Far-right Uses Paris Attacks to Gain Ground

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Exploiting Paris attacks to attract more supporters, France's far-right National Front party have been given ammunition to escalate it's anti-Muslim campaign in the European country, according a survey published by a French magazine.

"If the first ballot would take place today, she [Marine Le Pen] would gather between 29 and 31 percent of the votes, depending on the adversaries," Marianne magazine wrote on Thursday, January 30, The Huffington Post reported.

According to the magazine, the leader of FN party Marine Le Pen topped a new poll on potential 2017 presidential candidates.
The poll, which pitted Marine Le Pen against French President Francois Hollande, former President Nicolas Sarkozy and other potential candidates, ranked Sarkozy as second potential candidate.
The survey results showed the incumbent President Francois Hollande would not make it to the second round.

Using Paris terror attacks to gain ground, Le Pen mounted her anti-Islam rhetoric.

"I have been warning of the danger of Muslim fundamentalism in our country for years," Le Pen said in the wake of the attacks.

Muslims in Europe have been facing an increasing resentment after Paris attacks that left 17 killed, including two Muslims.

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 percent over the whole of January 2014, the organization said on Monday.

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

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.

France is home to a Muslim community of nearly 6.5 million, the largest in Europe.

Le Pan’s party has been adopting anti-Islam agenda for years. She took over the National Front from her father, party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has several convictions for racism and anti-Semitism.

Le Pen has objected to schools serving Halal meat for Muslim pupils, a controversial issue in France, which has banned the wearing of the full-face veil in public and headscarves in state schools.

She also compared Muslim street prayers to Nazi occupation in a speech given during a rally in 2010.

Source: OnIslam.net