Muslim WWI Graves Desecrated in France
- "Up to 148 Muslim graves in France's World War I cemetery have been desecrated in an incident that has drawn strong condemnation from the country's president.
A pig's head was hung from one of the several tombstones targeted by vandals who also wrote slogans insulting France's Muslim justice minister, officials said on Sunday.
...Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, expressed 'profound outrage' at the 'sordid' attack and vowed that those responsible would be punished."
It's vile, but unfortunately not surprising given the level of tension regarding the Muslim community in France. Due to a large influx of North Africa immigrants, France has seen a rise in Islamic enclaves in recent years; France doesn't ask about religion in its census, but the CIA World Factbook pegs Muslims at about 5-10% of the population. Jacques Chirac's push to keep the hijab (headscarf) out of schools further inflamed religious tensions. And that tension goes both ways, including the backlash from extremist groups that want to push out Muslims.


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