Friday, March 4 at 6 PM
Statement from Nissa Rebela:
“On June 18, the identitarians revealed the scandal of Muslim prayers blocking Rue Myrrha in Paris through the famous ‘saucisson-pinard aperitif.’ A gathering then brought together over 1,000 people. Since then, numerous political figures have taken a stance on this delicate issue, including the President of the Republic himself, who recently stated that these public prayers must stop and that a broad debate on the place of Islam in our society should be opened.
On February 10, the Nice identitarians of Nissa Rebela revealed that such prayers also existed in Nice and that Rue de Suisse, in the Notre-Dame district, had been regularly and recurrently blocked for several months. This was despite the fact that the mayor, Christian Estrosi, had repeatedly stated since the beginning of the year (notably during the Orange-le Figaro talk on January 18) that he wanted these prayers to be banned. Christian Estrosi seemed to be demanding in the media what he was not enforcing in his own city…
The identitarians gave him the benefit of the doubt: perhaps he was not aware of this situation? Now that the matter is revealed, Nissa Rebela is demanding a municipal ban.
On February 17, driven by the identitarians, the media took up the issue (Nice Matin, le Petit Niçois, France 3) and Christian Estrosi once again repeated his wish to ban Muslim prayers in the street. Since then, still nothing…
In Nice Matin, the municipality suggested that an agreement had been reached with the Muslims of the Moubarak association, ‘to avoid an overly politicized controversy in these pre-election times.’ We will make revelations about this soon… but it remains that we wish for this illegal occupation of Nice’s streets to STOP DEFINITIVELY!
This morning, during a new press conference and in response to the inaction of Christian Estrosi and his team, Philippe Vardon announced (after a moving testimony from a resident of the district describing his feeling of abandonment) that the identitarians would now act on the ground to bring the reality of the situation into the spotlight and force the city hall to ACT.
The request for authorization was made today with the Prefecture’s services. But it seems obvious that a Prefect who has tolerated for months the occupation of our streets by public Muslim prayers could not prohibit a festive and activist event aimed at reclaiming this neighborhood for the Niçois for a few hours.”
