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France’s fight against Islamism hits Muslim schools

STORY: ABDERAHIM: “They stayed there and made sacrifices so we could come here…” It wasn’t easy for Abderahim Denguir and his sister to attend the largest private Muslim school in France, Averroes. It is in Lille, 125 miles from their home in Paris, they are staying in a rented apartment with their grandmother, who has moved in to take care of them. And there are the taxes. But Averroes’ academic record is one of the best in France. Abderahim’s mother, Sihame Denguir was. stunned when the school lost a state grant worth about two million dollars a year in December……on the grounds that it did not respect the secular principles enshrined in France’s national education guidelines. The long-term survival of the school is now in question. “I think this high school brings a lot to the country, and it brings a lot to the universities, to the schools. It will be a shame to see it closed today for reasons that are not credible,” said President Emmanuel Macron as he cracked down on what he calls Islamist separatism in France, in following deadly jihadist attacks in recent years. On a visit to Averroes, Reuters reporters observed girls and boys studying together. The teachers included non-Muslims, and some girls wore headscarves with hijabs, while others did not. Religious studies are optional, as is prayer. Abderahim wants to become an architect and make his parents proud. “It scares me because we’ve already set our course academically and I just want to be able to stay in this middle school and not have any more problems with the state.” Macron denies stigmatizing Muslims. But he is under pressure from the Rassemblement National (RN), which holds a big lead over his party ahead of this week’s European elections. Officials have closed at least five Muslim schools since Macron took office. to power in 2017, Reuters found. France is staunchly secular, but has a tradition of funding Catholic, Protestant and Jewish schools. The National Federation for Muslim Education says France has 127 Muslim schools. The Public Audit Office says only ten receive state funding. While over 7,000 Catholic schools are funded. The Ministry of Education said it did not differentiate between faith schools of different religions in applying the law. Averroes’ principal, Eric Dufour, says next year’s enrollment is down to about 500 students, down from 800. “Families, students are all targeted. to what we teach them, because we take the values ​​of the republic which are compatible with those of Islam and work very well in harmony. And so students, families, teachers from very diverse backgrounds all find it very unfair to call all this work into question.” A ban on the hijab in public schools in 2004 created demand for Muslim-only schools. students, especially girls, could express their religious identity. But 17-year-old Noha Fouad said students in Averroes are just like any other. “I still don’t understand where they saw something out of the ordinary. Because some of us wear hijab? Okay, well, I don’t wear hijab, it doesn’t change anything. We’re still the same person, so I find that offensive.” Averroes is in a legal battle to overturn the funding decision. Macron’s office sent a request for comment to the interior ministry, which did not respond. An estimated 6.8 million Muslims live in France, according to official figures. This represents about 10% of the population, making Islam the country’s second largest religion after Catholicism.