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Unprecedented rise in Islamophobia, but no action

By Liz Fekete

17 November 2003

French human rights experts have warned of an unprecedented escalation of Islamophobia and racism against the Islamic and Arab community in France during the past two years.

Mawloud Eweniti, the head of an anti-racism movement has described receiving 600 racist messages since January 2001. Other forms of Islamophobia include molotov cocktails being thrown at mosques. Also speaking at the European Social Forum on the same issue was French academic Fanson Geseir, who showed how racist insults had developed into a fully fledged Islamophobia. This was being witnessed in the debate around the hijab. He found Christians to be more tolerant on this issue than secular people. The meeting called on Jacques Chirac to consider Islamophobia a new form of racism, punishable by law.

Islam Online 17.11.03

The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

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