French media is reporting that the L’Union des Mosquées de France (UMF) has decided to file a complaint against French novelist Michel Houellebecq, philosopher Michel Onfray, and the publication Front Populaire on the grounds of public insult and “incitement to racial and religious discrimination.” According to an article by Actualitté:
January 14, 2023 After the withdrawal of the complaint from the Great Mosque of Paris — and probably in reaction — the Union of Mosques of France decided to attack the novelist. In a press release, the organization considers that the latter has exceeded the limits of freedom of expression. [Translated from French original with Google Translate.]
Read the rest here.
This action is in response to a November 2022 interview in Front Populaire given by Houellebecq, during which he made controversial statements about Muslims, saying:
When entire territories are under Islamic control, I think that acts of resistance will take place. There will be attacks and shootings in mosques, in cafés frequented by Muslims, in short Bataclan in reverse.
The UMF’s reasons for the complaint differ from those cited by the Great Mosque of Paris, which had previously filed and then dropped a complaint against Houellebecq for “provocation to hatred against Muslims.” Houellebecq had apologized and made changes to the interview in question in an effort to calm tensions, but the UMF is now calling for the suspension of circulation of the interview.
The UMF is headed by Mohammed Moussaoui, former president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM). In February 2022, the Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) reported that the French government had dissolved the CFCM due to foreign influence, notably from Morocco, Algeria, and Turkey, as well as the Global Muslim Brotherhood and the Tabligh movement.
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