There has been a worrying increase, even a boom, in Islamophobia and related attacks on Muslims in France, as announced by the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF).
According to the annual report of the CCIF, the number of anti-Muslim acts jumped to 469 cases in 2012 from 298 in 2011, and 188 in 2010.
The attacks, reaching 418 against individuals, increasingly targeted especially Muslim women, as well as institutions such as mosques, cemeteries and shops, the report said.
As CCIF detailed, assaults against mosques rose to 40 in 2012 with a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year's figure.
The report also denounced France’s civil service as “one of the principal vectors of Islamophobia” as it said bureaucrats often over-interpreted official secularist policies to incorrectly reject to serve Muslim women who wear Islamic headscarves.
In line with the law introduced in French in April 2011, wearing of full face veils in public places is prohibited, and civil servants and girls who attend state schools are banned from wearing headscarves.
As the recent example of the violence toward French Muslim women, a young lady fell victim of a strong-arm identity checking last week.
During the identity check by the police, her husband was mistreated and detained because of protesting the violent and provocative attitude of the police officers.
In several such cases, victims are exposed to physical and verbal violence and the systematic change status, from victim to culprit.
The CCIF regretted the mass media covering of such cases, putting the words of police unions above all suspicion, unchecking the facts. "Once again, the Muslim protagonists are immediately suspected and systematically assumed guilty," said the CCIF.
Amid claims of institutionalized and legitimized racism and islamophobia in France, the role of the police is also questioned but police unions make statements to exempt their colleagues of any responsibility, with no investigation yet conducted.
CCIF also strongly called upon the French security to faithfully fulfill their mission, saying "Police forces must protect and serve their citizens, in a spirit of respect and neutrality."
Abdollah Zekri, head of the National Observatory Of Islamophobia affiliated to the French Council Of Muslim Faith (CFCM), also said the year 2012 ended with a deep sense of concern over the high level of Islamophobia.
Referring to 15 attacks against Muslim women with headscarves in 2012, Zekri added that the reasons behind the rise of Islamophobic acts, are the increasing use of new media which allows for more users to create blogs and comment on articles, who abuse freedom of expression to pour their anti-Muslim hatred.
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