Gerald Darmanin – Eye on Islamism

French government opposes Muslim Brotherhood (finally) France’s interior minister calls for an institutional battle to prevent French society from falling into the 'Islamic matrix.'

May 7, 2024 Hélène de Lauzun

(European Conservative) France’s minister of the interior, Gérald Darmanin, has announced in the press that he wants to “fight back against the Muslim Brotherhood.” According to territorial intelligence, the Muslim Brotherhood, which aims to establish a global caliphate, has doubled its numbers […]

Macron’s Olympics terror nightmare Pressure mounts on France, with Paris 2024 just 3 months away.

April 24, 2024 Antoaneta Roussi and Victor Goury-Laffont

(Politico) It seemed like a good idea at the time. French President Emmanuel Macron promised the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics on the banks of the River Seine in July would be a “moment of beauty, art, celebration of sports […]

France [deports] Algerian imam over accusations of hate speech Mohamed Tataiat arrived in France in 1985 and has been serving as an imam in Toulouse since 1987.

April 20, 2024 Jihane Rahhou

(Morocco World News) Mohamed Tataiat, an Algerian national serving as an imam in Toulouse, France, has been deported back to Algeria following his conviction for inciting hatred and violence against the Jewish community. The deportation took place on Friday evening, according to […]

Security raised for Champions League ties after threat

April 9, 2024 Sean Seddon and Ruth Comerford

(BBC) Security is being increased at Champions League games after a media outlet supporting the Islamic State group published threats against venues. Ministers in both France and Spain confirmed enhanced security measures. A pro-IS media channel published several images of stadiums hosting […]

French security cut 800 ‘without good intentions’ from Olympics

March 31, 2024 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Around 800 people who “did not have good intentions” have been excluded from the Paris Olympics over security fears, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday. The list includes 15 deemed to represent the most serious threat to national security. “The […]

France deports Moroccan-French convicted of terrorism charges to Morocco France also stripped the individual of his French nationality.

March 31, 2024 Safaa Kasraoui

(Morocco World News) France has expelled Rachid Ait El Hadj, an individual convicted of terrorism in 2007 and stripped of French nationality. El Hadj, who was under surveillance for his alleged persistent links with terrorist groups, was expelled on Saturday morning, French […]

France ‘protects’ thousands of churches for Easter: minister

March 31, 2024 Unlisted Author

(AFP) France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Sunday said 13,500 police and anti-terror soldiers had been deployed outside 4,530 churches to protect them against any “terrorism” as they celebrate Easter. “Law enforcement forces are present everywhere nationwide from Good Friday to Easter […]

ISIS-linked Egyptian arrested over terror plot on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

March 30, 2024 Kurt Zindulka

(Breitbart) An allegedly ISIS-tied Egyptian man was arrested in France in connection to a suspected terrorist plot against the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. French officers of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) arrested a 62-year-old Egyptian with reported links to […]

France to patrol every church for Easter security: minister

March 28, 2024 Unlisted Author

(AFP) French authorities are to deploy members of the security forces in front of all Catholic and Protestant churches for the upcoming Easter weekend, further bolstering security in the aftermath of the Moscow attack, according to a memo seen on Thursday. France […]

Moscow attack raise[s] fresh concerns for Paris Olympics

March 25, 2024 Francesco Fontemaggi and Adam Plowright

(AFP) The attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people has raised fresh security fears for the Paris Olympics, leading France’s interior minister to promise Monday that police and intelligence services would be “ready.” The government upgraded the […]

Another deportation as France shows zero tolerance for radical preachers

March 10, 2024 Alison Hird

(Radio France) Tunisian imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi was recently expelled from France for alleged hate speech under an accelerated procedure made possible by the country’s tough new immigration laws. In a crackdown on Islamist fundamentalism, France has ejected a string of foreign imams […]

French government puts an end to imams paid by foreign countries Many radicalising imams will not be affected by the ban, critics point out.

March 7, 2024 Hélène de Lauzun

(European Conservative) From 1 January 2024, France will no longer accept the presence on its soil of “seconded imams,” i.e., foreign imams who are paid by a foreign country but reside and officiate in France. The measure, designed to reduce the influence […]

France slashes Olympics opening ceremony crowd size amid terror attack fears French President Emmanuel Macron asked for capacity to be reduced to half of what was initially planned for showpiece event.

March 5, 2024 Victor Goury-Laffont

(Politico) France has scaled down the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony which will take place in July on the River Seine, amid concerns over a theoretical Islamist terror attack. Boats carrying each nation’s flag-bearers will pass on the water in the […]

French interior minister announces plans to introduce new ‘imam status’ The success of the status will depend on the willingness of Muslim communities in France to embrace it

February 29, 2024 Mahamadou Simpara

(Morocco World News) Following the expulsion of Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi to Tunisia, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin unveiled earlier this week the designation of “imam in France” status. The minister made the announcement in a speech tackling the notion that Islam is […]

Tunisian imam expelled by France says to appeal decision

February 23, 2024 Unlisted Author

(AFP) A Tunisian imam expelled from France for alleged hate speech said on Friday he would take legal action in a bid to overturn the decision. Mahjoub Mahjoubi, from the town of Bagnols-sur-Ceze in the south of France, denounced his removal as […]

France expels ‘radical’ Tunisian imam — interior minister

February 22, 2024 Geert De Clercq

(Reuters) France has expelled a Tunisian Muslim cleric for “radicalism” and “unacceptable remarks,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a statement on Twitter. “The radical Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi has just been expelled from the national territory, less than 12 hours after his […]

How Jewish journalist Ruth Elkrief wound up in the middle of France’s debate over antisemitism and Islamophobia

February 21, 2024 Shira Li Bartov

(JTA) The Jewish French-Moroccan journalist Ruth Elkrief — who has delivered TV news in France for over 30 years — found herself at the center of the story when she was placed under police protection in December. Elkrief received the security detail […]

France to deport Tunisian imam for preaching against France

February 19, 2024 Unlisted Author

(Radio France) France’s interior minister has asked for a Tunisian imam to be stripped of his French residence permit, after authorities were alerted to his anti-French preaching. Interior Minister Gerald [Darmanin] said that Mahjoub Mahjoubi, an imam in Bagnols-sur-Céze, near Avignon, in […]

Benzema’s defamation suit against top French minister is dismissed The French football star had filed a complaint against France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin after the politician said Benzema was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

February 15, 2024 Claudia Chiappa

(Politico) Karim Benzema’s defamation lawsuit against French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who claimed the French football star was “notoriously linked” to the Muslim Brotherhood, has been dismissed. Benzema filed the complaint last month, following multiple remarks by Darmanin linking the striker to […]

Paris Olympics: 13 rejected for torch relay for drugs, Islamism

January 22, 2024 Unlisted Author

(AFP) French security forces have rejected 13 people who were selected to take part in the torch relay for the Paris Olympics, including some who had committed drugs offences as well as a suspected Islamist, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday. […]

Benzema files defamation complaint against French minister

January 16, 2024 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Karim Benzema on Tuesday filed a complaint for defamation against French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who last year said the former Real Madrid star had “notorious” links with the Muslim Brotherhood. Darmanin, a tough-talking right-winger with designs on the French presidency, […]

France to cease acceptance of foreign-appointed imams starting 2024 France’s history of controversial measures has fueled concerns that this latest move is a continuation of policies targeting Islamic practices.

December 30, 2023 Sara Zouiten

(Morocco World News) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has announced that France will no longer accept new “detached imams” from foreign countries starting on January 1, 2024. The announcement follows President Emmanuel Macron’s 2020 decision to end the presence of around 300 […]

France beefs up New Year’s security due to ‘terrorist’ threat

December 29, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) The French government said on Friday it will deploy more than 95,000 police and military personnel for New Year Eve’s celebrations, adding that a heightened “terrorist threat” required tight security. Paris alone, where up to one million revellers are expected on […]

Five arrested in French anti-terror raids released

December 25, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Five people arrested in northern France last week as part of an investigation into a criminal terrorist conspiracy have been released without charge, a judicial source said Monday. Four of them, students aged between 20 and 23 years old, were released […]

Five held in anti-terror operation in north France

December 22, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Five people were arrested in northern France on Friday as part of an investigation into a criminal terrorist conspiracy, the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office said. A source close to the case confirmed to AFP that they had been taken into police […]

French police address fear factor ahead of the Olympic Games after a deadly attack near Eiffel Tower

December 8, 2023 Elaine Ganley

(AP) The bar was already high, but the security challenge ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games only grew with a knife attack last weekend that killed a tourist near the Eiffel Tower. Still, the assault at the hand of a suspected […]

‘Failure’ in psychiatric care of Paris attacker: minister

December 4, 2023 Tiphaine Le Liboux and Stuart Williams

(AFP) There was a clear failure in the psychiatric care of the radicalised Islamist suffering from mental troubles who stabbed a German tourist to death in central Paris at the weekend before being arrested, France’s interior minister said Monday. The attack close […]

French Jewish journalist placed under police protection after threats Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused of putting ‘a target’ on the journalist’s back.

December 4, 2023 Nicolas Camut

(Politico) Ruth Elkrief, a French Jewish columnist with TV broadcaster LCI, is being placed under police protection over threats she received after far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticized one of her interviews, calling her a “fanatic” and accusing her of showing “contempt for […]

Paris knife attacker ‘swore allegiance to Islamic State’

December 3, 2023 Stuart Williams

(AFP) The man who stabbed a tourist to death near the Eiffel Tower in Paris swore allegiance to the Islamic State group in a video posted to social media, French anti-terrorist prosecutors said Sunday. Known to the authorities as a radicalised Islamist […]

Police in Paris have arrested a man who targeted passersby, killing 1 and injuring 2, official says

December 2, 2023 Elaine Ganley

(AP) French police arrested a man who targeted passersby in Paris on Saturday night, killing a German tourist with a knife and injuring two others, France’s interior minister said. Police subdued the man, a 25-year-old French citizen who had spent four years […]

French Jews worry Muslim unrest could see Macron flip on Israel, putting them at risk Reversing his stated support for Israel, the president demanded an end to ‘killing babies,’ triggering fears that he’s bowing to local pressures and thus inciting antisemitism

November 14, 2023 Canaan Lidor

(Times of Israel) On a solidarity visit to Israel last month, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to stand by Israel for the duration of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “I want to assure you that you will not be […]

France arrests influencer for mocking Israeli baby’s death

November 9, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) A social media influencer was arrested in France on Thursday for making light of the reported killing of an Israel[i] baby by Hamas attackers, prosecutors told AFP. In a video, the woman — identified by media as Warda Anwar, a model […]

France reports 1,040 anti-Semitic acts since October 7

November 5, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) France has recorded more than a thousand anti-Semitic acts since the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen on Israel, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday. “The number of anti-Semitic acts has exploded,” he told France 2 television, adding that 486 […]

Paris police fire on woman making ‘threats’ at train station

October 31, 2023 Tiphaine Le Liboux and Murielle Kasprzak

(AFP) French police on Tuesday shot and seriously wounded an unarmed woman who was making threats at a train station in Paris during morning rush hour. The incident came with the country on its maximum alert for potential attacks but with the […]

France seeks deportation of 39 Russian nationals over ‘radical’ Islamist views — interior minister

October 30, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Moscow Times) France is seeking the deportation of 39 Russian nationals suspected of holding “radical” Islamist views, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Monday. Russian citizens are under “the strictest control” following a deadly Oct. 13 school stabbing in northern France that […]

France looks to remove radicalised students from schools

October 29, 2023 Sarah Elzas

(Radio France) Teachers at the Gambetta-Carnot school in Arras in northern France had twice reported Mohammed Mogouchkov to authorities when he was a student there. But he remained at the school and graduated, and on 13 October he stabbed to death a […]

French senator demands footballer Karim Benzema lose citizenship over Muslim Brotherhood claim Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the star was ‘linked’ with the Muslim party. Benzema’s lawyer said that’s not true.

October 18, 2023 Nicolas Camut

(Politico) A French senator on Wednesday called for Karim Benzema to be stripped of his French citizenship after Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin suggested the football star was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist party considered to be a terrorist group […]

French court states that pro-Palestinian protests should be banned case by case

October 18, 2023 Layli Foroudi

(Reuters) France’s highest administrative court stated on Wednesday that pro-Palestinian protests must be banned on a case-by-case basis, while upholding the validity of an instruction from the French interior minister banning all pro-Palestinian protests. In a note sent to regional police authorities, […]

French school killer claimed attack for Islamic State group: prosecutor

October 17, 2023 Tom Barfield and Murielle Kasprzak

(AFP) The man who killed a schoolteacher in northern France last week was charged with terror offences on Tuesday, a prosecutor said, after revealing that he had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group in an audio recording before his attack. […]

France’s Macron holds security meeting amid heightened alert after deadly school stabbing

October 16, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) French President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting on Monday amid heightened alert against feared terror threats, as a high school where a teacher was fatally stabbed in an attack last week has been evacuated over a bomb threat. Several […]

Killing of French teacher inflames tensions over security, immigration A string of violent attacks by foreigners over recent years has reignited the immigration debate in France.

October 16, 2023 Clea Caulcutt

(Politico) Just three days after an Islamist stabbed a French teacher to death, an already fierce discussion on immigration in France has become a lot more heated. The killing last Friday of Dominique Bernard, a high school teacher in Arras, has emotionally […]

France deploys 7,000 troops for extra security after teacher slain

October 14, 2023 Leigh Thomas

(Reuters) French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday deployed up to 7,000 soldiers for increased security patrols, as bomb alerts forced the evacuation of the Louvre museum a day after a teacher was killed in an Islamist attack. France was put on its […]

French imam calls for expulsion of Islamists from France as country reels after knife attack

October 14, 2023 Unlisted Author

(TVP World) Hassen Chalghoumi, an imam from the Parisian suburb of Drancy, called on Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Saturday to expel all individuals connected to radical Islam who are not French citizens from the country. The appeal came after a young […]

Teacher slain in French school, ‘probably’ tied to Gaza violence

October 13, 2023 Kenan Augeard and Tiphanie Le Liboux

(AFP) A Chechen-origin man fatally stabbed a teacher and severely wounded three other adults Friday at a school in northeastern France, with authorities suggesting a probable link to the ongoing violence in the Middle East. The attack, denounced by President Emmanuel Macron […]

France uses teargas on banned pro-Palestinian rally as Macron calls for calm

October 12, 2023 Layli Foroudi and Michel Rose

(Reuters) French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people in Paris on Thursday, as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to remain united and refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home. […]

France reports dozens of antisemitic acts since Hamas attack

October 11, 2023 Zhifan Liu

(Reuters) French police have arrested more than 20 people over dozens of antisemitic acts carried out since Saturday, including harassment of Jewish children by fellow pupils at school, the government said on Wednesday. France is home to some of Europe’s largest Muslim […]

Germany, France step up security at Jewish sites

October 7, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Germany and France on Saturday moved to reinforce security around Jewish temples, schools and monuments after the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel. Germany tightened police protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions, as some supporters of the Palestinians […]

Pope Francis insists Europe doesn’t have a migrant emergency and challenges countries to open ports

September 23, 2023 Nicole Winfield, Sylvie Corbet and Trisha Thomas

(AP) Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent isn’t facing a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with […]

Italy approves new migrant detention as talk turns to naval blockade to prevent launching of boats

September 18, 2023 Nicole Winfield, Lorne Cook and Angela Charlton

(AP) The Italian government approved new measures to crack down on migration Monday, after the southern island of Lampedusa was again overwhelmed by a wave of arrivals setting off from Tunisia and the migration issue returned to center stage in Europe with […]

EU pledges crackdown on ‘brutal’ migrant smuggling during visit to overwhelmed Italian island

September 17, 2023 Colleen Barry

(AP) EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged the swift return of “irregular” migrants to their home countries and a crackdown on the “brutal business” of migrant smuggling Sunday during a visit with Italy’s premier to a tiny fishing island overwhelmed […]