Unrest in France over anti-Islam statements by writer Houellebecq

• Frank Renout

  corresponding France

The Great Mosque of Paris sues the writer Michel Houellebecq. He is accused of “inciting hatred against Muslims”. The French interest group SOS Racisme is also considering going to court.

The reason is an interview which Houellebecq donated to Front Populaire magazine. In it he says that “French people with French ancestors don’t want Muslims to assimilate, but to stop thefts and violence” or to leave.

According to the Paris mosque, such statements are the logical consequence of the political climate in France: migration and Islam are “constantly” criticized. “If a journalist, an intellectual or a writer attacks Muslims, no one will ever find a problem again.” says the rector of the Chems-eddine Hafiz mosque.

This year’s presidential elections in France were attended by two parties of the radical right, that of Marine Le Pen and that of Éric Zemmour. They argue for less or no migration. Due to their popularity, other parties, including President Macron’s, have started advocating for tougher measures on migration.

Macron’s government will soon present a new plan to, among other things, expel illegal immigrants more quickly.

Michel Houellebecq is one of the most widely read French writers in the world. The questioning that now leads to an indictment dates back to last month but went almost unnoticed until the great mosque of Paris intervened.

In the magazine, Houellebecq philosophises about “parts of France falling under the control of Islam.” “I think then people will rebel,” says Houellebecq, “there will be shootings and attacks on mosques, on cafes where many Muslims come. In other words: the Bataclan, but vice versa”.

In 2015, Muslim extremists committed an attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. There were 90 deaths.

“What Houellebecq is doing is very serious,” says Chems-eddine Hafiz. “It makes a dichotomy between the so-called real French and the Muslims. This means that as a Muslim I could never be a real Frenchman. How do you portray Muslims? Like people who steal and kill. That’s why they should leave.”

The rector is particularly angry because the writer brings all Muslims together. “He’s not talking about some Muslims, he’s not saying: some are terrorists. No: he says that all Muslims are like that ».

SOS Racisme calls Houellebecq’s statements aggressive and malicious. “He can’t hide behind being a writer. He said it in an interview, not in a book,” says the organization’s president Dominique Sopo. According to him, Houellebecq is a supporter of conspiracy theories and population theory, which has racist and anti-Semitic roots.

Michel Houellebecq has become famous for international bestsellers such as Elementary particles, Serotonin in Subject. In the latter book, from 2015, he describes how an Islamic candidate wins the presidential election in France.

Houellebecq in 2001 called Islam “the dumbest religion there is”. He was also filed with an indictment, but he was acquitted on appeal.