A leading French anti-racism observatory warned of unprecedented increase in Islamophobic attacks in France in the first three months of the year, rising by six-fold than in 2014.

“Never since the establishment of the Observatory in 2011 have Islamophobic acts known such an implosion of actions or threats, especially on social networks Abdallah Zekri, head of the Observatory said in a statement cited by Anadolu Agency on Thursday, April 16.

According to Zekri, Islamophobic actions soared by 500%, compared to the same period in 2011.

Out of 222 anti-Muslims acts in the first quarter of 2015, 56 were documented as attacks, while 166 were identified as threats, said Zekri.

The situation for French Muslims has been deteriorating recently, especially after Paris attacks, in which 17 people were killed.

Following the attacks, the National Observatory Against Islamophobia said over one hundred incidents have been reported to the police since Charlie Hebdo attacks of January 7-9.

The rise in attacks over the last two weeks represents an increase of 110% over the whole of January 2014, the organization said.

The observatory also said that more than 222 separate acts of anti-Muslim behavior, more than it documented in all of 2014, were recorded in the first month after January attacks.

Moreover, a Muslim father was stabbed to death in his own home in southern France last January by a neighbor who claimed to be avenging Charlie Hebdo.

“This is simply racism and rejection of men and women who aspire to just be respected,” said Zekri while citing attacks against Muslim women and mosques in the European country.

“Does the motto of the Republic ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ make any sense? Unfortunately, the question (must be asked),” added Zekri.

“Not Justified”

Condemning the rise of the anti-Muslim attacks in France, Zekri argued that the latest terror attacks cannot be used as a pretext to justify Islamophobia.

“However, those horrific and terrifying crimes cannot justify under any circumstances the steep rise of hatred or revenge against Muslims in France,” stressed Zekri.

“They (Muslims of France) are not responsible or guilty of committing these terrorist acts that devastated the country,” He also criticized politicians’ silence on the issue.

“All this happens without any reaction from politicians, who, instead of denouncing, try to find excuses,” Zekri said.

A day after the Islamophobia report, France’s prime minister unveiled plans to pour €100 million (RM391 million) into efforts to fight racism.

“Racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of Muslims, of foreigners, homophobia are increasing in an unbearable manner,” Manuel Valls said in the Paris suburb city of Creteil, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.

France is home to a Muslim minority of seven millions, Europe’s largest.

Seeing the Charlie Hebdo attack as a betrayal of Islamic faith, leaders from Muslim countries and organizations have joined worldwide condemnation of the attack, saying the attackers should not be associated with Islam.

Later on, French Muslims called for criminalizing insulting religions amid increasing anger around the Muslim world over Charlie Hebdo’s decision to publish new cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). ONISLAM