Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin participated on Wednesday evening in the iftar, which marks for Muslims the breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan, organized by the Grand Mosque of Paris.
“As Minister of the Interior responsible for religion, this is the opportunity for me to wish all Muslims in France a happy month of Ramadan”, which is “an important month for all of our Muslim compatriots , an extremely spiritually rich period,” declared Gérald Darmanin.
While the Interior reported during the day a 32% increase in crimes or offenses of a racist, xenophobic or anti-religious nature in 2023 compared to 2022, the minister assured that “the State, in an international context extremely difficult, protects all its children, whatever their religion.”
He insisted on the efforts made to protect Muslim places of worship during Ramadan: that they "be physically present in front of each mosque, that they allow complaints to be taken or monitor social networks, agents of the Ministry of Interior are there to protect you, so that every French person can practice their faith.”
“I think of all the children of Gaza”
Addressing the situation in the Middle East, the minister declared that “faced with the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza, France supports an immediate ceasefire.”
“I think of all the children of Gaza who are suffering from the madness of men,” he said, stressing that “only the two-state solution is able to meet the security needs of the Israeli people and the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
Also read “We have nothing, we are waiting for death”: in Gaza, in the middle of Ramadan, humanitarian workers themselves are in the grip of hunger
Gérald Darmanin also recalled the various projects undertaken on Islam in France: security of places of worship, professionalization and status of imams, etc.
He called for the issue of confessional squares in cemeteries to be resolved “by the end of the year” and reiterated his wish that Islam in France be structured “in a federation”.
The rector of the Great Mosque Chems-eddine Hafiz, who thanked the minister for the security measures taken around places of worship, insisted that “yes, the month of Ramadan strengthens the citizenship of French Muslims”.
“Our painful thoughts and our compassion turn to Gaza where Ramadan is lived in deprivation, pain and injustice,” he declared in his welcoming speech.
“We continue to pray that the civilian populations will be spared, the hostages freed and peace finally established.”