Two Muslim Women Stabbed in France after Beheading of Teacher for Showing Pictures of the Prophet Muhammad 

By Yousuf Ali

In recent weeks, tensions have been high in France regarding the country’s Muslim country culminating in a French high school teacher being decapitated for showing pictures of the prophet Muhammad and the stabbing of two Muslim women near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 

According to DW,  the beheading involved an 18 year-old of Chechen Origin killing Samuel Paty, a school teacher. This followed the posting of a video by a parent accusing the teacher, Patty, of showing degrading pictures of the prophet to his class. The incident came after heightened tension involving Emmanuel Macron calling for more surveillance on mosques, requiring imams in France to be state approved amidst low approval ratings, 5Pillars reported. In the aftermath of the attack, the French authorities took steps against French Muslim institutions including closing a mosque and arresting certain Muslim activists. As an act of retailation for this incident, two Muslim women wearing the hijab were stabbed near the Eiffel Tower.

According to Euronews, “Two other women are in police custody on Tuesday, according to the Paris public prosecutor’s office, and an investigation for attempted intentional homicide has been opened.” According to The Metro, the suspects reportedly shouted “dirty Arabs” at the Muslim women while stabing them. This was in the aftermath of several actions by France against Muslim organizations and individuals encluding the dissolvation of a trust owned my Muslims and general increase of islamophobia increased by such repressive actions against their organizations.

According to Al Jazeera, “The crackdown has echoes of France’s response to the deadly November 2015 attacks in Paris by ISIL. Human rights groups criticised those measures, which saw mass arrests and raids under emergency rule, saying they yielded few results and left Muslims feeling like second-class citizens.” It is these actions that french Muslims believe help facilitate an environment where people feel empowered to retaliate against French Muslim individuals and organizations through violence and hate crimes.