It is forbidden to talk about Islamization: in France, death threats for a report on Roubaix
Roubaix, France. The cameras of the Zone interdite broadcast, of the French channel M6 , focused on a poor city in the North where a worrying phenomenon is taking place. Zone Interdite took an interest in certain neighborhoods where radical Islam is now widespread. In the Hauts-de-France region, the city of Roubaix (98,000 inhabitants, of which 43 per cent below the poverty line) is home to a large Muslim community: seven mosques, one of which is openly Salafist. The report shows how some neighborhoods of the city have slipped into fundamentalism and a form of separatism: restaurants offer closed boxes reserved for veiled women, in some schools girls are veiled already at the age of 6 and are separated from boys, in some bookstores it is even possible to buy books that support jihad.
Originally from Roubaix and a jurist, Amine Elbahi denounces in the reportage the Islamization he says he observes among the population. During one sequence, Amine is seen walking down rue de Lannoy, one of the largest streets because it leads to the city center. The lawyer shows "five or six halal butchers", "Islamic bookstores", and prêt-à-porter shops with "the full veil, the niqab". "It is a call to exclude oneself from the national community and to adhere to a more rigorous practice of Islam," he regrets. Later, the lawyer deplores the "silence" of the authorities when he tries, in vain, to warn them of the radicalization of his sister, who had left for Syria. In the city center, you can also buy faceless dolls. These toys are sold to parents with an ultra-radical view of Islam (which prohibits the representation of human beings). A contract explains that in this way the manufacturers respect the Islamic request not to reproduce the face created by Allah. Another shop also sells white eyeless teddy bears.
In the reportage, Amine Elbahi tells of having warned the prefecture of the North several times, at the end of 2020, of an elusive association in the city with the high-sounding name "Ambitions and initiatives for success". In fact, he suspected that he was providing "Koranic courses" in the form of mentoring, while benefiting from public, especially municipal, subsidies. In the background, it seems there are suspicions of clientelism towards the mayor Guillaume Delbar, who in order to pocket illicit money, would have closed his eyes on the nature of the association, causing a social and civil disaster.
Immediately after the diffusion of the reportage, the crossfire of criticism and a real wave of hatred began against the editorial staff of M6 and against those who participated in the reportage. Journalist Ophélie Meunier was threatened on social media and had to be placed under guard by the authorities. The same goes for one of the protagonists of the reportage, the lawyer and jurist Amine Elbahi. "Journalists and people who testified in this report will receive the protection of the state, their complaints are being examined," Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Monday 31 January. "We will do everything we can to ensure that the perpetrators of these threats are found and brought to justice." The French journalists union also expressed its full support for the journalist Ophélie Meunier. “It is inadmissible to attack someone in this way. Nothing justifies the threats or violence, and information and freedom of the press must remain a priority if we are to preserve our democracy ”.
Even the presidential candidates, in the middle of the electoral campaign, reacted vehemently to the report. Jean-Luc Mélenchon spoke of a "dishonest" program (but admits he did not see it during a TV talk show), Eric Zemmour instead defined Roubaix "Afghanistan two hours from Paris".
Elbahi's denunciation nevertheless led to an investigation by the judiciary, which found that "Arabic courses of a religious nature" were actually taught. Mayor Delbar and three members of the association will have to appear before the criminal court of Lille, the first for embezzlement, the others for "breach of trust". However, the trial could be postponed: two lawyers have asked for time to study the case. As for Elbahi, his life has become hell. The jurist says he has received numerous threats on social media . Elbahi is described in particular as a “kouffar” (disbeliever in Arabic) and was threatened by the Salafis with being beheaded on the street.
The post No talk of Islamization: death threats in France for a report on Roubaix appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL https://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/vietato-parlare-di-islamizzazione-in-francia-minacce-di-morte-per-un-reportage-su-roubaix/ on Sat, 05 Feb 2022 03:50:00 +0000.