who distort Islam, and all those who consider Islam separate from the republic."

While Riak acknowledged that Macron only mentioned Islam in his speech, which he considered "in crisis", she confirmed the Parliament's adherence to confronting the separatists from the Republic, whatever their religion.

Targeting Muslims

For his part, Julian Talban, a researcher in political and social sciences at the National Center for Scientific Research, said that Macron’s plan only spoke about Muslims, and his speech was filled with an attack on Islam.

Talban questioned Macron's success in passing the bill before the House of Representatives, because it does not get unanimous. On the contrary, it faces a lot of opposition and criticism.

Talban explained that the French left and right are opposed to the bill, which only has the support of the extreme right.

It is noteworthy that the leader of the left-wing "France Father" party, Jean-Luc Melanchon, strongly criticized Macron's speech, considering it a useless political play.

And a member of the French Parliament, Cecile Riek, confirmed that the problem lies in schools that are not subject to French law, including some Muslim schools, and expressed her fear of such schools that are not controlled or the curricula they teach children.

For his part, Professor of International Relations Faraj Maatouk confirmed that there are many problems with the Muslim community in France, but added, asking: Who is responsible for that?

And has the republic done everything it must do, especially in the suburbs?

Maatouk pointed out that the finger of blame is directed at the republic in the growing state of despair among many Muslims because of its abandonment of its duties.

He wondered: Why does the state allow itself to interfere in the Islamic religion, even though it is "secular", meaning it guarantees freedom of belief and does not interfere with people's beliefs?

And Maatouk considered that the French elite are working to intimidate the French from Islam whenever an election date approaches.

Political and social science researcher Julian Talban pointed out that there is a generalization in criticizing all Muslim imams, even though those with a radical tendency are few among them.

Talban added that the social causes that led some to extremism must be addressed, whether at the level of employment or facing racial discrimination.

It is reported that for many decades, the obsession with Islam and Muslims in France has been present in the speeches of many French presidents.

Despite the fact that the 1905 law provides for the equality of religions before the law, the Muslim community in France remained the only one subject to interference in its religious and educational affairs.