The continued hostility towards Muslims in France will lead to a “civil war”.

The French historian, political and human rights activist, Jean-Michel Abati, warned that attitudes and statements that adopt hostility towards Muslim communities in France as a political project will lead to a “civil war” for which those who repeat them every time will be responsible. He cautioned that promoting certain concepts, such as Islam being incompatible with the laws of the French Republic, are merely false interpretations.

Jean-Michel Abati said: “What does it mean when we hear Éric Zemmour (a far-right politician) say that one must choose between Islam and the Republic? Does this mean that Islam has no place in France?” He added: “What is the fate of the four million Muslims who frequent Islamic places of worship?”

The historian and human rights activist was confronting Guillaume Roquette, director of “Figaro Magazine”, on the news channel “LCI” last Sunday. Roquette was strongly defending the positions and theses of the leader of the “Reconquest Party”, Éric Zemmour, known for his extremist stances on Islam and Muslim communities residing in France, who had made racist statements days earlier, specifically targeting the Algerian and Maghrebi community residing in Marseille, southern France.

Jean-Michel Abati, known for his firm stance against far-right positions and his critical views on France’s colonial past in Algeria, stated to Guillaume Roquette: “What do you want? Should we close mosques? How can such talk be understood (Islam contradicts the values of the French Republic)? This is a description that crosses all boundaries, it is an extremist position, and it serves the political project of Éric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo… This is not serious.”

In the opinion of the French political and human rights activist, those who repeat phrases and terms such as “Communautarisme”, meaning “communitarianism”, and try to portray Muslim communities as being isolated in France, claiming they refuse to integrate into the society they live in, are promoting “deceptive” descriptions.

Abati said: “When we talk about what they call ‘communitarianism’. This description is deceptive, because people who come from Islamic culture, and who practice Islam, and who are doctors, lawyers, university professors, high school and middle school teachers, and in various educational institutions, and journalists, actors, and athletes, and the list is endless… they are people integrated into French society.”

He went on to explain: “Then we come and focus on a contentious issue, such as delving into a discussion about a judge wearing a headscarf, and we try to generalize it to everyone for considerations related to xenophobia, then we slide into talking about generalizing the headscarf to all Muslim women. This is a deceptive discussion, and it is a project to antagonize Muslims and may lead to a civil war in France.”

He warned against continuing such actions and practices that could “lead to supporting the political project of the far-right, Éric Zemmour. This is the difference between us, we do not want to fall into civil war,” in his comment on Guillaume Roquette’s statement, who claimed that the French state is retreating in the face of “communitarianism (Islamism)”, and who also claimed that “teachers say they are no longer able to teach French history and its values freely.”

The director of “Le Figaro Magazine” also claimed that Islam as a political system is “what is incompatible with the laws of the Republic in France, not Muslims as individuals, and we see this daily, because Islam is not like other religions, Islam is a civilization, it has polygamy, and women are not treated like men.”