France’s interior minister, Gerald Darmanin has directed law enforcement agencies to step up vigilance around Muslim places of worship following the defacing of an Islamic center with anti Muslim graffiti. Anadolu Agency reports that the Avicenna Islamic Cultural Centre’s premises had been vandalized just  before the start of Ramadhaan, on Sunday, with Islamophobic graffiti.

The graffiti included insults to Islam and to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), suggestions to revive the Crusades, and a call for France’s state religion to be Catholicism.

Darmanin said, “The anti-Muslim inscriptions on this cultural and religious center are unacceptable.” He claimed that, “Freedom of worship in France is a fundamental freedom.” Darmanin said he had visited the city of Rennes in northwest France, where the cultural center is located, to show President Emmanuel Macron’s government’s solidarity with the Muslim community.

Anadolu Agency reports that the French Council of Muslim Worship  said the incident in occurred two days after an arson attack on the Ar Rahma mosque in Nantes. Death threats were also issued targeting Muslim journalist Nadiya Lazzouni. And, on Friday, a 24-year-old was charged for making threats against a mosque in Le Mans, also in western France.

The Council blamed the surge in anti-Muslim action on the debates around a bill largely viewed as targeting the Muslim community. It said the debates “have unfortunately served as forums for haters of all stripes.” Recently, France’s Senate voted in favor of the hijab being worn by girls under the age of 18, in public. The vote was tied to President Emmanuel Macron drive to introduce a so-called “anti-separatism” bill. While not as yet law, the bill restricting the wearing of the hijab has already been approved by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Macron’s party. The Council, meanwhile, appealed to Muslims to be vigilant and to avoid getting involved in the “wrong fight.”

Umm Muhammed Umar