French Government Targets Muslim Facility With Unjust Decision

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau continues to target Muslim communities, especially the Algerian community, with his controversial decisions, despite the ongoing criticism directed at him by his political rivals in France, particularly from components of the “New Popular Front,” who accuse him of using these decisions to achieve narrow political and electoral gains.

In the latest decision by the leader of the right-wing “Les Républicains” party, Bruno Retailleau, on Wednesday, proceeded to dissolve the European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH), which is managed by the Union of Islamic Organizations of Europe. This decision was presented to the Council of Ministers and approved, adding to many controversial decisions, where the Muslim and particularly the Algerian community was always the primary target, as stated by the ecologist MP, Sabrina Sebaihi.

In a post on his “X” account, Retailleau said that the decision to dissolve the European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH) came at his request, and he framed it within the context of “combating the infiltration” of those he called “Islamists,” a vague accusation devoid of any content, aimed at striking the Muslim community and portraying it as a bogeyman in French society, where over ten percent of its citizens are Muslim.

The institute was founded in 1992, emerging from the Union of Islamic Organizations of Europe. It focuses on graduating imams who work in France and Europe, and seeks to spread the correct teachings of Islam and defend the Arabic language and culture for members of Muslim communities, including native French people who freely converted to Islam.

The Interior Minister, in justifying his controversial decision, said: “It called for extremist Islam and permitted armed jihad.” This news was welcomed by the far-right, led by European MP Marion Maréchal, the current president of a movement close to the National Rally, who quickly tweeted with joy, saying: “We have just achieved an unprecedented victory over the Islamists.”

The far-right MP claimed in a video on the same platform that this institute “graduates Islamist elites who work to implement Sharia in France and throughout Europe. Thanks to our efforts, we were able to close the European Institute of Human Sciences, and it will never open again in the future. This is an unprecedented defeat for Islamists in France,” and she indicated that what she called “her struggle” against Islamists, while in her heart she was talking about Muslims, “will continue because winning the battle is still far off.”

Commenting on the French government’s decision, MP Saad Laanani, representing the community in the second region of France, told “Echorouk” from France that the Interior Minister is talking about victories he achieved for himself by dissolving the European Institute of Human Sciences, considering that he was the one who presented the decision to the Council of Ministers. These statements have become expected from a minister whose primary concern is targeting the Muslim and particularly the Algerian community.

The community’s MP explained, “When we carefully examine these provocative measures, we see that they directly affect the largest community in France, which is the Algerian community. They thus fall within the context of a policy of increasing pressure on the national community, and therefore fall within the framework of an unfriendly and hostile policy towards Algeria.”

They also fall within the framework of the hybrid and multi-layered and multi-directional war that places Algeria, Saad Laanani says, as a direct target for sniping. But what Retailleau and his followers do not know is that Algeria is impregnable to him and to the far-right gangs, no matter what decisions they make.”

It is worth noting that this institute operates in the field of training imams within an academic framework that “respects the principles of the French Republic and is based on the principles of living together.” The institute has defended itself on more than one occasion and affirmed that it does not interfere in politics, yet it has not been spared from being targeted by the French Interior Minister.