We have already covered the backlash against a plan to establish Tahiti’s first mosque, resulting in its closure shortly after opening and death threats directed against its imam, Hishan el-Barkani. Des Dômes Et Des Minarets draws our attention to a 400-strong anti-mosque demonstration that took place last weekend in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia.

The leader of France’s nationalist Front National is meeting Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch anti-Islam party PVV, on Tuesday and the two will hold a joint press conference about their plans for the European elections.

The Front National has been enjoying a surge in popularity with a poll suggesting 24% of the French populace backs the fascist party. That may change however after the leader of the FN, Marine Le Pen, remarked that a group of freed French hostages have “astonishing beards” and could have “Stockholm syndrome,” i.e. they may be secret Muslims.

Following Génération Identitaire’s anti-Muslim stunt in the Lorraine capital of Metz, two other Islamophobic groups held an anti-mosque protest in the city last Saturday. Thankfully, as you can see from the photo, it didn’t attract much of a turnout.

Des Dômes Et Des Minarets reports on the latest anti-Muslim initiative from the French far-right group Génération Identitaire, who were responsible for a widely publicised occupation of a mosquein Poitiers last year (and presumably also for the anti-Islam banner hung from the same building earlier this month).

The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France points out that it was just the latest in a series of shock covers about Islam, and not only inl’Express. It shows a shop window with mannequins with headscarves, accompanied by the headline “Islam, the danger of communalism”, which as the CCIF points out suggests that the mere act of wearing the hijab represents a threat to social cohesion.

(France 24)

A 16-year-old girl, who filed charges against a pair of skinheads for what she said was an Islamophobic attack on August 12, attempted to commit suicide on Monday by jumping from a window in her apartment block.

Aissetou

This shocking piece was written by a 16 year old girl who lives in the western Parisian suburb of Trappes. It first appeared on HuffPost France. Warning, strong language

Momentum is growing in France for a ban on wearing religious symbols in the country’s universities. A new report recommends prohibiting students from wearing religious symbols, such as Christian crucifixes, Jewish Kippah skullcaps and Muslim headscarves.

ROUBAIX, France — Wearing head scarves and long skirts, the women glide along the faded back streets of this poor French town as they make their way to the mosque to hear the last prayer of the evening.