Paul Vannier (LFI) denounces “an amalgamation” targeting Muslims after an IFOP survey

ByMuhammad

The LFI-NFP deputy for Val-d’Oise, Paul Vannier, strongly criticized Tuesday on BFM TV an IFOP survey devoted to young Muslims in France. The elected official denounced “the stinking amalgam” which, according to him, associates Muslims “with Islamism and terrorism”, believing that this approach amounts to “once again designating millions of compatriots as an internal enemy”.

“In a secular Republic, no one has to judge whether or not citizens do Ramadan or go to the mosque, synagogue or church,” he said. Paul Vannier warned of a political climate where “the extreme right is growing” and where some would seek to “make Muslims the enemies within”. A description that he describes as “anti-Republican”, “dangerous for democracy” and for “the future of the country”. On Twitter, the MP also castigated the study in even more direct terms: This bogus IFOP “investigation”, intended to serve the Islamophobic agenda of the far right, is commissioned by a press organ with experts and consultants including the new muse of “Libération”, Nora Bussigny.

Paul Vannier’s reaction is part of a recurring debate on the way in which polls on Muslims are constructed and interpreted. For several observers, these surveys tend to essentialize part of the population and politicize ordinary religious practices. In a context of rise of the far right, critics highlight a risk of increased stigmatization and fueling of already strong polarization around the place of Islam in French society.

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Muhammad

Muhammad is a visionary thinker and passionate writer who has been contributing to Understanding Islam for several years.