French Islamophobia and racism are by-products of its exclusionary national identity

In November 2022, novelist Michel Houellebecq and philosopher Michel Onfray published the contents of a discussion they had, rife with Islamophobic and crude racist remarks.

Both thinkers explicitly validated their belief in the “great replacement theory”, Houellebecq anticipated “acts of resistance” – made of “attacks” and “mass shootings” in mosques – once entire “neighbourhoods” will be submitted to “Muslim domination”.

Algerian Muslim freedom fighters during the War of Independence were categorised as “terrorists” and the conclusion reached was: “Our only chance of survival is for white supremacy to become trendy in the US.”

The influence of these perspectives on the French political landscape is undeniable. Houellebecq, who repeatedly depicted Islam and Muslims as a mortal civilizational threat to the West in the last two decades has since acquired a “prophetic reputation” in his home country.

Novels like Platform, which tells the story of a man losing his love interest in a Muslim-led attack was published a few days prior to 9/11 and has been regarded since as a brilliant literary and political premonition.

Submission, which narrates the political takeover of France by a Muslim party, was published the very day Charlie Hebdo was targeted by Al-Qaeda.

Key political figures – from the current Minister of the Economy Le Maire to former President Nicolas Sarkozy – support, share and co-opt the perspectives of these widely-regarded men.

The recordings of a fleeting conversation betray something much deeper at play. They serve as a symbol of an insecure yet deeply influential Islamophobic culture which regards Muslims’ freedom as a threat, and supremacist violence as a necessary path to survival.

Concealing shameful motives to protect France’s global reputation

The tacit endorsement of violence can only materialise with the complicity of the media and, of course, the State. Both dealt with events in a similar fashion. They systematically tone down their gravity and obfuscate their motives.

The concrete end result of this is the Islamophobic and supremacist narratives cultural figures crafted over time – narratives embraced, to varying degrees, by media and the French State.

The death of a boy due to the far-right raids that followed the World Cup game was treated as a mere anecdote, an anomaly to be brushed over despite France having the highest threat of far-right violence in European nations.

The anti-Kurdish attacker was sent to a psychiatric asylum and some mainstream media even tried to suggest that the attack was ‘Turkish led’, despite the explicit confession of the assassin.