Category Archives: France

Man in court over attack on Muslim women near Orléans

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reports that the motorist who allegedly launched a vicious racist assault on three Muslim women in Saint-Jean-de-Braye near Orléans on 14 June has appeared before Orléans Criminal Court. The CCIF is a civil party in the case.

The accused is charged with “violence resulting in inability to work against the three plaintiffs” and “insult because of origin, ethnicity, nation, race or religion”.

The case is due to be heard at the end of July. The accused has been placed under judicial supervision, is not to approach the victims or use his vehicle and must report to the police every 15 days.

‘I hate Arabs, I hate your religion’ – racist and Islamophobic assault near Orléans

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reports that on 14 June three Muslim women were subjected to an unprovoked attack while driving through Saint-Jean-de-Braye near Orléans. When they stopped at a red light a motorist got out of his car and proceeded to beat and kick the women, while shouting racist abuse at them, including “dirty Arab” and “I hate your religion”.

Argenteuil: Muslim woman loses baby after veil attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A young pregnant Muslim woman, who was allegedly attacked in the street for wearing a veil has lost her baby, her lawyer announced on Monday.

According to reports in the French media, the woman, who was four months pregnant, was assaulted in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil on June 13th. On Monday, the 21-year-old’s lawyer Hosni Maati told AFP that the woman had since suffered a miscarriage. “Her husband called me this afternoon. She lost the baby,” the lawyer said, before adding that the family were devastated by the tragedy and would not be making any further comment.

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Paris International Islamophobia Conference – call for papers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Paris International Islamophobic Conference

Call for Papers Paris, France International Islamophobia Conference
December 13-14, 2013

Theme: The Epistemic, Racial, Cultural and Stuctural Exclusionary Measures in France and Europe

The University of California, Berkeley IRDP (Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project) and CADIS (Centre d’Analyse et d’Intervention Sociologiques), Paris Invite Scholars and Researchers to Submit Paper Proposals December 13-14, 2013.

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Second attack on Muslim woman in Argenteuil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Coordination contre le Racisme et l’Islamophobie has reported that, following the attack on Rabia B. last month, a second Muslim woman was assaulted by skinheads in Argenteuil on Thursday morning. They dragged her into a side street, beat her, removed her headscarf and cut off some of her hair. When she screamed at them that she was pregnant they replied they “didn’t give a fuck” and kicked her in the stomach. Argenteuil was the scene of clashes on Wednesday provoked by police arresting a Muslim woman wearing a veil.

See also “Seule et enceinte agressée par des skins”, CCIF, 13 June 2013

And “Argenteuil: La colère des habitants après une nouvelle agression raciste”, 20 Minutes, 13 June 2013

Police check of veiled woman sparks clashes near Paris

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an angry crowd in a town on the outskirts of Paris where clashes erupted on Wednesday night after they questioned a woman wearing a full facial veil, which is banned in France.

A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the trouble started when police stopped a 25-year-old woman in the centre of Argenteuil, a suburb north-west of Paris, who was wearing a full-face Muslim veil, or niqab.

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Reims: Young woman wearing hijab is attacked

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Reims demonstration

The attack took place on Sunday afternoon in Reims (Marne). While she was driving with her husband, the young veiled woman was violently set upon by a passer-by.

The 17-year adolescent, an apprentice with the Compagnons du Devoir, started to insult her. According to the prefecture, he repeatedly asked her to remove her headscarf before “pouring a stream of racist abuse on her and her husband”. According to the testimony of the couple and Muslim and anti-racist associations in Reims, the perpetrator “put his hand through the window of the vehicle in an attempt to forcibly remove the woman’s scarf”.

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Vicious attack on young Muslim woman in Argenteuil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rabia B.

The Coordination contre le Racisme et l’Islamophobie reports that on 20 May in the town of Argenteuil near Paris a 17-year-old Muslim woman named Rabia B., who was wearing a headscarf, was attacked by three men who punched and kicked her, and tore off her headscarf, while shouting “dirty Arab” and “dirty Muslim”. The CRI condemns the inadequate response of the police and local council to the incident.

In an interview with Oumma TV, Rabia describes the attackers as skinheads.

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Marine Le Pen loses immunity, faces charges of inciting hatred against Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Marine-Le-PenFrench far right leader, Marine Le Pen, could face criminal charges for inciting racism, the BBC has learnt.

The French authorities opened a case against Mrs Le Pen in 2011 after she likened the sight of Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of France. As a European Parliament member (MEP), she enjoyed immunity from prosecution. However, this protection was removed by a European parliamentary committee in a secret vote this week.

BBC chief political correspondent Gary O’Donoghue says he has been told that the vote to remove her immunity was “overwhelming”. It will need to be ratified by the full parliament, but that’s expected to be a formality, our correspondent says.

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