Paris: 30 Muslims out of 1.8 mil in the city turn up to protest terrorism
The Muslim population in Paris is said to be between 10-15%.
Paris had a population of 12,005,077 as of January 2014. This means Paris has around 1.2 million to 1.8 million Muslims. The total Muslim population in France is around 7.5-8% or 5 million Muslims.
30 showed up to openly protest against terrorism. Impressive? Not.
In addition, the Muslims are not even French. They’re from Bangladesh.
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‘We need to wage a jihad against the jihad’: French Muslims join mourners to condemn Paris attacks… But are they too late?
- French Muslims joined mourners to condemn Paris attacks in main square
- Group of 30 Bangladeshi men chanted and yelled: ‘Unite against brutality’
- Some Parisians are blaming the Muslim community for the terror attacks
- Paris now has the same problems as Syria, a terror expert told MailOnline
As crowds continued to gather at the Place
de la République last night, laying flowers and lighting candles in
memory of the dead, a group French Muslims held up banners and started
to chant.
‘Unite against brutality, unite for
humanity!’ They shouted. ‘Killing any human is killing all mankind!
Saving any human is saving all mankind!’
Around 30 Muslims, all of Bangladeshi
origin and living in Paris, felt they had to take a stand against
Islamic extremism because – as they saw it – few other Muslims were willing to raise their voices.
‘Muslims are not being loud enough,’ Mohammad Hassan, 35, told MailOnline, ‘This needed to be done because some Muslims are afraid of coming out to say the truth.
‘About five percent of Muslims support the
terrorists. The rest of them need to speak out. I wish more Muslims
would join us here.
‘We swear we will fight against these monsters. Decent Muslims must stand up to them before it is too late.’
Last night, Khalil Merroun, the rector of
the Islamic Centre in Courcouronnes where Oman Mostefai, one of the
suicide bombers, is thought to have attended, struck a similar note.
‘We need to wage a jihad against the
jihad,’ he told MailOnline. ‘These kids want to change the world rather
than themselves. We have to show the true face of Islam.’
For many, however, words like these were
not enough. Amid the shock and pain that characterises aftermath of
these brutal attacks, France is beginning a process of soul-searching.
And despite strong statements like these,
many ordinary people on the streets of Paris are pointing the finger of
blame at the Muslim community.
‘Paris is “Middle-Easting”. We now have
the same problems that they have in the Middle East, in Egypt, Palestine
and Syria,’ said Natalie Augier, a historian and terrorism expert, as
she gazed in disbelief at the smashed-up facade of the Casa Nostra café,
where five diners were killed.
‘There is a very radical mosque just around the corner from here. I know how these people work and operate.
Paris is “Middle-Easting”. We now have the same problems that they have in the Middle East, in Egypt, Palestine and Syria
— Natalie Augier, terrorism expert
‘They don’t speak to women, they dress
them up as lampshades. They are not integrated at all, yet they are
allowed to live among us and spread their poison.
‘Thousands and thousands of refugees are pouring in and we know some terrorists are with them. We are paying for our stupidity.’
A significant number of France’s
4.7million Muslims live in relatively poor areas, including the
notorious suburbs of Paris where unemployment and crime are rife. This
is often thought to be a breeding ground for extremism and terror.
Although many Muslims are well-integrated
in the country, a 2013 survey showed that just 26 percent of French
people thought that Islam was compatible with their society, a sentiment
that is compounded by the surging Front National.
But not everyone agrees. Jacky Roptin, 44,
a psychologist who works with the Syrian refugees, believes that the
problem is with the media, not the Muslims.
Memorial:
Thousands gathered to observe a minute’s silence for the Paris terror
attack victims at the Place de la Republique yesterday.
Sadness:
In the wake of the Paris attacks, being mourned by the entire country,
some have said the Muslim community has not been strong enough in its
condemnation of fanatics in the past.
‘The Muslim community is strong enough in
its condemnation, but it’s not being broadcast enough,’ he told
MailOnline, as he leaned on his bicycle outside the Belle Equipe café,
scene of a massacre that claimed the lives of 19 Parisians.
‘They are not responsible for the
terrorism. It is like saying Christians should apologise for the actions
of the Ku Klux Klan. They should not have to justify themselves.
‘Also, many of them are afraid of reprisals. It is a very difficult and tense situation in Paris.’
He said that the refugees with whom he
works feel a deep sense of guilt about the news that two of the
attackers slipped into Europe in the steam of migrants from Syria, using
forged passports.
‘They feel like they were driving a taxi
with the terrorists in the back,’ he said. ‘I was speaking to one guy
who had been tortured in an Assad jail and came here a few months ago.
He was apologising when he heard about the attacks, he feels it was
because of him that the terrorists came in.
‘A lot often refugees feel guilty because they have left their families behind and they have not stayed in Syria to fight Assad.
Bloody:
The world has been grief stricken since the Paris attacks on Friday
which included the massacre of 89 in the Bataclan concert hall
(pictured).
‘Many Muslims in France have a similar experience. They feel deeply ashamed.’
Not so Khalil Merroun. And not so the
Bangladeshi Muslims who took to the streets to swear they would fight.
There may have been just 30 of them, but they were making their voices
heard.
And the people gathered at the memorial at the Place de la République responded to their efforts with hesitant applause.
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