Christine Tasin receives Facebook Fatwa

The Bivouac-ID blog notes that on 6 September Christine Tasin, organiser of last Saturday’s anti-Islamisation protest Grand Apéritif Républicain, discovered that a ‘fatwa’ had been issued against her on Facebook. The threatening message was entitled 'Blasphemy is an offence in Islam!' The text read:

A Fatwa has been pronounced against you. All Muslims of France and Navarre, wherever they find themselves, have the duty to execute the said fatwa. The law of the Qur’an states that whosoever blasphemes against Islam must be hunted down and punished.

This is alarming but hardly unexpected. Tasin notes that such threats should not be dismissed lightly, pointing to the examples of Theo van Gogh and Robert Redeker. Thankfully, unlike van Gogh, Redeker remains alive, but alas leads a far from normal existence having been forced into hiding in 2006 following his publication of an article in Le Figaro in which he wrote 'Islam is a religion that, in its own sacred text, as well as in its everyday rites, exalts violence and hatred.'

Tasin however is not cowed by the Facebook fatwa. She writes:

We will never give in to this threat; we are more than ever determined to oppose with all our might the establishment of an Islamic society in France. It is our duty to our children and our grandchildren who have not deserved this.

Unsurprisingly, the fatwa has confirmed her view that Islam and Shariah are incompatible with French law and the French way of life. Following the fatwa, she has already received two death threats within 24 hours and the French police are said to be taking the threats seriously. She will be giving a press conference on the subject of freedom of expression at the Convention Nationale de Rif this Saturday. How will the French Left react to this threat to Tasin’s safety? Will we see MRAP denouncing the ‘fatwa’? Will a French mainstream political equivalent of Thilo Sarrazin step forward to speak out about the dangers of Islamisation? I very much doubt it.

What happened to the Grand Apéritif Républicain?

Reports on yesterday evening’s series of French anti-Islamisation demonstrations planned for Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulon and Toulouse reveal that turnout was disappointingly low, ranging from perhaps 300 in Paris to a meagre 20 or so at other locations (circa 60 in Lyon according to the police). Understandably, the Bivouac-ID blog, which was one of the main backers of the protest, indignantly asked its readers “but where were you?”

Bivouac-ID, resolutely anti-Islamisation and attracting a readership of thousands every day, was quite right to chastise its readers for their apathy despite their vocal cyber-support. This of course is not a phenomenon unique to France. Whereas in the past we had ‘armchair generals’ we now have so many ‘internet warriors’. If this sense of dissatisfaction does not translate itself into some form of practical political action such as protest or support for political parties that oppose Islamisation it is not exactly productive.

Other than apathy, some have speculated that many potential protesters may have been deterred from participating by fear of leftist counter-demonstrators and the police. In Toulouse, as can be seen in the video below, circa 100 demonstrators from ‘MRAP’ (Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples) forced the 20 or so anti-Islamists to cut short their protest. MRAP is very much in the mould of UAF in the UK, sharing ideological positions and strong links to communist parties. As in the UK, French anti-Islamists are thus routinely smeared as ‘racist’ and ‘far-right’.



This photograph from Lyon shows a small group of demonstrators in the centre of the city.

The following report from Paris features an interview with protest organiser Christine Tasin of Résistance Républicaine.



Although yesterday evening’s protest yielded disappointing numbers, it at least demonstrated that there are many dedicated people in France who are determined to stem and reverse the tide of Islamisation that threatens to engulf their country and culture. Hopefully, next time that such protests are held, those who had lent their vocal support to the Grand Apéritif Républicain but stayed at home will make an effort to show their solidarity to the cause and take to the streets.