Maybe Because We’re Suffering From Muslim Fatigue

In the southern French village of La Grand-Combe, Cissé, a 22-year-old carpenter originally from Mali, volunteered at his local mosque and was a familiar face among worshippers. So when he offered guidance through the prayers and rituals that Friday to a newcomer, a young man he did not know , it was an entirely natural gesture. The stranger, however, had come to prayers with very different intentions. As Cissé bowed in prostration, he was stabbed with a knife 57 times. The assailant then posted a video on Snapchat of his victim writhing in agony in a pool of blood. In the video, a man can be heard saying “I did it” and insulting Allah.

Hadn't heard of this - mainly because I’m not French, and I’m not dialed in to the constant stream of Muslim outrage.

Yet in France, this death – and apparent targeting of a Muslim worshipper – has not been unequivocally understood as a hate crime. Ongoing controversy around the case is a dismaying reminder of how institutionally Islamophobic France is.

So leave. It can’t be that bad or there wouldn’t be so many of you there… 

For more than a fortnight, there have been public protests at the inadequacy of the investigation, the biggest of which so far took place in Paris on Sunday.

Of course, protests are arranged at the drop of a hat.  

But, with some notable exceptions, in political and media circles more time has been devoted to debating whether a horrific killing in a place of worship deserves to be called “Islamophobic” than the terrifying implications of such violence for Europe’s biggest Muslim population.

What ‘terrifying implications’? It’s a murder. It’s not a start, is it? 

After three days on the run, the suspect, a 20-year-old French national named as Olivier H, gave himself up to police in Italy. The suspect’s lawyer denied that his client harboured any hatred towards “Muslims or mosques”. He has been charged in France with murder aggravated by premeditation on grounds of race or religion. Yet this was deemed insufficient to classify the case as a terrorist incident.

Yeah, the same thing happened here when an imported savage butchered three little English girls. At least the French government isn’t locking up any of those protesters, eh? 

The killing was an “isolated event”, the public prosecutor said, the suspect “driven by a violent urge, rather than ideology”.

Yes, that’s the immediate response these days from the authorities when they want to head off unrest.  

After Aboubakar Cissé’s brutal death, one might have expected the government to announce a plan to tackle Islamophobia. In reality, our political leaders are among its main drivers.

Oh, if only they were.