French Senate approves toughened version of bill.

Comment:
Hatred against Islam and the Muslims in the centre of Europe is taking on threatening forms. Besides the insulting of the Prophet (saw), raids on Muslim households and closure of mosques. The French Senate has adopted a new bill which exclusively targets the Muslim society. It includes hundreds of amendments which were previously approved by the country’s National Assembly to adopted legislation to reinforce “Republican principles” and combat Islam officially.

Some of these discriminatory measures include a ban on religious practices in universities like praying, a ban on parents wearing a hijab while accompanying their children on school trips and even a ban on young girls wearing the hijab in the public space.

Parallel to these discriminatory measures French President Emmanuel Macron is even demanding of the Muslims to leave their religion by pressuring them to accept secularism, democracy and the creation of an “Islam de France.” Early this year Macron ordered the umbrella organisation, French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) to come up with a charter of Islam in France in which they endorse this.

And unfortunately, they did as they were ordered. The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) came with a “charter of principles” in which they state that they, among other, reject political Islam, foreign interference and reaffirm the compatibility “of Islam with the Republic.”

So, the French authorities are not only dictating the Muslims how to live but also how to think. Back in 2018 Macron even had the audacity to publish a manifesto signed by 300 prominent intellectuals and politicians, including himself arguing that the Quran incites violence and that these verses should be taken out the Quran.
So much for the credibility of the so-called principle of neutrality of the secular state against all regions and the empty phrases of Liberté, égalité, fraternité.

All this is unfolding in front of the eyes of the international community and especially the European member states. Remarkably, no single European member state stood-up against France’s harsh discriminatory approach and questioned their EU-partner about it due to the violation of their shared Western values. Instead, they showed their full support and loyalty to France in combating Islam.

This reminded me of the farewell speech of the NATO Commander-in-Chief John Galvin in 1988 in Brussels. At that time the collapse of the Soviet Union was already evident. He then uttered these telling words: “We won the Cold War. After a seventy-year aberration, we now return to the actual axis of conflict of the last 1300 years: this is the great confrontation with Islam.”

This confrontation with Islam has intensified since then and has become common ground for the West. The difference is only in the degree of their hostility. The real problem however is not their hateful attitude against Islam, but the weak stance of the leaders in the Muslim lands.

The recent textbook example of this boneless stance came from the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Muslims in Pakistan went to the streets and demanded that the Pakistani government take a clear and strong stance against the insulting of our beloved Prophet (saw) perpetrated by France. Instead of complying to their demands he even banned a Muslim group.

Imran Khan chose the possible endangerment of Pakistan’s exports to the European Union above the insulting of the Prophet (saw), the attack on Islam and the oppression of millions of Muslims.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Okay Pala
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in The Netherlands