A prominent French Muslim group says that swastikas and racial slurs have been painted on the walls of a mosque in the town of Saint-Etienne.
The French Council of the Muslim Faith says the vandalism early Monday of the mosque in the Loire region is the latest example of rising ‘Islamophobia’. It says such vandalism has multiplied in France “in a very worrisome way.”
The council repeated a demand for the government to create a parliamentary panel to study rising ‘Islamophobia’.
Muslim leaders are among those saying that a debate in France on the face-covering veil and a national identity debate have stigmatized Muslims and fed anti-Muslim sentiment.
Nazi slogans and pig feet were found in December in a southern France mosque.