France: Muslims plan march to protest against “Islamophobia”

Several associations that participated in the International Forum against Islamophobia, on Saturday 14 December in Paris, called citizens to demonstrate in March 2014 to demand the abrogation of the law published 10 years earlier, on 15 March 2004, against wearing the veil in public schools and discriminatory regulations in place against Muslim women.

The annoucement was made by Houria Bouteldja, spokeswoman for Parti des Indigènes de la République (PIR) [Party of Indigenes of the Republic]. The organisation joined with Collectif contre l’islamophobie en France (CCIF) [Association Against Islamophobia in France], Mamans Toutes Egales (MTE) [Mothers All Equal] or the Collectif féministe pour l’égalité (CFPE) [Feminist Association for Equality] to denounce a law that was the first spur towards institutional islamophobia in its current form.

Associations are mobilising in parallel to focus on this struggle. The campaign Abrogation des Lois Islamophobes (ALI) [Abolition of Islamophobic Laws], which was founded discreetly in September by independent activists, should also be mentioned.