France Ends Funding for Muslim High School with Muslim Brotherhood Ties

On 11 Decem­ber 2023, Reuters report­ed that France had announced the ter­mi­na­tion of fund­ing for Aver­roes, its largest Mus­lim high school, cit­ing admin­is­tra­tive fail­ures and ques­tion­able teach­ing prac­tices. Locat­ed in Lille and estab­lished in 2003, the school has over 800 pupils. It has been under state con­tract since 2008. An Octo­ber 2023 report from the inte­ri­or min­istry’s local office raised con­cerns about admin­is­tra­tive and finan­cial dys­func­tion, along with teach­ing mis­align­ment with French repub­li­can val­ues. The report includ­ed alle­ga­tions of an “exces­sive empha­sis on Islam in cours­es on reli­gion” and a lack of “LGBTQ con­tent.” Crit­ics, view­ing this move as part of a broad­er crack­down on Mus­lims, empha­size the wors­en­ing cli­mate for Mus­lims in France. Aver­roes’ head­mas­ter, Eric Dufour, plans to chal­lenge the deci­sion in admin­is­tra­tive court, assert­ing the school’s com­mit­ment to repub­li­can val­ues. The school was for­mer­ly led by Amar Las­far, who has also served as pres­i­dent of the French Mus­lim Broth­er­hood umbrel­la group Musul­mans de France.