The French interior minister is calling for the “dissolution of mosques where hate is preached” throughout the country in the wake of Friday’s horrific terrorist attack in Paris, saying that the “state of emergency should allow us to act more rapidly” in disbanding worship communities.
According to MSNBC, Bernard Cazeneuve made the suggestion during an interview with French television on Sunday, speaking about possible emergency measures to be taken after a band of ISIS-affiliated assailants launched an assault on the French capital city that left at least 132 dead and hundreds more wounded.
The ‘state of emergency should allow us to act more rapidly’ in disbanding worship communities.
Although Cazeneuve has supported efforts to increase dialogue with France’s Muslim population this year, he has also actively participated in his country’s policy of deporting Muslim imams, having kicked 40 out of the country over the last three years — including 10 since the beginning of this year.
He has also called for dissolving mosques in the past: “Foreign preachers of hate will be deported,” he said in June, adding that if their mosques were found guilty of inciting terrorism, they “will be shut down.”
France has a long, strained history with religion, and the government’s relationship with the nation’s roughly 5 million Muslims is known to be dotted with tension. The country has engaged in a number of debates over whether Muslim citizens should be allowed to wear headscarves in schools, for instance, and the government formally banned full-face coverings — including Islamic niqābs — in 2011.
Yet other nations already use similar tactics as part of anti-terrorism efforts. In October, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron announced a new strategy that involves suspending passports and shutting down mosques. Meanwhile, businessman and leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday morning that we would “strongly consider” shutting down mosques as president.
READ: Trump Says He Would ‘Strongly Consider’ Shutting Down Mosques In The U.S.
“Well, you’re going to have to watch and study the mosques because a lot of talk is going on at the mosques,” Trump said.
Trump then appeared to reference New York City’s defunct and highly controversial surveillance of Muslim Americans, saying, “And from what I heard in the old days, meaning a while ago, we had great surveillance going on in and around mosques in New York City and I understand our mayor totally cut that out. He totally cut it out.”
Trump was seemingly unaware that the program was roundly condemned by the FBI, and produced no leads.
In the meantime, many are concerned these kinds of initiatives will only exacerbate a potential backlash against Muslims in Europe — a shift that many analysts argue is part of ISIS’s plan.
It may already be starting: According to the New York Times, a group of Parisian Muslims who visited one of the sites of Friday’s attacks were berated for attempting to pay their respects. A man reportedly approached a group of women wearing headscarves and began shouting at them, saying that the Quran was blame for the killings. The women reportedly began shouting and crying in response, defending their faith.
“The Quran says that nobody can take a life,” Abiba Trabacke, one of the women, told the Times. “These were extremists; they are like the Nazis. They have nothing to do with us.”