Muslims protest in France against new laws that prevent terror

This is a bit complex. Sassy, who translated the article and signs for us, explained it more or less this way:

France has passed new laws against hate preachers and what one might call, genocidal or incitement preaching with real consequences. Closing mosques, deportations etc. So naturally muslims are protesting their right to freedom of religion. And they have a case. If Islam is a religion, well thats pretty much what most of it is. Incitement and hatred for all others, and a total effort is demanded to take over the joint, wherever or whatever it happens to be.

But there is more. Something about demands for Islamic separatism in France. If that is what it is, speaking as an English Canadian I must enjoy the payback. Wasn’t it Charles de Gaulle who paraded through Quebec saying: “Vivre le Quebec Libre!” that started the entire Quebec separatist movement? And this time it was France who brought in all the muslims and gave them special status to spit on the foundational law of Laicite which was till then, a defining aspect of French law, and therefore culture.

Below, the video:

The SIGNS say:
Equality of Rights We are all different.
Stop Separatism Law.
Coordination against the Separatism Law
All united against political islamophobia
Freedom guides all people
This article in French (Google translate seems OK) explains the anti-separatist nature of France’s new law. So in effect, yes, the Muslims are indeed asking for a separate legal space for Islam in France.
The National Assembly examines the bill against “separatism” at first reading. The deputies adopted Saturday article 44 which establishes an administrative closure of two months for the places of worship “theaters of speech, ideas, theories, activities inciting to hatred or violence, or tending to encourage them”.

French deputies approved on Saturday an expansion of the grounds for closing places of worship, with mosques welcoming “hate preachers” in the crosshairs, as part of the examination of the bill on “separatism”. The first reading examination of this text “reinforcing respect for the principles of the Republic”, according to its official name, which notably wants to strengthen the arsenal against Islamism, must be concluded this Saturday. A solemn vote is then scheduled for Tuesday before his passage in the Senate.

This appears to be in the wake of the murder by decapitation of public school teacher, Samual Paty for stating a simple fact and showing a cartoon in a classroom that had muslims in it. Subsequent to that, many other teachers are now under constant guard. We are working on a video about that at this time.

Thank you Sassy and Oz-Rita.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

16 Replies to “Muslims protest in France against new laws that prevent terror”

  1. De Gaulle didn’t start the Quebec separatist movement, he just gave it a bit of encouragement, though it really didn’t need encouraging, and I doubt he had much of an impact with the average French Canadian. It certainly wasn’t the equivalent of hate preachers, he wasn’t advocating violence.
    I’m glad the French are finally doing something, violence and incitement to violence isn’t covered by religious freedom.

  2. Wasn’t it Charles de Gaulle who paraded through Quebec saying: “Vivre le Quebec Libre!” that started the entire Quebec separatist movement?

    Schadenfreude. Feels good.

    Another irony: the EU remains fixated on a “Two-State Solution” for Israel. A salami slicing exercise from the colonial era. Been there, done that. Over and out.

    Let them be a model for ~ “two states together, living side by side in peace and harmony” ~

    Funny how they quickly they resume use of terms like “Solution” for the “Jewish Question”.

  3. Here is a summary of the rest:

    The French elected members approved Saturday a broadening of the grounds for closing places of worship, with mosques hosting “hate preachers” in the crosshairs, as part of the examination of the bill on “separatism”. The first reading examination of this text “confirming the respect of the principles of the Republic”, according to its official name, which wants to strengthen the arsenal against Islamism, must conclude this Saturday. A solemn vote is then scheduled for Tuesday before its passage to the Senate.

    Article 44, adopted on Saturday, establishes a procedure for the closure for two months by state authorities of places of worship that are theaters of speech, ideas, theories, and activities that incite or tend to encourage hatred or violence.

    – The rules for financing religious-cultural associations have also been reviewed. –

    On Friday evening, the members voted to make it mandatory for religious-cultural associations in France to declare foreign funding exceeding 10,000 euros per year under penalty of sanctions. The administrative authority will be able to oppose it in case of a threat “affecting a fundamental interest of society”.

    The French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin explained that he wanted to encourage cults not to rely on “foreign funding” but on “worshippers on national soil”. According to him, this is “totally in keeping with the spirit of the 1905 law” on the separation of church and state.

    https://www.lamontagne.fr/paris-75000/actualites/loi-contre-le-separatisme-les-deputes-approuvent-la-fermeture-des-mosquees-accueillant-des-precheurs-de-haine

    • India feels France’s pain.
      Though I bet Macron’s more fixed on the next election and the threat of LePen than curbing sectarianism.

  4. “.. an approach that preserves the spirit of the 1905 law, while modernizing it to adapt it to the current religious reality in France.”
    https://freedomofbelief.net/articles/a-white-paper-on-the-bill-confirming-respect-for-the-principles-of-the-republic

    “The Law of Associations (1901) suppressed nearly all of the religious orders in France and confiscated their property, and the separation law (1905) sundered church and state,

    The White Paper is available at: https://hrwf.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/livre-blanc-laicite-comment-la-preserver.pdf

    • The religion that maims people
      Marxist, Gay, Islam
      Cuts out the mind, body or soul
      To leave a gap inside.

      An incision that claims people
      Chosen and the Damn’
      Fear of Climate, Child or Whole
      Outside, these gods of pride

      A revision that names people
      I am Sam I am
      The Trojan Horses won’t let go
      Those temples lost inside.

      • To call out each terrorist organization accurately, for their assaults of degradation.

        islamophobia and Homophobia are real fears of infiltration.

        But Socialists call these “Hate Crimes,” for they mustn’t see the truth.

        “Communistophobia,” and then triggered to the roof.

  5. Islam is not a religion but a cult. Just a couple of examples: anyone who wants to leave will be murdered. If anyone critize the doctrine, will be murdered. CULT, not a religion!

  6. In Canada, the Canadian Council of Imams is headed by Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Al-Nadvi, who is also the president of the Islamic Circle of North America, which advocates openly for sexual slavery for women, honour killing, stoning of gays, and victory over the Jews They also state Islam is incompatible with democracy.

    The press in Canada, often refers to the Canadian Council of Imams when talking about Islamophobia. Are the press so ill informed or have they all sold their souls?

    • A because B. B came first. Then it was necessary to have A so they could sleep at night. On silk sheets most likely.

  7. France votes on anti-radicalism bill that worries Muslims

    PARIS — France’s lower house of parliament is voting Tuesday on a bill that would strengthen government oversight of mosques and religious schools and crack down on polygamy and forced marriage, among other measures aimed at rooting out Islamic radicalism.

    The bill is part of broader French efforts to fight extremism in recent years that gained new urgency after a teacher was beheaded in October and other attacks. President Emmanuel Macron says the efforts are also needed to protect French values like gender equality and secularism from encroaching fundamentalism in some communities.

    But many French Muslims say the draft law limits religious freedom and unfairly targets them, and say France already has enough laws to fight terrorist violence. Critics call the bill a political manoeuvr by Macron to win support from conservative and far-right voters ahead of next year’s presidential election.

    The bill is expected to win approval in the National Assembly, which is dominated by Macron’s centrist party, as well as the conservative-led Senate.

    https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/france-votes-anti-radicalism-bill-083712913.html

  8. French lawmakers approve bill to battle ‘Islamist separatism’

    PARIS: France’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday (Feb 16) voted in favour of a law to battle “Islamist separatism” that is billed by the government as a riposte to religious groups attempting to undermine the secular state.

    The draft legislation, which has been criticised for stigmatising Muslims and giving the state new powers to limit speech and religious groups, was backed by a clear majority of MPs in the National Assembly.

    President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party rallied around the law, with 347 National Assembly lawmakers voting in favour, 151 against and 65 abstaining.

    The text will now be submitted to the upper house Senate, where Macron’s party does not hold a majority.

    “It’s an extremely strong secular offensive,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio ahead of the vote Tuesday. “It’s a tough text … but necessary for the republic.”

    Among the more than 70 separate articles, the law expands the ability of the state to close places of worship and religious schools, as well as to ban extremist preachers.

    Amid concerns about the funding of mosques by Turkey, Qatar or Saudi Arabia, it requires religious groups to declare large foreign donations and have their accounts certified.

    It comes with presidential elections looming next year and with decades-long divisions about the integration of France’s large Muslim population and the threat of Islamists causing fresh tensions.

    Macron and Darmanin in particular have been accused of pandering to far-right voters by exaggerating the danger of Islamist groups in the often-marginalised immigrant communities found in French suburbs.

    The government counters that the threat is real, pointing to repeated terror attacks and what Macron called the development of a “counter-society” that rejects secularism, equality and other French values and laws.

    THREATS

    Over the past week, a school teacher in a tough suburb southwest of Paris has come to national prominence over claims he needed police protection after receiving death threats for denouncing local Islamists.

    Right-wing parties see him as a whistleblower warning about the danger of extremist groups, while those on the left have pointed to his provocative statements about Islam and accuse him of overstating the threat.

    His case was picked up in the national media because of its echoes of the beheading of a school teacher, Samuel Paty, by a teenage Islamist last October that profoundly shocked the country.

    Paty was the subject of an online hate campaign started by a parent of a child at his school who objected to his showing of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed during a civics class about free speech.

    Paty’s killing prompted the inclusion of a new crime in the draft law of disclosing personal information about someone while knowing it will put the person in danger.

    Another crime of “separatism” – defined as threatening a public servant in order to gain “a total or partial exemption or different application of the rules” – would be punishable by up to five years in prison.

    ‘HOSTILE IDEOLOGY’

    With campaigning ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections already heating up, the right-wing opposition Republicans (LR) party and the far-right National Rally have both said the bill does not go far enough.

    They have called for restrictions on the wearing of the Islamic veil, which they both view as a manifestation of Islamism, rather than an expression of cultural identity or religious piety.

    The government has rejected calls for a wider headscarf ban, but the law will expand the demand for “religious neutrality” in clothing to people working for private companies carrying out public services.

    Critics say Macron is seeking to harden his record on Islamism and security ahead of a likely re-match with far-right leader Marine Le Pen in next year’s election.

    He pushed an initiative recently to ask eight federations representing Muslims in France to sign a 10-point “charter of principles,” which three refused.

    The 43-year-old head of state is also accused of doing too little to counter discrimination and racism, though a new law and funding has been promised to help marginalised communities.

    Nearly 200 people demonstrated in Paris on Sunday against the bill, accusing it of “reinforcing discrimination against Muslims”.

    In January, a group of academics and campaigners wrote in the newspaper Liberation that the law was “an unprecedented blow” to religious freedom and the freedom to form associations.

    In the wake of Paty’s killing, the government used its existing powers to close several mosques and two leading Muslim organisations, the charity Baraka City and the Collective Against Islamophobia in France.

    https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/french-lawmakers-approve-bill-to-battle-islamist-separatism-14212954

  9. CBC – Associated Press – French assembly passes bill ensuring ‘French values,’ banning polygamy, forced marriage

    Bill criticized by Muslims and others who say it targets Islam and intrudes on essential freedoms

    French lawmakers overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday a bill that would strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs to safeguard France from radical Islamists and ensure respect for French values — one of President Emmanuel Macron’s landmark projects.

    The vote in the lower house was the first critical hurdle for the legislation that has been long in the making after two weeks of intense debate. The bill passed 347 to 151 with 65 abstentions.

    The wide-ranging bill that covers most aspects of French life has been hotly contested by some Muslims, lawmakers and others who fear the state is intruding on essential freedoms and pointing a finger at Islam, the nation’s No. 2 religion. But it breezed through a chamber in which Macron’s centrist party has a majority.

    The legislation gained added urgency after a teacher was beheaded in October followed by a deadly attack on a basilica in Nice.

    The bill known as Art. 18 is known as the “Paty law,” named after Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded outside his school west of Paris.

    The legislation makes it a crime to endanger the life of a person by providing details of their private life and location. Paty was slain after information about his school was posted in a video.

    The bill bolsters other French efforts to fight extremism, mainly security-based.

    Suspicions of a hidden agenda

    Detractors say the measures are already covered in current laws and voice suspicions the bill has a hidden agenda by a government looking to entice right-wing voters ahead of presidential elections next year.

    Just days before Tuesday’s vote, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin — the bill’s main sponsor — accused far-right leader Marine le Pen during nationally televised debate of being “soft” on radical Islam and that she needed to take vitamins.

    The remark intended to underscore that the ruling party is tougher than the far-right in tackling radical Islamists. But Le Pen has criticized the bill as too weak and has offered what she called her own, tougher counter-proposal.

    Le Pen, who has declared her candidacy for the 2022 election, lost in a 2017 run-off against Macron.

    The bill — which mentions neither Muslims nor Islam by name — is backed by those who see the need to contain what the government says is an encroaching fundamentalism subverting French values, notably the nation’s foundational value of secularism and gender equality.

    Representatives of religions consulted

    The planned law “supporting respect for the principles of the Republic” is dubbed the “separatism” bill, a term used by Macron to refer to radicals who would create a “counter society” in France.

    Top representatives of all religions were consulted as the text was being written. The government’s leading Muslim conduit, the French Council for the Muslim Faith, gave its backing.

    Ghaleb Bencheikh, head of the Foundation for Islam of France, a secular body seeking a progressive Islam, said in a recent interview that the planned law was “unjust but necessary” to fight radicalization.

    Among other things, the 51-article bill would ban virginity certificates and crack down on polygamy and forced marriage, practices not formally attached to a religion. Critics say these provisions are already covered in existing laws.

    Among key measures is ensuring that children attend regular school starting at age three, a way to target home schools where ideology is taught.

    Other measures include training all public employees in secularism. Anyone who threatens a public employee risks a prison sentence. In another reference to Paty, the slain teacher, the bill obligates the bosses of a public employee who has been threatened to take action if the employee agrees.

    Bill adjusts law on separation of church and state

    The bill introduces mechanisms to guarantee that mosques and associations that run them are not under the sway of foreign interests or homegrown Salafists with a rigourous interpretation of Islam.

    Associations are to sign a charter of respect for French values and pay back state funds if they cross the line.

    To accommodate changes, the bill adjusts France’s 1905 law guaranteeing separation of church and state.

    Some Muslims said they sensed a climate of suspicion.

    “There’s confusion … A Muslim is a Muslim and that’s all,” said Bahri Ayari, a taxi driver, after worshipping at mid-day prayers at the Grand Mosque of Paris.

    “We talk about radicals, about I don’t know what. A Muslim is a Muslim and that’s all.”

    As for convicted radicals, he said, their crimes “get put on the back of Islam. That’s not what a Muslim is.”

    https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5915668