French activists and tweeters announced on Twitter their rejection of the “Forum of Islam” initiative launched by the authorities as a replacement for the “French Council of the Muslim Faith”, which was established in 2003 and was dissolved due to differences between its officials.
The opening session of the conference was attended by the Minister of the Interior, Gerard Darmanin, and the dean of the Great Mosque of Paris, Shams Al-Din Hafeez, in addition to activists in the Muslim community in France, including Anwar Kbebesh.
Darmanin said that Muslims in France do not belong to anyone but the French national community, and they have complete freedom to organize themselves, and the state does not play a role here but to protect public order, as he put it.
Activists believe that the French authority is trying to exercise guardianship over Muslims, especially since the ratification of several laws that facilitate the closure of mosques and Quranic schools, while others commented – ironically – that France imposes Islam with the flavor of its Minister of Interior Gerard Darmanin on Muslims.
