The conference came after 30 French beach towns banned the burkini.
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“The struggle against radical Islam should in no way be carried out against the Muslims in France, the vast majority of whom are republicans who simply want to live their religion in a dignified and peaceful way”, said Cazeneuve. “And now we are witnessing in a large extent the failure of this idea, and now we see that this whole portion of the French population does not want to share these values of our modern, contemporary culture”, he said.
Paris-Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy said on Monday he would change the country’s constitution to ban full-body burkini swimsuits if he is re-elected to his former role in a vote next April.
Two hijab-clad Muslim women were reportedly thrown out of a high-end French restaurant after the owner refused to serve them arguing that “all Muslims are terrorists”.
“This positive development will put an end to the repulsive saga of the burkini”, he said. After the court set the bans aside, however, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a law against the garments would be ruled unconstitutional.
Cazeneuve stressed however that all religions had to respect France’s laws on the strict separation of religion and state.
It is hoped that the “foundation for Islam in France” will improve transparency in the funding of Islamic activities in the country.
While many on the French left criticize the burkini as oppressing women, they also fear the issue feeds into the agenda of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front.
Hakim El Karoui, a secular Muslim who participated in Monday’s talks, said that the choice of Chevenement was “clumsiness at the very least”.
Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun and the rector of a mosque in the central city of Lyon, Kamel Kabtane, are among Muslims who will sit on the foundation’s board.
He also called on local representatives defying the Council of State’s ruling to drop their bans.
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Lawyers for a human rights group and a Muslim collective challenged the legality of the ban at the top court, saying the orders infringe basic freedoms and that mayors have overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear on beaches. The most recent attacks happened on Bastille Day on July 14, when a terrorist killed 84 people while plowing through crowds with a truck, and again less than two weeks later, when a French Catholic priest was murdered while saying Mass.
