"Le Monde" of prominent French figures: How long will we turn a blind eye to hatred of Muslims?

Under the headline "How long will we turn a blind eye to hatred of Muslims?", The French newspaper "Le Monde" reported a petition signed by 90 prominent French figures covering the political, social, artistic, sports and scientific spectrum, all of whom demanded the French President Emmanuel Macron condemn the verbal attack against a veiled Muslim woman When she was accompanying her son on a school trip.

The signatories first recalled the incident last Friday when a right-wing National Rally member, Julien Odol, called on a veiled French woman to leave a local council meeting in the municipality of Bourgogne Franche, citing that she was in a "democratic institution" and that wearing her headscarf was contrary to secular law. .

But the woman rejected his demand as rejected by the President of the Regional Council, to revive the debate in France over the veil.

"At the outset, let's say fill our mouths," the signatories said. "There is nothing in the law to force this woman out of the regional meeting. She had every right to be there wearing her headscarf."

This scene, these words and this kind of acts of violence and hatred are incredible, but the fact is that our mistake is wrong, as we have contributed little by our cowardice and concessions to allow such actions to pass and be accepted.

It is an unprecedented act of violence and hatred against all children of the fourth grade who are under 10 years of age and who attended this plenary session of the Regional Council under the “Me and My Republic” process, which was intended to introduce children to public life.

These are incredible acts of violence and hatred against those teachers who are interested in spreading knowledge among their pupils and getting them to know how to practice democratic debate.

For the son of this woman is a special insult and hatred, as he finds himself helpless in front of the humiliation of his mother, and found only in front of this hateful attack to throw in the arms of his mother crying bitterly, before he left the meeting, who cares about the damage that Is this child right? Who will be concerned about the trauma that this aggression can represent in the mind of a child as young as 10? What are the repercussions of such a public insult if not to assure this child that he is still a second-class citizen, and does not deserve to be considered a Frenchman fully recognized?

But this insult and hatred cannot be worse for anyone as it is for this woman who has become the victim of an unacceptable confusion linking her practice to her religion with the attack on the Paris police. The dignity of the woman was publicly disqualified and her humanity was taken away in front of the group of children she had voluntarily accompanied, as if it could be crushed and degraded without any significant collective anger.

Where is the public anger of this behavior?
There is no doubt that some officials, electors and personalities expressed through their social networks their anger .. But where the public anger? Where are the television and radio programs - with the exception of some reports and articles as in the case of the following petition - that condemn this aggression? Where are the official statements at the highest level: statements by elected representatives, political parties, ministers and the President of the Republic rejecting what is unacceptable? ".

After asking these questions, the signatories cautioned that it was indeed the extreme right that made hatred of Muslims its main propaganda tool, "but it does not monopolize it. Be in the name of secularism. "

The signatories went on to give examples of the imbalance in France's dealings with its Muslims before asking the following questions:
"How long will we tolerate such hate speeches of some of our fellow citizens? What will we allow tomorrow? How will we explain this to our children when they ask us in a few years: What have you done?"

Among the signatories are:
- Actor and comedian Omar Si.
- Christine Delphi, sociologist and research director at the French Institute for Scientific Research.
- Film director and screenwriter Celine Siyama.
- Historian Matilda Larry.
- Attorney Rafael Conf.
- Economic expert Kahin Valley.