Fatima Charrihi, a Muslim mother of seven, was the first victim to be struck by the truck on a murderous rampage through a crowd of Bastille Day revelers on Thursday. Several other Muslim residents of this French Riviera tourist spot also perished in the attack by fellow Muslim Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed 84 people and injured 200.
Though they suffered losses from the horrific attack by one of their own, many Muslims here fear their entire community will be the target of blame, just as French Muslims were victims of hate crimes following two terror attacks in Paris in January and November 2015.
“Life in Nice won’t be the same again,” said Nora Louzgani, 20, a university student from Morocco who was one of the thousands of celebrants on the waterfront when the truck drove over people for more than a mile before police shot Bouhlel dead.
Louzgani escaped unharmed but, like many other survivors, she’s traumatized. “People are still going to the beach, there are lots of tourists, but that carefree summer mood isn’t there anymore,” Louzgani said.
Even as the southern French resort struggled to return to normal, French authorities announced Sunday that they detained two more people, an unnamed man and woman, in connection with the attack, increasing to seven the number of suspects in police custody.
Oumaïma Kraimi, 21, another student, said she feared Muslims will be targeted again. “There will be people who will stigmatize us,” she said. “We shouldn’t let these people debase our image. The attack wasn’t a Muslim act, only the act of an ignorant person who was hiding behind our religion, but who was not a real Muslim. The Koran tells us that if a man kills another it’s as if he had killed all of mankind.”
Nice is one of the French cities that has seen the most Muslims become radicalized: More than 100 from the region have left to fight in Syria and Iraq, according to local authorities, who have monitored 236 individuals in recent months and track five new individuals every week.
Police said Bouhlel, 31, a native of Tunisia who moved here several years ago, had not been under surveillance previously and must have been radicalized very recently.
David Thomson, a Radio France International journalist who wrote a book about French jihadists (holy warriors), blamed the large number of radicalized Muslims on online recruitment videos of Omar Diaby, a former Nice resident of Senegalese origin now believed to be in Syria. Diaby appeals to Muslims who often feel forgotten and left out of French society.
“The presence and the charisma of Diaby have caught the attention of some young people in these neighborhoods,” he said. “But it’s not strictly due to economic reasons. There is a certain frustration that is shared by young people from deprived backgrounds, but also by those from well-off families, and the jihadist narrative answers their questions and frustrations by giving them a feeling of power.”
Nice’s Muslim community includes a small enclave in the center of Nice, a short distance from the five-star hotels that line the elegant Promenade des Anglais, where Thursday’s attack occurred. Other Muslims are scattered in low-income districts on the outskirts of the city.
In northeastern Nice, the decaying 1970s tower blocks of the Ariane neighborhood have been targeted for refurbishment and local authorities have set up cultural initiatives, such as a theater and library, to integrate residents in French culture and boost economic development.
The area has seen several waves of immigrants from France’s former colonies since the 20th century. It also houses the Ar-Rahma Mosque, the largest in the Alpes-Maritimes region, where Nice is located.
Otmane Aïssaoui, the mosque’s rector and imam as well as president of the Union of Muslims of the Alpes-Maritimes, said he hoped France would remain united against terrorism.
“Like the other attacks in 2015, terrorists want to divide our nation, but we need to remain united,” Aïssaoui said. “That’s why we want to stress our social cohesion with all the citizens in Nice and in France, irrespective of their religion.”
He also urged his countrymen not to give in to discrimination, hatred or political exploitation.
“Unfortunately there are people who want to use what has happened to further their political agenda,” he said. “I want to ask politicians not to stigmatize French Muslims, given they are the first victims of what has happened.”