A lot has been happening in France over the past few weeks, from violent attacks, to aggressive rhetoric against a minority group, to the systematic breakdown of NGOs combatting racism. Here’s a thread breaking it all down. 1/14

On the 16/10, teacher Samuel Patty was beheaded in a Paris suburb after displaying controversial prophet cartoons in a class on freedom of speech. This horrific incident then sparked a wave of hateful rhetoric against Muslims across the media and political sphere. 2/14

A second attack in Nice on 29/10, where three people were killed by an alleged Islamist extremist also heightened tensions. There was also an attack in Avignon on the same day linked to the far right group Generation Identity but it garnered less attention. 3/14

French Twitter over the past month has been trending with anti-Muslim hate too. The Minister of Education accused universities and left-wing party France Insoumise of "Islamo-leftism". The hashtag for "Expellingourenemies" was trending and chock-full of vile Islamophobia. 4/14

The Minister of the Interior talked about how shocked he was to see halal food in supermarkets and criticised shops that sold 'communitarist clothes' (he meant headscarves). 5/14 https://twitter.com/BFMTV/status/1318656054721470465

You had professional Islamophobes going around different media platforms throwing terms such as "judicial jihad" and "enemy of the republic" to describe NGOs like the CCIF with little rebuttal. 6/14

The French Interior Minister called @ccif, which compiles data on anti-Muslim hate crimes, “an enemy of the republic,” & raised the alarm against “the enemy within”, a popular far right trope when it comes to Muslims in the West. 7/14 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/world/europe/france-raids-teacher-beheading.html

. @CCIF has won legal victories before French + EU courts for unfair dismissals due to people's decision to wear a headscarf; it is France's leading organisation on combatting anti-Muslim hate. 8/14

The terror attacks caused fear and anger across France but, dangerously, the target of the response hasn't only been targeted at terrorist, but at all of France’s Muslim citizens as well as the NGOs doing effective work against hate. 9/14

This should go without saying but no Muslim should be asked to prove their attachment to the Republic by condemning the awful attacks on fellow citizens. Using the terror attacks to push rhetoric & laws singling out the Muslim community in unfair ways is wrong. 10/14

President Macron has issued a ‘republican values’ ultimatum to Muslim leaders, including a ban on political action from Muslim groups, Imams to be registered, and children being given ID number to track where they are schooled. 11/14

Macron's ultimatum followed a 'separatism bill' which has been used as a brute force weapon to close Muslim NGOs doing vital work on Islamophobia like the CCIF. (And also drastically restricting home-schooling hence the ID numbers being needed). 12/14

There is vital work to be done combatting radicalisation within France and Europe. But most of the solutions proposed by the French govt just marginalise an already-discriminated against community and remove the instruments French Muslims use to combat said discrimination. 13/14

On 19/11, the French Govt announced @CCIF would be shut down. Given the escalating rhetoric, CCIF moved much its activity abroad so as to continue its vital work. These scenes make it all the more vital to combat anti-Muslim hate during Islamophobia Awareness Month. 14/14