23.02.2011 0

Provence & Côte d'Azur: Nice's rightwing mayor questions if the French state can coexist with extreme religious societies

Estrosi calls for a national debate on religion

Coming off the back of Anne Sinclair's comment at the weekend that French political leaders are playing with fire if they re-open the issue of Islamic practice in France, Nice's mayor, Christian Estrosi, has spoken out against those who have taken to the streets to pray for fellow Muslims in North Africa and the Middle East.

Estrosi wants to ban religious demostrations on streets in Nice

The mayor's statement was prompted by a mass prayer that took place on the 4th of February, when many local Muslim residents kneeled and openly worshiped on rue de Suisse, just behind the Notre Dame Church in Nice. The event was extremely controversial and left the city authorities up in arms.

Mayor Estrosi has now told press that he believes any display of faith, prayer or worship that is forced on society by taking place in public should be banned.

He added that he did like to see a national debate organised that would deal specifically with the place of religion in French society, with a particular focus on the Islamic faith.

Muslims in Nice have claimed that the 4th of February public prayer session resulted from a lack of suitable locations available in the city in which they can worship in large numbers. Adbel Razouk, the president of the association Moubarak, which supports the Islamic community in Nice, challenged the mayor's statement by pointing out that the association organises only 20 minutes of communal prayer each week. He added that they had once attempted to obtain a much bigger premises - during the era of Estrosi’s predecessor Jacques Peyrat- but that proposal was rejected at the time. The need thus remains for the city's main mosque to be extended by several square metres if it is to allow the association to welcome all its members.

The mayor, however, has stood firm in his condemnation of praying in public, even after hearing the reasoning of Islamic residents. He added that the French state would not stand for its streets to be taken over by religious manifestations. Prayer is an act of faith and not a demonstration or a rally, he said.

Now waiting to hear what Estrosi's course of action will be regarding the issue, Moubarak has agreed that the association will restrict its members to the mosque grounds and that no further form of prayer on the city streets will be organised.

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