French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced last night that in the coming days he would launch an “unprecedented” mass operation “against separatism”, targeting “76 mosques”.
“Following my instructions, the state services will launch an unprecedented mass operation against separatism,” the minister said via Twitter.
“76 mosques that are suspected of promoting separatism will be inspected in the coming days and some that should be closed will be closed,” he added.
The minister wants 76 places of worship to be inspected, 16 in the Paris region and 60 in the rest of France, according to the ANA-MPA.
Of these 76 places of worship, 18 will be targeted by companies that will be “immediately” at the request of the minister and may be closed.
In early November, a lengthy letter from the French President Emmanuel Macron was published in the Financial Times in which the head of state explained that “France is fighting against Islamic separatism, never against Islam.”
The term “separatism” refers to fanatical Islamists who do not want to obey the laws of the French state, but to those imposed by the way they interpret Islam.
The draft law, among other things, provides for the prohibition of home schooling and the gradual phasing out of imams that have been trained abroad.
