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A street in Stains named after a wife of Muhammad? The mayor sweeps away the controversy

2022-09-21T16:27:36.890Z


As part of an associative project carried out with residents, several plaques bearing the names of "inspiring women" were hung


There is the young Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, the artist and French resistance fighter Joséphine Baker or the Moroccan feminist sociologist Fatima Mernissi.

For the past few days, the names of these "inspiring women" have taken their place on plaques affixed in various streets of the town of Stains.

This participatory project, financed by the lessor CDC Habitat and carried out in partnership with residents of the Maroc and Avenir districts, is the responsibility of the association Mémoires Croisées and the photographer Philippe Monges.

"I wanted to invite you to reflect on the place of women in the public space, in our cities and more generally in society", explained the latter in the columns of the June municipal magazine.

For a few days, one of the personalities thus honored has aroused controversy.

Mariam, a resident of Stains, chose to pay homage to the first wife of Muhammad, the major prophet of Islam.

Written in blue on a lilac-colored background, the name of Khadija Bint Khuwaylid is displayed on rue de Pontoise, a road that marks the border with Sarcelles and Val-d'Oise.

The mayor defends "the artistic expression of citizens"

Attack on secularism in the public space?

On Twitter, the initiative has created a controversy fueled by several far-right figures.

Unlucky candidate for Reconquest in the legislative elections last June, and very influential on social networks, Damien Rieu is one of the first to have relayed the image of the plate in question.

“We are waiting for the secularists!

“, commented the lawyer and MEP Gilbert Collard, now close to Éric Zemmour.

In Stains, a street symbolically renamed in the name of the wife of the Prophet Muhammad: we are waiting for the secularists!

pic.twitter.com/SvXIslxr42

— Gilbert Collard (@GilbertCollard) September 19, 2022

His colleague Gilles-William Golnadel also echoed it, recalling in passing that he was the subject of a complaint from the mayor of Stains.

What the latter confirms.

“I filed it several months ago, maybe even more than a year, says Azzedine Taïbi (ex-PCF).

He had taken the liberty of insulting the inhabitants of the city on Twitter, calling Stains

"Islamo-leftist territory"

.

»

The elected official also denounces a controversy "which has no place" and defends "the artistic expression of citizens".

“There is controversy over the name of one of Muhammad's wives, while other personalities such as Joan of Arc or Mother Teresa are cited, he observes.

It's not up to me to censor.

»

According to Azzedine Taïbi, the plates will remain in the public space for “a few weeks”.

“It is an ephemeral project, like dozens in the field of culture and with which CDC Habitat, the Drac (

Regional Department of Cultural Affairs

) and Plaine Commune are associated.

»

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2022-09-21

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