#1 This Ramadan 2024 in France...
It's Ramadan season in France. In this season you will see Ramadan special commercials with pork and camels, strong boycott and a special gift to the French muslim community from the interior minister
I didn’t really have the time to write this month. The priority was always on preparing food, eating, sleeping, praying or reading Quran. That’s why I will write this as bullet points, even if it’s a diary, let’s not care about the form too much :)
This Ramadan in France for me went a bit like the last ten years, with a worse context than before.
Our brothers and sisters in Gaza are suffering, starving, dying.
It is not the first Ramadan that we see Gaza attacked, but this time, we are witnessing a real genocide. I’ve never seen something like that before. I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never felt that much pain before. I’ve never wanted to take so much action before.
Everytime we eat, we think about them. When I cook 2 meals, I find that it is more than enough, while before, social conventions were killing us with expectations.
We never wanted to pray that much for others at night and forget about ourselves.
I personally couldn’t go to demonstrations, but every week-end some of my friends go.
One of my friends told me she always see a women with her 5 years old daughter every sunday. She just noticed, after a few months, that this woman is pregnant (her belly became more and more visible). She still comes every week with her daughter and her pregnancy demonstrating for ceasefire in support of the people of Palestine.One time she asked her:
”- Are you okay, madam ?- Yes, I am fine ! As long as we are here I am fine :)”
WATCH: Demonstrators Clash With French Police During Pro-Palestinian Protest In Paris (youtube.com)
Boycott : Carrefour, Carrefour, and Carrefour again ! We use the French app BoycottX to know what we should buy or not.
Carrefour is a French company that sells all around the world. In France, it is very common to find it in all areas. By the way,the nearest big supermarket where I live is Carrefour.
Here, they are one of the first targets of the Boycott with MacDonalds, and Coca Cola.
I don’t really know to how extent it has damaged their revenue, but they have communicated saying that they have nothing to do with this genocide as a “group”, and that their franchises in Israel are all managed by an Israeli company using Carrefour’s name.
Like the app NoThanks, here we have Boycott X. I scan the articles I want to buy and see if this brand has a link with what’s going on or not. I highly recommend those apps to take action in an area where we have our say.
Darmanin wants our safety : he wants to send the police in the mosques
Our interior Minister Darmanin released a video a few days before Ramadan where he says he cares about the security of Muslims in those times (i.e. “Israeli-Palestinian conflict”). He says that synagogs and mosques should be protected by the police, and that they will be happy to do so. He wants to “make sure we’re safe”.
Honestly…
Who in France believes that ???
Darmanin saying this is so bizarre and odd. Actually it is not bizarre : it is the way he is used to act as a political figure.
While NOT saying Ramadan Mubarak, he is sending a message to the people that he is in favor of protecting the muslims, which is a part of the population. He wants to show that he is “kinder". That he is making us a favor.
Quick reminder for non-French people :
Darmanin is accused of rape on women, at least 2 times. He confessed by text message to one of the women that it is true.
It is under Darmanin that we witnessed the ban of the most popular French Muslim associations : CCIE and BarakaCity. But that’s not it. Now, the Muslim private high school Averroès is targeted as well as imams that have been kicked out of the country, such as Hassan Iquioussen and Mahjoub Mahboubi and others. Other associations and masjids are also targeted, always for “doubts” of something, but at the end, they always close them for “sanitary reasons”. Most of the videos showing Darmanin are videos where he announce wanting to close this mosque and that mosque.
He is the interior minister, which means that his job is maintaining security in the country. Why should people thank him and thank the police to do so ?
He is the minister that want our safety so bad.
Our savior.
(Lol)
Plot twist : I’ve never seen the police in the 2 local mosques where I go here (and, in my opinion, that's better like this).
Ramadan sections in French supermarkets : oriental meals flavoured with disrespect
Muslims and Islam are not to be shown on TV in France.
They shouldn’t be visible Muslims as state officers, at schools, as sellers in big shops…
But all of a sudden French supermakets start to like us very much two weeks before Ramadan. Every year, a lot of muslims are angry about those Ramadan “seasons” at the supermarkets. First of all, it is not supposed to be the month of consumption. Second, they sell products that are middle eastern/south indian/north african’, all under the same category : “oriental” products. Couscous, tomato, honey, dates and tableware.
To denounce this, one year (at least 10 years ago), the famous comedian Samia Orosemane, appearded in a TV report that went viral, going to a supermarket with a team of Aladdin like clothes, music instruments, and… a real camel !
This action was made to try to show the absurdity of this branding.
At that time, none of those shops were explicitly writing “Ramadan”, but things as “flavors of the East” or “orient” because secularists of this country including politicians from the state wouldn’t accept this.
Now they do better marketing, sometimes explicitly with the name Ramadan. But with the same products. Oriental vibes. At Carrefour.
Which, of course, woke up secularists as well as right wing figures to say for example that : “this week we will start to live at the islamic hour”, always folowed by stories that no one from the audience know of : “A boy in a school was beaten up by muslim schoolmates because he drank a juice during Ramadan”1
This year, a picture was shared on social media showing that in the ‘Ramadan’ section of the supermarket, they were selling several dishes with pork.
”They really think we are fools”, a lot of people said.
The mayor of the city I live in near Paris planted 13 000 little flags for the 13 000 children that died in Gaza.
Good news of the month.
I live in the suburbs of Paris. The mayor of this city is affiliated with the communist party.
He looks like me and you.
He has a little Instagram account, very modest.
A sign outside the town hall displays "Ceasefire in Gaza."
Last week, he published a video in his Instagram account of him and other inhabitants planting little Palestinian flags on the grass. They planted 13 000 little flags in a green space of the city in tribute to the 13 000 children murdered.
Trial for “antisemitism”, “homophobia” and “terrorism threat” from a zionist group towards Muslim-Christian public speakers on Youtube.
The French channel “Radio Principes TV” is a channel directed by 3 muslims that share their views during live shows on a lot of international and national subjects, with a lot of guests such as rabbis, political figures, christians, french royalists, or other experts.
They are accused of 3 things, by the “French Jewish Observatory” (l’Observatoire juif de France) and another association: antisemitism, attempt terror*sm, and homophobia.
I went to the first trial.
The judges decided to judge one of the 3 accusations : homophobia against the French Minister Gabriel Attal. The one that spoke about the danger of the ‘abaya at schools in France.
He was minister of education, and then became the Prime minister. He is also criticized because just after his nomination, his ex, Stéphane Séjourné, became a minister too.
The “‘abaya ban” thing was at the time when he was minister of education.
This minister is openly gay.
Those brothers recorded a live on Youtube, with a several colloquial mention to his belonging to the LGBT community. The subject of the ‘abaya ban aroused anger, because, as one of the brothers said to the judge, “young girls going to school were blamed and attacked for doing nothing, and all of this with a racist point of view : everyone looking arab with a long dress are being told to dress differently”2.
I think I will write an article about the 3 parts of this trial to share the most important points and my comments on this.
Taraweeh : come early on weekends if you want to find a space to pray ! Otherwise, you might stay outside and wait…
Last but not least. Taraweeh are the best moment to see French muslims being visible and being “themselves” I guess (even if a lot of times I don’t like that language). Because we are facing a lot of restrictions at work, in public space, at school etc. going to the mosque feels very good, espacially when it is one of the biggest one in Paris, with good education programs and great vision on the long run for future generations.
That is one of the reason I like Ramadan in France : Taraweeh have a special taste, that I’ve never felt anywhere else3.
Wait ! I wanted to ask you : Are you curious about some aspects of life in France ? Don’t hesitate to tell me if so, I can write about it !
I wanted to share the videos but they were way too long. Those type of declaration were made by Marion Maréchal Le Pen and Jean-François Copé.
It is not his quote exaclty, but he expressed theses ideas.
Moroccans usually say that they prefer Ramadan in Morocco. But I really like Taraweeh in France, because I really feel that we are gathering when outside it is difficult. In Morocco, because going to taraweeh is “normal”, I feel to much “confort taken for granted”. In France, I really feel like this is a precious moment because of the very fact we struggle all day long.
We all know that “Inna ma’a l’ûsri yûsra”
With difficulty comes facility,ease !