Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Paris to protest against Islamophobia two days after the assassination of Aboubakar, a Muslim man who was stabbed to death at a mosque in southern France, with activists calling for stronger action against anti-Muslim violence.
The solidarity march held at Place de la République, a prominent public square in Paris, brought together non-governmental organisations, political representatives, and religious leaders, who collectively denounced what they described as an Islamophobic atmosphere in France.
Protesters were observed carrying banners that read “ISLAMOPHOBIE TUE! ÉTAT COMPLICE” (Islamophobia kills! The state is complicit) and “Justice for Aboubakar,” referring to the young worshipper who was killed on Friday.
The protests were attended by Prominent French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the France Unbowed (LFI) party.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon said, “This violence is the result of an Islamophobic climate cultivated for months. Because of this atmosphere, disturbed minds find justification for their actions. Islamophobia dehumanizes those it targets. It is an incitement to all forms of violence, up to murder. The term Islamophobia addresses a need whose struggle is essential. Great dangers weaken when they are properly recognized.”
“It is time to pull ourselves together, to name things as they are, and to engage in this fight. In all assemblies and wherever we gather, we call for a moment of silence to honor republican fraternity and human love,” he added.
“We have a system, we have a state that is afraid, and it is this fear that we are facing head-on,” said activist Assa Traoré.
Olivier A, a 21-year-old French national from Lyon, surrendered to Italian police on Sunday after three days on the run, following his alleged murder of 22-year-old Aboubakar Cissé, a Malian carpenter and mosque volunteer, who was found with approximately fifty stab wounds in La Grand-Combe, southeastern France.
Olivier A is alleged to have entered the mosque on Friday morning and stabbed Cissé dozens of times, filming his victim in agony with a mobile phone.
In the footage, a man can be heard congratulating himself, saying “I did it” and shouting insults at Allah.
The incident in a rural French village has sparked widespread shock, leading President Emmanuel Macron to affirm that religious hatred has no place in French society, while Prime Minister François Bayrou condemned it as an “Islamophobic” act.
“Racism and hatred based on religion will never have a place in France. Freedom of worship is inviolable,” Macron wrote on X.
France’s large Muslim population, roughly 10% of its 67 million people (around 6.7 million), faces significant Islamophobia, including discrimination, political hostility, and frequent hate crimes targeting individuals and places of worship.
According to the annual report of the Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE) 2023, incidents of anti-Muslim hate in France jumped by 57%, with 828 incidents recorded across the nation over the year.
The incidents of hate against Muslims increased across Europe after Israel began its genocidal war in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
