France closed a mosque in Cannes because of antisemitic remarks. This is the second mosque in France to be shut down in less than a month.
French interior minister Gérald Darmanin said on Wednesday that he ordered the closure of the mosque in the city of Cannes on the French Riviera due to the antisemitic remarks made there. Besides, the mosque was also supporting CCIF (Collective Against Islamophobia in France) and BarakaCity, two associations in France that the government dissolved in the end of last year for spreading Islamist propaganda.
Before making the decision, Darmanin consulted with the city mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, and they agreed in the necessity of closing down the mosque.
Merely two weeks earlier, authorities closed a mosque in the north of the country, in the city of Beauvais. The mosque will be shut for six months, because the mosque’s imam is “is targeting Christians, homosexuals and Jews” in his sermons, which incited hatred and violence and the “defense of jihad”.
Last October, a mosque in Allonnes was also closed for six months, because the sermons defended armed jihad and „terrorism”.
Last year, the French government announced that it will conduct more thorough investigations at places of worship and associations suspected of spreading radical Islamic propaganda.
According to the interior minister, there are an estimated 70 mosques in France that are considered to be „radicalised”. In total, there are 2 623 mosques and Muslim prayer halls in the country.