Legalization of Racism: Is France Entering a New Era of Discrimination Against Muslims?

France’s Muslim population, the largest in Europe, has long faced discrimination and marginalization under the guise of secularism, a core value of the French Republic.

But in recent years, the government of President Emmanuel Macron has taken a more aggressive stance against what it calls “political Islam,” proposing a bill in 2020 that would impose strict controls on mosques, Islamic schools and associations.

Now, one of Macron’s former allies and potential rivals in the upcoming presidential election, Edouard Philippe, has gone even further, suggesting that Islam may need a special law and a state agency to regulate it in France.

His controversial proposal, which was revealed in a new book, has sparked a backlash from prominent intellectuals, human rights activists, and Muslim leaders, who denounced it as a violation of the principle of equality and a threat to social cohesion.

Philippe, who served as prime minister under Macron from 2017 to 2020, wrote in his book Des Hommes Qui Lisent (Men Who Read) that the 1905 law that established secularism in France “may not be able to deal with the specificities of Islam” and that it may be necessary to create a “specific system” that would impose “special obligations” on Muslim believers and officials.

He did not elaborate on what those obligations would entail, but he said that they would aim to ensure that Islam in France is compatible with the values of the republic and does not pose a security risk.

According to L’Obs magazine, this is the first time that a politician of Philippe’s stature has advocated for what could amount to a separate law for Muslims, singling them out from other religious groups in France.

Philippe, who is widely seen as a moderate and pragmatic figure, is expected to run for president next year as the candidate of the center-right Republican party, challenging Macron from his right flank.

His proposal was met with strong criticism from a group of 50 personalities, including influential sociologist Bertrand Badie, founder of the sociology of secularism Jean Bauberot, and writer Annie Ernaux, who signed an open letter in Le Monde newspaper, denouncing it as a “dangerous drift” that would “stigmatize” Muslims and “fuel hatred” in the society.

They argued that Philippe’s idea would undermine the universalism of the 1905 law, which guarantees freedom of conscience and separation of church and state for all citizens, regardless of their faith.

They also warned that Philippe’s proposal would play into the hands of extremist groups, both on the far right and among radical Islamists, who seek to divide the French society and create a “clash of civilizations.”

They called on Philippe to withdraw his suggestion and to respect the dignity and rights of Muslims, who make up about 9% of France’s population of 67 million.

 

French Islamophobia

Philippe suggested that France might need to apply different laws and obligations to Islam in the future, saying that Islam posed an existential threat to the French Republic and its values.

According to him, Islam is not compatible with the modern values of France, and that it needs to be reformed and controlled by the state.

Signaling out Islam and Muslims for different treatment would violate the constitutional rights of millions of French citizens and would create more division and resentment in society.

This debate came amid the controversy over the “separatism law” that was adopted by the French parliament in mid-2021 and that aimed to reinforce the respect for the values of the republic.

The law, which was initiated by Macron’s government, imposed new restrictions and regulations on mosques, Muslim associations, and Islamic education.

It also banned the wearing of the hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women, in public schools and universities.

At its time, the law was widely denounced by Muslims in France, who saw it as a way of marginalizing them and limiting their rights.

They said that the law targeted Muslims in the country and that it exaggerated the problems caused by a few extremists and radicals.

They also said that the law did not address the root causes of the social and economic problems that affected many Muslims in France, such as discrimination, unemployment, and poverty.

 

Ugly Facts

Just like Education Minister Gabriel Attal — his competitor in the 2027 elections — Philippe is likely to be making electoral calculations to narrow the gap between the far right, the conservative right, and the centrist right in an attempt to expand the potential support base.

The elections reveal France’s ugly facts as Philippe, unlike his Islamophobic peers, did not talk about “Islamism,” but he talked about Islam and Muslims.

Instead of talking about certain doctrines — separatism, fundamentalism, Salafism, radicalism, etc. — as a pretext to justify the attack on the rights of Muslims while allegedly defending French principles, Philippe got rid of evasion and clearly named them “the enemy from within.”

However, his suggestion is shocking for several reasons; first, he suggests that France must be ready to apply nothing less than legal racial segregation against Muslims, where he calls for separate laws for Muslims.

Second, implementing these measures — which are impossible under the current French constitution of equality, as much as establishing a special law for a certain ethnic minority — represents a return to the laws of the natives that prevailed in the colonial era, where laws, obligations, and conditions change according to the race and religion of France’s colonial subjects.

This system abolishes most of France’s basic principles and values ​​of the French Republic that Philippe claims to defend, specifically, the principles of equality that say that all people are equal before the law, regardless of their religion or race.

Third, imposing different laws and obligations on a specific religion and its practitioners means abolishing French secularism and its basic principles, including freedom of religion, separation of church and state, and equality among all religions before the state.