The Great Mosque of Paris files a complaint against Michel Houellebecq for anti-Muslim remarks

The Great Mosque of Paris accuses Michel Houellebecq of Islamophobic remarks that he would have made in a discussion with the philosopher Michel Onfray, transcribed in November 2022 in the review Popular Front. The rector of the mosque, Chems-eddine Hafiz, published a press release on Wednesday December 28, 2022 on social networks announcing to file a complaint against the French writer « before the public prosecutor of Paris »reports The Parisian .

A controversial dialogue

“Michel Houellebecq affirms that Muslims are not real French people. Muslims give him an appointment in front of the criminal court to oppose what the law says.Chems-eddine Hafiz wrote in the press release.

Several passages of this long conversation between the two writers, published in a special issue, were noted by the Great Mosque of Paris. “When entire territories are under Islamic control, I think acts of resistance will take place. There will be attacks and shootings in mosques, in cafes frequented by Muslims, in short Bataclan upside down”would have said the 2010 Goncourt prize.

Remarks deemed « astounding brutality »

The author of the book Submission would also have entrusted : “the wish of the native French population, as they say, is not for Muslims to assimilate, but for them to stop robbing and attacking them. Or else, another solution, let them go ».

Chems-eddine Hafiz judges these remarks “Lapidary, unacceptable and staggeringly brutal”. According to him, these sentences « do not aim to inform any public debate but to stir up discriminatory speeches and actions ».