French Muslims tracked by intelligence forces over political opinions

PARIS (AA) – Several French Muslim personalities have been tracked and listed by French intelligence for their political opinions, be they supposed or real.

This was revealed in an article published on Tuesday by Europe 1 radio channel, reporting that it had obtained a “confidential note from French territorial intelligence.”

According to the note quoted by media outlets, the country’s territorial intelligence came to the conclusion that left-wing presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Melenchon, eliminated in the first round of voting after coming in third behind Macron and the far-right Marine Le Pen, would have enjoyed the “Muslim vote” in the country due to the support of so-called “Islamist influencers and activists” who “welcomed” and “relayed” his “positions.”

French territorial intelligence has files on many French Muslims for having expressed their support for Melenchon, the leader of the La France Insoumise (LFI) party, who has voiced opposition against Islamophobia in France several times.

By listing these Muslims, the territorial intelligence’s actions has resurrected debate on “Islamo-leftism,” a theory often pushed by Le Pen and fellow far-right politician Eric Zemmour, along with the French government.

At the end of 2020, this notion, disseminated since 2002 by the far right, has gotten strong media exposure, while Jean-Michel Blanquer, then-minister of national education, and Dominique Vidal, former minister for higher education, used the term to denounce the supposed closeness and laxity of certain left-wing French politicians towards Islam.

These members of the French government have also leveled accusations against French academics and researchers, declaring that the universities “are plagued by academics who ally themselves with the Islamists to divide France.”