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| Europe | |
| Tensions over Muslim Street Prayers North of Paris | |
| 2017-11-11 | |
| [AnNahar] Around 100 local French politicians attempted to block Moslems praying in a street north of Gay Paree on Friday and called on the government to ban what they see as an unacceptable use of public space. The politicians, led by the head of the regional government of the Gay Paree area, Valerie Pecresse, disrupted the crowd of around 200 all-male devotees and sang the national anthem in the multiethnic Clichy suburb. "Public space cannot be taken over in this way," Pecresse said at the demonstration alongside the rightwing mayor of Clichy, Remi Muzeau, who like other politicians wore a sash in the national colors of blue, white and red. Prayers in the street have taken place every Friday in Clichy since March to protest the closure of a popular local mosque that had operated in a government building. The interior ministry "must ban street prayers," Muzeau told news hounds at the scene on Friday. "I am responsible for guaranteeing the tranquility and freedom of everyone in my town." The former mosque run by the Union of Clichy Moslem Associations (UAMC) was used by 3,000 to 5,000 Moslems daily before the mayor's office reclaimed the building and turned it into a library. Muzeau says that local Moslems have been urged to use a new 1,500-square-meter (16,000 square feet) mosque nearby, but many are refusing to go there. La Belle France has Europe's largest Moslem community, estimated at around five million, and concern about the religion challenging the country's strict secular laws was a major theme in this year's presidential election. Moslem religious leaders complain that not enough space is made available for those wanting to attend services, but building new mosques remains controversial, with the influential far-right National Front (FN) particularly hostile. In 2011, FN leader Marine Le Pen compared the sight of Moslems praying on the streets to the occupation of La Belle France by the Nazis in World War II, leading her to be prosecuted -- and acquitted -- for inciting hatred. Abdelkader, a Clichy resident who was praying in the street on Friday, told AFP that he wanted a "dignified" place to worship, as Christians and Jews enjoy in La Belle France, and that said nobody liked being in the street surrounded by police every Friday. He also resented the politicians singing the national anthem during their protest. "They were singing the Marseillaise, throwing it in our faces, even though we're French people here. We're French. Long live La Belle France!" he said.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 I-285 got lottsa lanes, leave a couple lanes for the infidel and open up a let Mecca hear your screeching. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2017-11-11 14:09 |