CAIR condemns French government's raid on anti-Islamophobia group

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the United States, has strongly condemned the French government for targeting a European organisation dedicated to fighting anti-Muslim bigotry.

The Belgium-based Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie en Europe (CCIE), or Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe, reported that its founding members were subjected to police searches and taken into custody on May 13. In a statement, the group said the actions were not based on any serious offense or imminent threat, but were “politically motivated," Caliber.Az reports. 

“Their aim is to delegitimise grassroots efforts and support for victims, and to create a climate of fear around initiatives that call out anti-Muslim racism. This is an attempt to apply pressure, to discredit, to portray anti-racist activism as a threat. The police apparatus is being used to obstruct forms of expression that are nonetheless protected by the fundamental principles of law,” CCIE said in the statement.

CAIR echoed these concerns, describing the raids as “baseless and fascist,” and accusing the French government of engaging in “government-sanctioned Islamophobia.”

“Civil society organisations countering hate are something the French government should encourage, particularly in the wake of the horrific, Islamophobic murder of Aboubakar Cissé,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR’s Research and Advocacy Director. 

“This raid raises many questions and evokes memories of Austria’s embarrassing Operation Luxor. The French government’s radical hostility to religious freedom, free speech, and equal rights for French Muslims must end,” he added. 

The incident sparked widespread backlash among human rights advocates. A joint statement signed by 26 organisations condemned the French government’s actions as “unworthy of a democracy.”

CAIR has previously criticised France’s policies toward its Muslim population, accusing the government of targeting mosques, Islamic organisations, and Muslim citizens under the guise of national security and secularism.

By Sabina Mammadli