Islamophobia Observatory:

274 assaults on french Muslims in 6 months

Rasa - The Islamophobia Observatory of the French Council of the Muslim Faith warned of an increase in Islamophobic attacks and threats in France during the first six months of the year, rising by four-folds than in 2014.

News ID: 2993

Date: 22 July 2015 - 10:45

RNA - Head of the Observatory Abdallah Zekri said in a statement on Friday that the number of anti-Muslim acts and threats amounted to 274 cases during the first half of 2015, while the figure did not exceed 72 cases for the same period of 2014, according to the data of the French Ministry of Interior.

He said that those figures do not reflect the actual number of the assaults and threats against Muslims in France, noting that many Muslims do not report the attacks committed against them to the police.

Zekri added that the pace of Islamophobic acts in France has increased dramatically, especially in the aftermath of last January's terrorist attacks in Paris. He strongly criticized blaming Muslims for those attacks.

The head of the Observatory accused the French politicians of being "indifferent" towards the assaults on Muslims and showing an appropriate reaction against them. He also criticized some politicians for involvement in what he called persistent "provocative speeches".

There are an estimated five million Muslims, mostly from North Africa, living in France, which ranks first for the number of Muslims in the European countries.

R111/108/