Thousands March in Paris to “Stop Islamophobia”

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands gathered Sunday afternoon in Paris for a march against Islamophobia, a phenomenon that markedly divided the French political class in recent days.

“Yes to criticism of religion, no to hatred of believers”, “Stop Islamophobia” and “Co-existing is crucial,” read some of the signs held aloft at the demonstration, as marchers set off from the Gare du Nord train station in the French capital on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

“Solidarity with veiled women”, some in the crowd chanted.

French media on Sunday evening estimated the number of participants in Paris at around 13,500.

The rally – held at the initiative of a number of left-wing political organizations including the New Anti-capitalist Party and groups including the Collective Against Islamophobia in France – was called for by the left-leaning daily Libération in an editorial on November 1, four days after a man attacked a mosque in Bayonne and amid the flare of renewed debate over Muslim women wearing the veil in public establishments like schools.