PARIS, JANUARY 26 - Tension is high in France where Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam at the Drancy mosque, who in recent days sided in favour of a law that bans the use of the full veil has been hit by serious threats.
A group of some 80 people stormed the Drancy mosque yesterday evening, making threats against Chalgoumi, a great supporter of interreligious dialogue (above all between Jews and Muslims), who recently declared that he was against the use of the full veil in France.
A group of 80 people, with their faces covered, stormed the mosque where some 200 worshippers were present, a council member of the Conference of Imams, chaired by Chalgoumi himself, told the France Presse agency, asking to remain anonymous.
They forced their way in and grabbed the microphones after a scuffle. At this point, they directed threats and curses against Imam, treating him as an unbeliever and an apostate and stating: we will trash his case, this Imam of the Jews...
Launched in 2009, the Conference of Imams is a collective that promotes an interreligious dialogue and the promotion of open Islam. In recent days, Hassen Chalghoumi has said that he is in favour of a law that bans the use of the full veil in France, describing it as a prison for women, an instrument used for sexist domination and Muslim recruitment.
The parliamentary mission, which has been studying the measures to be adopted against the full veil, has today recommended that France should solemnly declare itself in favour of the ban and has asked for the adoption of a series of measures to ban it from administration offices and public transport.