“For decades, Muslims have been designated as scapegoats in French public discourse”introduced Azzedine Gaci. The rector of the Othmane mosque in Villeurbanne, in the Lyon metropolitan area, published an article on the TSA website, an Algerian media outlet conveying the propaganda of Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s regime. The title of this text? “Why France is not ready for its Zohran Mamdani. »
In this missive, the cleric does not hesitate to make Muslims real victims: “They are accused of threatening the Republic, of weakening national cohesion, of embodying withdrawal or danger. They are suspected of entryism, separatism, communitarianism. » This situation would, according to him, “very real consequences: discrimination, suspicion, marginalization, feeling of exclusion”.
Towards a Zohran Mamdani in France?
According to Azzedine Gaci, “Muslim discourse must change”, no not “to please or to reassure” but “out of conscience, out of personal consistency, and out of moral responsibility”. The rector thus takes the example of Zohran Mamdani, just elected mayor of New York. This 34-year-old democratic politician, born in Uganda to Indian parents and naturalized American in 2018, is openly Muslim and pro-Palestinian. He built his campaign on his origins and his religion, defending a multicultural wokist and left-wing Islamist city. “It embodies this simple and powerful idea: you can be fully yourself and fully a citizen, without having to choose between the two”jubilantly the author of the column.
However, the latter does not believe that France is ready for such a politician at the head of Paris town hall: “The attacks and discrimination suffered by Algerian nationals, who have been French citizens for decades, show that people are not yet ready to accept this. » Azzedine Gaci thus believes that this observation calls for “a constant commitment to deconstruct prejudices, reform discourse and build a society where everyone can fully participate in public life, without being stigmatized for their origins or their faith”.
