INTERVIEW
At the beginning of the week, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron went to Mulhouse to present his plan to fight against "Islamist separatism", the term now preferred by the Elysée to evoke communitarianism. To deal with radicalization in Islam, the president announced a series of measures. For the imam and president of the cultural association of Muslims of Drancy Hassen Chalghoumi, who has just organized three days of conference on this theme, the presidential approach goes in the right direction. "We need the Republic to protect us. I think we need firmness. For me, there is a very positive balance," he said on Saturday at the microphone of Europe 1.
"We need imams attached to the Republic"
In Mulhouse, Emmanuel Macron explained that France would gradually stop welcoming so-called "detached" imams, that is to say sent by other countries, while encouraging the training of imams in the territory. "When the President of the Republic spoke of seconded imams, I absolutely share him. Because we need imams attached to the Republic, to their value, to their own history," said Hassen Chalghoumi. He also called for a training site "dedicated to French imams".
>> Watch Wendy Bouchard's Big Journal in replay and podcast here
"Liberate the Islam of France from foreign finance"
For him, Emmanuel Macron's visit also had a "very symbolic" aspect, because according to him there are "two points: ideology and finance". However, the new Grand Mosque in Mulhouse is highly controversial because of its funding from the Middle East. "There is a mosque which is funded by the Qataris and that is serious," he said. For the imam, the solution to radicalization consists in "liberating Islam of France from foreign finance, from this war between such and such a policy".