Boar’s head found at French mosque
A probe into “incitement to racial hatred” has been launched following a spate of Islamophobic incidents, including the discovery of a severed boar’s head at a mosque in Contrexéville, France on March 29th, according to AFP.
The boar’s head incident was followed by the defacement of two other mosques in northern France on March 30th.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin stated via social media platform X: “This weekend mosques in Valenciennes and Fresnes-sur-Escaut were degraded. A mosque in the Vosges was also targeted. I firmly condemn these unacceptable acts against our Muslim compatriots.”
The incidents come as the Muslim community observes the holy month of Ramadan, fasting from dawn until dusk and focusing on prayers, and amid an overall spike in Islamophobic and antisemitic hate crimes in Europe since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7th, 2023.
READ: London anti-Muslim hate crimes increase during Ramadan
France’s interior ministry reported a 32% rise in crimes “of a racist nature” from 2022 to 2023, with incidents doubling in the wake of October 7th, according to Politico. The ministry found that antisemitic acts alone quadrupled in the last quarter of 2023.
The rise of hate crimes in the country comes amid a surge of popularity for France’s far right, with the National Rally party expecting a historic win in the upcoming EU elections.
AFP / Politico
