A Response to ‘Le Monde’ against the Legitimation of Conspiratorial and Islamophobic Ideas
The Collective for Countering Islamophobia in Europe firmly condemns the article published by Le Monde on Monday, December 23, which grants an unchallenged platform to Bertrand Chamoulaud, Head of the National Directorate of Territorial Intelligence (DNRT). This text, riddled with ideological shortcuts and conspiracy theories, demonstrates a serious failure to uphold fundamental journalistic principles. By relaying such paranoid and Islamophobic rhetoric, Le Monde forfeits its responsibility to inform the public with rigor and impartiality.
First, the claim that “the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to ultimately turn France and Europe into a caliphate by imposing Sharia” reflects the most hackneyed far-right fantasy. Such statements, unworthy of a high-ranking public security official, demonstrate a complete abandonment of factual rigor with the aim of demonizing Muslims. This conspiratorial rhetoric is nothing more than a political tool designed to justify repressive and discriminatory policies against part of the French population.
The DNRT director goes on: “When the State tries to reaffirm the rules of the Republic by expelling imams, freezing assets, or shutting down mosques, you hear voices denouncing Islamophobia.. La fermeture de lieux de culte, le gel des avoirs, l’expulsion des imams ne sont que des exemples d’une dérive autoritaire et non d’un rappel des règles de la République. L’islamophobie n’est ni une opinion ni une exagération victimaire, mais un phénomène documenté par une littérature scientifique abondante1. Nous renvoyons Bertrand Chamoulaud à ces références incontournables qu’il semble fier d’ignorer.
Moreover, the article reveals a striking imbalance in the way antisemitic and anti-Muslim acts are addressed. While the former are fortunately recorded and published meticulously, the latter are described as “difficult to list.” This disparate treatment illustrates a stubborn refusal to take anti-Muslim racism seriously. Yet through its annual reports, the CCIE provides the most comprehensive data on Islamophobic acts in Europe. In 2022, we recorded 828 anti-Muslim acts, nearly three times the 242 reported by the Ministry of Interior. For the mentioned period —from January 1, 2024, to October 21—the figures provided by the DNRT director stand at 143, whereas the CCIE has received 1096 reports. A recent report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) also indicates that Muslims are increasingly falling victim to discrimination and racism (47% have already experienced racial discrimination, 39% have faced discrimination at work, 35% have encountered discrimination regarding housing, etc.). This statistical gulf highlights the inefficiency—or indeed the unwillingness—of French authorities to document anti-Muslim racism. Despite repeated calls for more rigorous data collection, the State persists in its strategy of downplaying the issue.
The figures put forward by the authorities are all the more suspect because they obscure the reality of systemic violence inflicted on Muslims, many of whom choose not to file complaints due to fear of reprisals or distrust of law enforcement. By criminalizing religious practice and civic participation, the French State actively contributes to this distrust. Furthermore, the reference to the dissolution of the Collective for Countering Islamophobie in France (CCIF) in 2020, presented by Bertrand Chamoulaud as a victory against Islamism, is doubly outrageous. First, the CCIF was an apolitical and areligious body dedicated to defending fundamental rights and combating discrimination. Second, its dissolution was driven by purely ideological motives within a context of growing anti-Muslim racism. Its dissolution was also condemned by Amnesty International,2the French Human Rights League3Human Rights Watch4 parmi tant d’autres. En supprimant un acteur clé de la documentation et de la lutte contre l’islamophobie, l’État français a délibérément choisi de fragiliser les minorités musulmanes. A ce titre, le CCIE rappelle qu’il n’est pas seul à le démontrer : de nombreux chercheurs et intellectuels ont décrit comment la lutte contre le « séparatisme » est instrumentalisée pour restreindre les libertés fondamentales5.
In response to this irresponsible article, the CCIE calls on Le Monde to recover a minimum level of journalistic integrity and to stop serving as a sounding board for the paranoid discourse of an extremist political fringe, especially at a time when reactionary and neo-nationalist currents are on the rise across Europe. We demand fair coverage based on verifiable facts, rather than an ideological bias against Muslims in French society. The objective complicity between certain radicalized sectors of the security apparatus and the far right—who share this civil war fantasy—poses a far more tangible threat to national cohesion.
We reiterate our commitment to documenting and combating Islamophobia despite attacks and attempts to conceal it. The fight for equality and justice remains at the heart of our work, and we will continue to hold institutions accountable when they fail in their duty of protection and impartiality.
- Hajjat, A. (2012). Les frontières de l’identité nationale. L’injonction à l’assimilation en France métropolitaine et coloniale, La Découverte.
Hajjat, A., Mohammed, M. (2013). Islamophobie. Comment les élites fabriquent le “problème musulman », La Découverte
Lépinard É., Sarrasin, O, Gianettoti, L., dir. (2021). Genre et islamophobie. Discriminations, préjugés et représentations en Europe. ENS Éditions.
Mamdani M. (2004). Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror. Three Leaves Press/Doubleday.
Mayanthi, F. (2014). The Republic Unsettled: Muslim French and the Contradictions of Secularism. Duke University Press Books.
Mohammed, M. et Talpin, J. (2018). Communautarisme ?, Presses universitaires de France.
Scott, J. W. (2018). La Religion de la laïcité, Flammarion.
↩︎ - « France. La fermeture d’une association antiraciste est une menace pour les libertés », sur Amnesty International, 20 November 2020
↩︎ - « La dissolution du CCIF validée par le Conseil d’Etat : les associations en danger ! », sur Ligue des droits de l’Homme, 8 October 2021 ↩︎
- « France: Dissolving Anti-Discrimination Group Threatens Rights », sur Human Rights Watch, 4 December 2020 ↩︎
- Douillard Lefèvre P. (2024). Dissoudre, Grevis.
Galonnier, J. Lacroix, S. Marzouki, N., (2022). Politiques de lutte contre la radicalisation, Les Presses de Sciences Po.
Ragazzi, F. (2014). Vers un « multiculturalisme policier » ? La lutte contre la radicalisation en Royaume-Uni, aux Pays-Bas et au Royaume-Uni, Les études du CERI.
↩︎
