French Muslims step out of invisibility after attacks

[webfact]

French Muslims step out of invisibility after attacks

By ELAINE GANLEY

 

PARIS (AP) — French Muslims have been officially invisible, expected to blend in with the rest of the citizenry in secular France. But now they are speaking out — and being called on to take a larger role in combatting the threat from Islamist extremists.

 

The killing of a priest last week at the altar of his Normandy church by two 19-year-old extremists has become a lightning rod for change.

 

In an unusual joint statement published Sunday, a group of more than 40 Muslim lawyers, doctors and other professionals said that French Muslims must move from the shadows to front and center, and take action because those representing Islam have lost touch with the young.

 

"We were silent because we learned that in France religion is a private affair," the signers wrote, referring to the secular values France prizes and the French model of integration by which citizens forego their cultures of origin for Frenchness. "Now we must speak because Islam has become a public affair and the current situation is intolerable."

 

The signers said Muslim leaders are unable to reach out, let alone represent, a younger generation of Muslims — some of them "the prey of jihadi Islam ideologues."

 

France's strict brand of secularism was behind two laws to ban Muslim apparel — headscarves in classrooms in 2004 and face-covering veils in streets, in 2010. It has also meant French authorities normally communicate only with Muslim leaders through the French Council for the Muslim Faith, or CFCM — an umbrella group the government helped set up in 2003 as conduit for dialogue with a religion that, unlike Catholicism, has no hierarchy.

 

But now, even the government is reaching beyond Muslim officialdom to implore citizens of the Islamic faith to join in the battle for hearts and minds against extremists.

 

"The most important challenge is not that of institutions. It is that of our citizens of the Muslim faith who in their families, their neighborhoods, must feel concerned and take their responsibility in hand," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in an interview Tuesday with the daily Liberation.

 

In an exceptional reach-out, he said that "Islam of France" must be rebuilt, expanding training for imams and reducing foreign financing of mosques.

 

"Muslims have an immense responsibility" helping the state "combat those who put into question our public freedoms," he said.

With an estimated 5 million Muslims in France — the largest Muslim population in western Europe — Islam is the country's second religion after Roman Catholicism. But previous attacks elicited little more than communiques from the main Muslim organizations deploring the horrors — and recrimination from some quarters because Muslims weren't strongly denouncing the acts of the terrorists.

 

Raphael Liogier, an expert on Islam at the prestigious Science Po university in Aix-en-Provence, says signs that Muslims are stepping into the fray may be the start of real change.

 

"They are under two injunctions: be quiet and at the same time take a position," Liogier said. "If they say nothing, one thinks they have accepted the attacks ... Today, they consider that this double injunction is no longer manageable."

 

The turning point appears to have come with the slaying of Rev. Jacques Hamel and the attack in the Riviera city of Nice, less than two weeks earlier, where 84 revelers were killed by a huge truck that mowed down crowds on Bastille Day on a famed beachside avenue closed for a fireworks display.

 

Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group — like the killing of a police couple in their home in June and two waves of attacks in Paris last year that killed 147. Yet, like in some other cases, the Tunisian attacker in Nice had not shown signs of being a practicing Muslim.

 

Mohammed Karabila, president of the Muslim cultural center in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, where the priest was killed, said the two attacks "made us understand."

 

A symbol of the state and a symbol of religion were hit, he said by telephone. "The message is clear. They (IS) want to fracture us, fracture French society."

 

Since its creation in 2003, the CFCM has been the main Muslim voice for the public, as well as the government, but it is an often fractious group of various Muslim currents in France that are influenced, and partly financed, by countries where each group has its roots.

 

Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are making plans to revamp what authorities have tried for decades to build: an "Islam of France" specific to French Muslims. As part of the initiative, they want to revive a foundation that could provide private funds for mosques and make foreign funding visible. They also want a single cursus for the training of imams.

 

"Our country must show the entire world that Islam ... is compatible with democracy," Valls said in his Sunday commentary.

 

Liogier, meanwhile, predicts Muslims will increasingly speak out — but with potential risk to themselves since "they are the target par excellence" of the Islamic State group, which views Muslims integrated in the West as infidels.

 

After the attacks, the CFCM stepped forward to call on Muslim faithful to visit churches in a sign of solidarity with Christians. Many did and Catholics also joined Muslims at Friday prayer in a local mosque.

 

One Muslim leader, Abdelatif Hmitou, castigated the slain attackers during the Friday prayer.

 

"You are not a part of civilization," he said — bold words given the omnipresent worry among Muslims that Islam is being tainted by the actions of extremists.

 

Celebrating the funeral Mass on Tuesday for the slain priest, the Archbishop of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, said that it had been "an error" to keep religion private. During the ceremony, he invited Muslims to return to churches on Aug. 15, the Catholic feast of the Assumption.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-03

[ClutchClark]

""We were silent because we learned that in France religion is a private affair," the signers wrote, referring to the secular values France prizes and the French model of integration by which citizens forego their cultures of origin for Frenchness. "Now we must speak because Islam has become a public affair and the current situation is intolerable.""

--------------------

Ahh, so it was the French values which were responsible for encouraging Muslim terrorism. 

 

And the conclusion muslim leaders have come to is they must now put their muslim faith, their culture of origin, ahead of "Frenchness".

 

Sad but not surprising.

[KKr]

My interpretation is slightly different from ClutchClark.
To me it seems that Muslims living in France are recognising that ISIS is using the fractured structure of the Muslim community to create Havoc and further escalate the differences that may exist inside the Muslim community, as well as with other religious groups.
This would in the end lead to a totalitarian state run by people that give a very narrow and one-sided interpretation of the book, nothing to do with wanting to promote a religion, but just with a lust for power and for money.
So, after some 70 years of fighting, they decided to show that there are muslims looking for a normal life in peace. Beit in Europe, Palestine or elsewhere.

Edited August 3, 2016 by KKr

[MaxYakov]

3 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

""We were silent because we learned that in France religion is a private affair," the signers wrote, referring to the secular values France prizes and the French model of integration by which citizens forego their cultures of origin for Frenchness. "Now we must speak because Islam has become a public affair and the current situation is intolerable.""

--------------------

Ahh, so it was the French values which were responsible for encouraging Muslim terrorism. 

 

And the conclusion muslim leaders have come to is they must now put their muslim faith, their culture of origin, ahead of "Frenchness".

 

Sad but not surprising.

 

Certainly not my read. You omitted the very next and critical sentence in the article (and came to a disconnected conclusion, IMHO):

 

"The signers said Muslim leaders are unable to reach out, let alone represent, a younger generation of Muslims — some of them "the prey of jihadi Islam ideologues."

 

This could be taken at face value or interpreted at least a few ways. One interpretation could be:

 

"These young, suicidal psychos are subverting our longer-range plans for Islamifying France by unnecessarily putting us under scrutiny."

 

Me: Not to mention the killing of the infidels that are supporting many of them. Hey, but that's just me.

 

Most, of not all, of the (psychopathic) jihadists responsible for the violence in France, Germany and the USA have been both relatively young and definitely suicidal (even if they had young dependent children).

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by MaxYakov

[jaapfries]

Has anyone even considered the 'overall' strategy by the Muslim-World ? ? ?

 

1. On the one hand; ISIS; Hezbollah; Hamas, Boko Harem et al are committing the most indescribable horrors, by Beheadings, Rape, Torture, Burning Alive, Gays thrown off Roofs etc.  Conclusion: The World's Attention is very much focused on that arena . . . . .

 

2. While # 1 is happening all over the place; HUGE hordes of "Refugees" (don't make me laugh !) are 'fleeing' their homelands in order to sneak into Western Europe, Canada & the USA. 

 

The Master-Plan is obvious; by populating all of these western countries the Muslims, WITH THEIR FAR SUPERIOR BIRTH-RATE, will -over time - become the MAJORITIES in all of these Western countries and hence be LEGALLY in a position to CONTROL them, without a shot being fired we will have been conquered & beaten ! ! !  The End-Game for ALL Muslims is to create a Global Caliphate under Sharia Law.  THAT is precisely what their Que-ran instructs them to do.

 

We MUST pull our collective heads out of the sand NOW; lest it will be too late ! ! !

[Scott]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[Credo]

1 hour ago, jaapfries said:

Has anyone even considered the 'overall' strategy by the Muslim-World ? ? ?

 

1. On the one hand; ISIS; Hezbollah; Hamas, Boko Harem et al are committing the most indescribable horrors, by Beheadings, Rape, Torture, Burning Alive, Gays thrown off Roofs etc.  Conclusion: The World's Attention is very much focused on that arena . . . . .

 

2. While # 1 is happening all over the place; HUGE hordes of "Refugees" (don't make me laugh !) are 'fleeing' their homelands in order to sneak into Western Europe, Canada & the USA. 

 

The Master-Plan is obvious; by populating all of these western countries the Muslims, WITH THEIR FAR SUPERIOR BIRTH-RATE, will -over time - become the MAJORITIES in all of these Western countries and hence be LEGALLY in a position to CONTROL them, without a shot being fired we will have been conquered & beaten ! ! !  The End-Game for ALL Muslims is to create a Global Caliphate under Sharia Law.  THAT is precisely what their Que-ran instructs them to do.

 

We MUST pull our collective heads out of the sand NOW; lest it will be too late ! ! !

And just who is the mastermind behind this Master-Plan?   The Sunni?   The Shia?   The Mullah's in Iran?   The Saudis?   I mean, they don't really have a Pope, or a Caliphate.

[zydeco]

Yeah, sure.  French muslims have been absolutely invisible of late.  Wouldn't even know that there are any in France, would you?  Hardly a sign of their interest in satirical news magazines, music concerts, Jewish groceries, national days of celebration.  No, absolutely, not.  They're just as quiet and unobtrusive as can be.

[Krataiboy]

We need similar initiatives across the EU in order to halt the rise of fanatical fundamentalist groups like Al Qaida and IS and racist leaders such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen.

 

It would be in the interests not onlyt of Muslims seeking asylum in largely Christian or agnostic countries but also of the indigenous populations. whose lives are most affected by the flood of refugees and economic migrants from the war zones of the Middle East and Africa.

 

Let us not forget that these millions of displaced people are a symptom, not the cause, of a problem - the bi-product of illegal or unjustifiable imperialistic wars against countries which constitute no threat to the security of either the US or its NATO allies. Perhaps we should all ask  ourselves, next time we are exhorted to support the "War on Terror", who the terrorists really are.

[ClutchClark]

^^^^ Oh Brother.

 

What a crock.

[Steely Dan]

Perhaps the moderates have a cloaking device a bit like Klingon warships, the o.p title certainly makes it sound like that.

[DM07]

Boy oh boy!

"Muslims need to speak up!"

Muslims speak up!

"Not good enough!"

 

It gets really tiresome and boring, argueing with the right wing- fringers!

 

[The manic]

There is no such  thing as Allah and no such thing as prophets. No book is the 'word of god'. When Muslims accept these facts they will be able to live a normal constructive life.

[The manic]

2 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

We need similar initiatives across the EU in order to halt the rise of fanatical fundamentalist groups like Al Qaida and IS and racist leaders such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen.

 

It would be in the interests not onlyt of Muslims seeking asylum in largely Christian or agnostic countries but also of the indigenous populations. whose lives are most affected by the flood of refugees and economic migrants from the war zones of the Middle East and Africa.

 

Let us not forget that these millions of displaced people are a symptom, not the cause, of a problem - the bi-product of illegal or unjustifiable imperialistic wars against countries which constitute no threat to the security of either the US or its NATO allies. Perhaps we should all ask  ourselves, next time we are exhorted to support the "War on Terror", who the terrorists really are.

Nonesense..Muslims have been killing Muslims for over a 1000 years. Nobody is forcing Shia and Sunni to murder each other in Iraq now. As for imperialism- the spread of Islam is an example of true imperialism.  

 

[Krataiboy]

5 hours ago, jaapfries said:

Has anyone even considered the 'overall' strategy by the Muslim-World ? ? ?

 

1. On the one hand; ISIS; Hezbollah; Hamas, Boko Harem et al are committing the most indescribable horrors, by Beheadings, Rape, Torture, Burning Alive, Gays thrown off Roofs etc.  Conclusion: The World's Attention is very much focused on that arena . . . . .

 

2. While # 1 is happening all over the place; HUGE hordes of "Refugees" (don't make me laugh !) are 'fleeing' their homelands in order to sneak into Western Europe, Canada & the USA. 

 

The Master-Plan is obvious; by populating all of these western countries the Muslims, WITH THEIR FAR SUPERIOR BIRTH-RATE, will -over time - become the MAJORITIES in all of these Western countries and hence be LEGALLY in a position to CONTROL them, without a shot being fired we will have been conquered & beaten ! ! !  The End-Game for ALL Muslims is to create a Global Caliphate under Sharia Law.  THAT is precisely what their Que-ran instructs them to do.

 

We MUST pull our collective heads out of the sand NOW; lest it will be too late ! ! !

 

 

One can only assume Titanium has a similar effect on the brain to lead.

[KKr]

20 hours ago, The manic said:

Nonesense..Muslims have been killing Muslims for over a 1000 years. Nobody is forcing Shia and Sunni to murder each other in Iraq now. As for imperialism- the spread of Islam is an example of true imperialism.  

 

And when Christianity was around the first two thousand years, they did bit of killing each other and believers-in-something else as well.
It is not a problem of beliefs, it is a problem of people abusing the belief to gain power and money.

[The manic]

 Muslims never stopped killing and expanding- that's the difference - a temporary hiatus after the decline of the Ottoman empire- that's all . Their very believe system is sick and a perversion of Judaeo Christianity mixed with Bedouin tribal lore and stone worshiping paganism. Not a religion but a war ideology. Spurious comparisons between Islam and Christianity are ignorant nonsense anyway.  Christ never preached murder, slavery, or abuse or has sex with kids - he taught humility. I do not care at which stage of evolution Islam is in BUT NOT IN MY BACK YARD PLEASE.