The immense responsibility of certain media in the shift towards chaos and hatred in our country

The designation of a “scapegoat”, used since the dawn of time to cast opprobrium on a minority accused of being the cause of all evil, unfortunately seems to be bearing fruit in the land of Human Rights.

Even though the extreme right is not yet in power, we are already witnessing a very strong increase in racist speech and acts of physical violence against citizens identified as “Arab-Muslims”. The weakness, or even the absence of reactions of our elites and our media in the face of this new milestone, deeply worries us.

The exacerbation of this violence would not have been possible without the bludgeoning of certain media outlets. By constantly taking up themes, theories and language elements of the extreme right, the latter have greatly contributed to trivializing them and promoting ideas of intolerance, hatred and division in our country.

Indeed, it is clear that by offering wide platforms without opposition to influencers and promoters of the extreme right and by treating current events in a biased manner, these media are creating a climate of anxiety and mistrust towards French people of Muslim faith and foreigners in general.

So, for example, theThe perpetrators of the anti-Semitic crime that shook our country and in which a 12-year-old Jewish girl was the victim of a vile rape were not “Arab-Muslims”, but everything was done to suggest otherwise. First by hiding their origins for days, then by claiming that one of them had converted to Islam.

The strong increase in voting for the extreme right in rural areas, where paradoxically this section of society which is being used as a scapegoat is not or very poorly represented, says a lot about the impact of these media on public opinion’s perception of the reality on the ground.

Despite the lessons that history has taught us, the unhealthy obsession with origins, names and skin colours is coming back in force and is eating away at our society.

We are living in troubled times that will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the future of our country. Therefore, the CFCM calls on our compatriots of all origins and faiths to mobilize massively on the occasion of the decisive meeting on July 7, in order to stem the tide of intolerance, hatred and division that threatens to descend on our country.

French Council of the Muslim Faith
Paris, July 3, 2024