Answer: Not enough.
Muslims against terror
Photo by Dan Sanderson
A group French Muslims held up banners and started to chant at a location where people gathered to lay flowers and light candles in memory of those who died in the Paris terrorist attacks. ‘Unite against brutality, unite for humanity!’ They shouted. ‘Killing any human is killing all mankind! Saving any human is saving all mankind!’ Around 30 Muslims, all of Bangladeshi origin and living in Paris, felt they had to take a stand against Islamic extremism because – as they saw it – few other Muslims were willing to raise their voices.
‘Muslims are not being loud enough,’ Mohammad Hassan, 35, told MailOnline, ‘This needed to be done because some Muslims are afraid of coming out to say the truth. About five percent of Muslims support the terrorists. The rest of them need to speak out. I wish more Muslims would join us here. We swear we will fight against these monsters. Decent Muslims must stand up to them before it is too late.’
Khalil Merroun, the rector of the Islamic Centre in Courcouronnes where Oman Mostefai, one of the suicide bombers, is thought to have attended, struck a similar note. ‘We need to wage a jihad against the jihad,’ he told MailOnline. ‘These kids want to change the world rather than themselves. We have to show the true face of Islam.’
Amid the shock and pain that characterizes aftermath of these brutal attacks, France is beginning a process of soul-searching. And despite strong statements like these many ordinary people on the streets of Paris are pointing the finger of blame at the Muslim community.
‘Paris is “Middle-Easting”. We now have the same problems that they have in the Middle East, in Egypt, Palestine and Syria,’ said Natalie Augier, a historian and terrorism expert, as she gazed in disbelief at the smashed-up facade of the Casa Nostra café, where five diners were killed.
‘There is a very radical mosque just around the corner from here. I know how these people work and operate. They don’t speak to women, they dress them up as lampshades. They are not integrated at all, yet they are allowed to live among us and spread their poison. Thousands and thousands of refugees are pouring in and we know some terrorists are with them. We are paying for our stupidity.‘
A significant number of France’s 4.7 million Muslims live in relatively poor areas, including the notorious suburbs of Paris where unemployment and crime are rife. This is often thought to be a breeding ground for extremism and terror.
Although many Muslims are well-integrated in the country, a 2013 survey showed that just 26 percent of French people thought that Islam was compatible with their society, a sentiment that is compounded by the surging Front National.
Read the rest of the story here. The story also includes commentary from a psychologist who blames the media for not reporting on the actions of Muslims decrying the terrorism. But from what I’ve been able to find on the internet, not many Muslims actually hold public protests to denounce terrorism. And I didn’t find one protest held by CAIR. Shocker, not.
DCG