As the Olympics approach, the fencing dictionary (attack, parry, riposte, parry, and counter-riposte) comes to our aid in trying to chronologically arrange the various acts of the case of what everyone calls, according to their convenience and interests, “Mosque, place of worship, or prayer hall,” which increasingly resembles a soap opera.
Attack: The Mayor of Nice has always opposed the opening of a mosque, located on Pontremoli street in the heart of the Eco-Valley, by the En-Nour association, which he accuses of being supported by Saudi Arabia*. Beware of anyone who touches my national interest operation which plans for a new city.
Parry: To support his action, he wants to place a nursery there and asks the Prefecture to issue a public utility order.
Riposte: “No,” said the Prefect, on April 10. The application from the En-Nour association is compliant, and they have met all (municipal) procedures requested. In short, if all conditions are (or will be) met, the Prefect can only grant his authorization, as the law requires…
Parry: The Mayor has the Municipal Council (April 25) deliberate on initiating an administrative lawsuit against the Prefect and publicly casts doubt that the funds used by the En-Nour association may be opaque (sic!), demanding the intervention of Tracfin.
Counter-riposte: A project resulting from an agreement between the Mayor of Nice and two imams, one Boubeker Bekri, Vice-President of the Regional Council of the Muslim Faith (CRCM) and the other, Otmane Aïssaoui of the Muslim Union of the Alpes-Maritimes (UMAM) – two regular interlocutors of the municipality and rumored to be supported by Maghreb states (Morocco? Algeria?) – is presented (April 29) with a location in the same area in the Iscles district after the Charles Erhmann Sports Park.
Here is the situation to date.
It doesn’t take a great fortune teller to imagine that it won’t stop here and that the showdown between the Mayor and the Prefect, as well as the rivalry between the different religious organizations, behind which loom battles of influence (local? between foreign countries?) concerning the Muslim community of the Côte d’Azur, will quickly lead to other clashes hoping to be the final touch.
However, one result seems already guaranteed: in one way or another, Muslims will have a cultural and religious place where they can gather in dignified conditions, whether it’s called a place of worship, of prayer, or mosque (as everyone wishes), based on interests that are sometimes far from noble, or even moral.
The municipality’s project, “prepared for long months, if not years,” according to Christian Estrosi, thus comes at the right time as a riposte to that of the En-Nour association presented to the press last Monday after the Municipal Council, and would take place on a 3,000 m2 buildable land belonging to the city of Nice in the Var plain, to the west of the city.
This land, after deliberation in the municipal council which should occur “before autumn,” would be allocated in the form of an emphyteutic lease to a religious association under the 1905 law, bringing together “representative figures of Islam in Nice” from the Regional Council of the Muslim Faith (CRCM) and the Union of Muslims of the Alpes-Maritimes (UMAM, an association member of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France).
The project involves the creation of a 1,000 m2 place of worship surrounded by a forecourt and a parking lot. It is also planned for the parking lot to host “a temporary slaughterhouse” for the Eid festival.
No opening date has yet been given by the Muslim religious representatives, who have indicated that the work will be carried out thanks to donations from the faithful, and for which the Mayor of Nice demands full transparency: since it involves several million euros, Tracfin will still have work to do!
On the political side, how can one not imagine that this announcement will ignite the election campaign for the by-election on May 22 and 29?
Leaflets have already been distributed by the National Front, making it a strong point of their argument. The reaction was not long in coming, and in the afternoon, a tellingly titled statement was issued by the Frontist party and signed by Philippe Vardon, Regional Councilor and spokesperson: “Christian Estrosi, a mosque-building mayor”:
“I have just learned that the project for a second Grand Mosque in the Var Plain, directly initiated by Christian Estrosi, would take place on the southern SONACOTRA zone, opposite Saint-Isidore, on a plot of 1000m², indeed including halal slaughterhouses open during ritual periods.
Of course, this project will be religiously guided by Imam Aissaoui, a local leader and national figure of the Islamist UOIF, with whom Christian Estrosi has collaborated for years. Christian Estrosi intended to be a building mayor, now he is a mosque-building mayor.”
To be continued…
