Commentary from Nice-Premium:
Place of worship for some, a symbol of Islamization for others… the issue of the “great” mosque will remain unresolved despite Christian Estrosi’s decision to retract his “commitment” towards the Muslim community, which describes them as “unfulfilled electoral promises.”
Nice Premium, faithful to its independence and participatory spirit, presents without bias the reasons from both sides, who of course oppose each other on everything. Our lack of bias does not prevent us from expressing, with full intellectual honesty, our opinion on this very sensitive issue: what if we stopped the compulsive trend to address this problem through the lens of a pre-electoral survey? And fortunately, we live in a democracy… we often end up in this kind of situation! Is there really no other method of wielding power than by pitting one side against the other and always applying “divide et impera”? Is there no way to stop this dangerous game that risks creating only losers?
As the Americans aptly say with a fitting idiomatic expression: “if you throw shit in the fan, you never know who will get splattered.”
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Mosque: ESTROSI reneges on his promise
Christian Estrosi has just decided not to facilitate the creation of a large mosque. The various promises made by Christian Estrosi concerning a grand place of worship were, in reality, merely ephemeral electoral promises. This has now resulted in deep disappointment and bitterness. With these declarations, Christian Estrosi has admitted that, for him, the Muslims of Nice will never be considered as fully-fledged Niçois. The mayor is not shying away from contradictions. He announces daily that he wishes to ban street prayers but, at the same time, refuses to facilitate the construction of a grand place of worship which was the only guarantee to eliminate these prayers. It is a significant responsibility because it means a return to makeshift prayer spaces in garages and basements, which the vast majority of Muslims wish to avoid. For a long time, the Muslim men and women of Nice hoped one day to be seen and considered like everyone else, as part of the same entity, Nissa la Bella. Today, even more than under Peyrat’s rule, Christian Estrosi has just shut the doors to harmony, to coexistence.
Abderrazak FETNAN Municipal Councillor (PS-Changer d’Ere)
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Estrosi pulls back on the grand mosque: a victory for identity!
The campaign concerning Muslim prayers blocking Rue de Suisse launched on February 10 by Nissa Rebela has just delivered a genuine victory to the identity activists. By reigniting the tedious municipal debate about the Islamization of our city and the construction of a new grand mosque (demanded by Muslim representatives, notably through the political-media tool of occupying public spaces with prayers), Nissa Rebela has just achieved an important victory for the future of our city. An article published today in the free newspaper 20 Minutes, titled “Nice will not have a grand mosque,” fully symbolizes this victory. Initially, identity activists exposed the reality of these Muslim prayers blocking Rue de Suisse. Once the information was released online (with over 12,000 views of a video), politicians and the media could no longer turn a blind eye. The pressure exerted on this issue (which we plan to maintain, as demonstrated by our action planned for this coming Friday) managed to temporarily stop this occupation through an agreement between the municipal authorities and the association managing the prayer hall on Rue de Suisse. For the second time this Friday, buses transported Muslims from Rue de Suisse to the Madeleine mosque (where there is evidently ample space!). Today, even a close associate of Mr. Estrosi for security issues, Robert Bojanovich, came to ensure on-site (we were also present) that Muslims respected their part of the “deal.” But we know that this agreement – in a wholly cynical and scandalous manner – only covers the pre-electoral period, and we refuse to allow a situation that can obviously be resolved to relapse into street prayers following the cantonal elections. By reigniting the question of the “grand mosque,” Nissa Rebela has exposed in the media (with a particularly telling photo today in the 20 Minutes article) another hidden truth that we have been denouncing since November 2009: a grand mosque already exists in Nice! It is the Ar-Rahma mosque in Ariane, which can accommodate 800 people.
Therefore, it is clear that what the Muslim institutions request is not just a mosque large in size but one that is significant in its symbolism. A commanding, central location that is meant to be as visible as possible, certainly with a minaret, signifying a definitive establishment of Islam in our city. Finally, thanks to constant pressure, bolstered – and Christian Estrosi knows this well – by genuine popular support on this issue against the construction of a new grand mosque, Nissa Rebela made Christian Estrosi back down. He who, since 2006, had repeatedly affirmed (with us having demonstrated in front of the General Council at the time) his support for the construction of a grand mosque, is now sidestepping and no longer sees this solution as favorable.
Today marks a true and beautiful victory, but we have become too accustomed over the years to Christian Estrosi making and breaking his promises according to electoral contingencies to remain unwary of future developments.
Nissa Rebela
