A-Infos (en) France, UCL: Current Issues Motion: Islamophobia, the Cornerstone of Fascism and Imperialism (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Meeting in Congress in Grenoble, the Libertarian Communist Union (LCU) 
recalls, in this unanimously adopted current issues motion, that 
Islamophobia is the cornerstone of fascism and imperialism. On May 21, 
the publication of a delusional report by the French intelligence 
services on the Muslim Brotherhood, commissioned by the Ministry of the 
Interior, gave rise to a violent Islamophobic media campaign. This 
report denounces the alleged political "infiltration" of the Muslim 
Brotherhood into society. It is based on still-vague accusations of 
covert influence and reaches conspiratorial conclusions, casting 
suspicion on all Muslims.

A few weeks after Interior Minister Retailleau proclaimed "down with the 
veil" at a rally, the highest levels of government are further fueling 
the wave of Islamophobia, resulting in a wave of crimes and attacks that 
has significantly escalated: the murders of Aboubakar Cissé in the Gard 
department on April 25 and Hichem Miraoui in the Var department on May 
31, and an increase in the vandalism of mosques, attacks, and 
Islamophobic insults in public spaces.

Racism with Colonial Roots

Islamophobia refers to specific racism against people of the Muslim 
faith, whether real or perceived. It was theorized and developed within 
the French colonial empire, with the aim of consolidating its power in 
colonized countries. The colonial roots of Islamophobia explain its 
current forms: the colonizers' alleged desire to liberate veiled women 
from their alienation and gain access to the formidable Western 
civilization, deemed morally superior, and the vision of a barbaric, 
violent, and retrograde Islam, uniform and constantly seeking power-all 
these are elements stemming from colonization that are at the heart of 
contemporary Islamophobia.

The contradictory accusations leveled against Muslim men and women, 
guilty in turn of infiltration or separatism, aim only to erase any 
visible Muslim presence in various spaces of society (schools, public 
spaces, sports, civil service) and to create an imaginary enemy within 
that allows the far right to spread its nauseating ideas. Since the 
introduction of the racist 2004 law banning the wearing of the veil in 
public schools, middle schools, and high schools, the gradual exclusion 
of Muslim men and women, under the guise of a racist exploitation of 
secularism, has continued. In 2021, this was further reinforced by the 
promulgation of the Separatism Law: increased controls were deployed in 
places of worship to search for signs of so-called radicalization of 
Muslim men and women. In 2023, the passage of a decree by the former 
Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, banned the abaya in high 
schools. Generally speaking, the constant moral panics surrounding the 
burkini at the municipal swimming pool, the veil worn by chaperones on 
school trips, or Muslim athletes are a continuation of the legislative 
attacks against Muslim men and women, and contribute to the construction 
of the project of a segregated public space, where visible minorities 
have no place. The Republic seeks to force Muslims into a model of 
assimilation through the promotion of a domesticated Islam. The Paris 
mosque, for example, has been repeatedly ordered to include phrases 
praising the French Republic and its institutions in its calls to 
prayer. There is clearly a racialization occurring even beyond 
individuals' actual religious practice. This injunction to assimilate 
republican values is racist and does not lead to an end to discrimination.

The radical tightening of immigration policies is based on this same 
vision of a danger jeopardizing national stability through the threat of 
an Islam that is incompatible with the Western way of life. In the 
latest asylum and immigration law, known as the Darmanin Law, adopted in 
2024, a "contract of commitment to respect the principles of the 
Republic" was implemented to condition the issuance or renewal of a 
residence permit on political allegiance. This contract sets out 
prerequisites such as respect for secularism, gender equality, the 
territorial integrity of France, and the condemnation of proselytism. 
These are all elements that serve to silence foreigners by condemning 
any criticism of the Republic or colonial policies, but also by 
facilitating the withdrawal of any type of residence permit, thus 
preserving a precarious workforce under constant threat of falling into 
precarity.

Islamophobia: a weapon of mass fascism

Racism is a system: the Islamophobic offensive constitutes a huge 
amplifier for all forms of racism. The vertiginous rise in anti-Semitic 
street attacks and vandalism of synagogues, the loss of 
self-consciousness about anti-Semitic speech, the trivialization of 
anti-Gypsyism, and the ostracization of travelers, while the French 
state still refuses to recognize the Samudaripen, are all testament to 
this. The conspiracy panic about Muslim "entryism" or "atmospheric 
fraternity" uses the same logic as anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, 
which attribute to Jews a secret power or a desire to subvert societies. 
Similarly, the genocide in Palestine and the trivialization of 
eradicating rhetoric have produced a macabre habituation to racism in 
its genocidal form. As French imperialism loses momentum and prepares 
for war, fascism increasingly becomes a solution for the radicalized 
bourgeoisie. Nostalgia for the colonial era is now expressed in a 
completely uninhibited manner. The construction of the figure of Muslims 
as "internal enemies," particularly through the pretext of the "war on 
terror," serves the interests of imperialism. Faced with this imagined 
"threat," all measures depriving fundamental freedoms and controlling 
bodies become justified. As such, the war against veiled women is a war 
against all women, redefining a model of false emancipation that claims 
to be universal.

The delegates of the 3rd UCL Congress reaffirm their full solidarity 
with Muslims who are suffering the full brunt of the colonial continuum 
and the fascism of our society. An aggressive social movement against 
Islamophobia is urgently needed, essential to defeating this vile beast.

The Libertarian Communist Union will participate in initiatives aimed at 
demanding:

the abolition of the 2004 law and all laws aimed at excluding veiled 
women from society;
an end to the repressive harassment of Muslim public figures, 
particularly through the threat of expulsion from the country, and an 
end to the exceptional treatment reserved for private Muslim schools;
the abolition of all Islamophobic laws, notably the Darmanin Law on 
asylum and immigration, and the Separatism Law;
an end to the genocide in Palestine, and the liberation of all Palestine 
from colonialism and apartheid.
Libertarian Communist Union, June 9, 2025.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?L-islamophobie-pierre-angulaire-du-fascisme-et-de-l-imperialisme
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