Today is the 2nd round of regional elections in France. The racist Front National (FN) of Marine LePen handily won the 1st round. Due to right-wing rhetoric in the European Union, the anti-immigration party PVV of Geert Wilders are leading the polls by a kingsize Trump lead, nearly equivalent to the sum of Liberal Party VVD and Labor Party (PvdA) now forming a unity government. So sad.

The Democratic party needs to join in the tough language on risk of terrorists disappearing in the stream on more than a million Syrian refugees and tougher military measures to fight terror in Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Hillary Clinton is passing diplomat John Kerry on the right – see both speeches at the Saban Forum of the Brookings Institute.  

○ PM Trudeau offers a new, social face of the Canadian people on the issue of refugees

France’s Muslims fear political Islamophobia

Just a week after the deadly terror attacks in Paris, many of France’s Muslims fear a backlash from the state and right-wing politicians even more than they fear individual outbursts of Islamophobia.

French Muslim campaigners and citizens alike have told Anadolu Agency that a combination of rhetoric from some media figures and political leaders has stereotyped a whole community.

During the last week alone, 24 anti-Muslim incidents were recorded – including attacks against woman wearing headscarves. These figures only reflect those complaints which were lodged with police.

However, the community fears a government crackdown on Muslim institutions more than individual anti-Muslim acts, according to Yasser Louati, spokesperson for the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF).

    “The effect of the Paris attacks on France’s Muslims is going to be terrible. Just hours after the attack, we already received complaints about people being attacked,” Louati tells Anadolu Agency.

    “Thirty minutes after the attacks, we had columnists for some media outlets and right-wing politicians already blaming the Muslim community and holding them responsible for what happened. Just 30 minutes; this is an outrageous indecency.

    “I went online to check reactions and statements and they [politicians and others] were already asking Muslims to go out and show solidarity… Solidarity with whom? We were, and have been targeted, as well.”

Young, Muslim And Targeted: Paris In A State Of Emergency | The Guardian |

Women are again the first victims of Islamophobia – CCIF Report after Charlie Hebdo attacks [pdf]

In Paris, Muslims hope for peace and brace for Islamophobia   Al-Jazeera America - Nov. 14, 2015

News about what had happened came to the spectators in bits and pieces, she said, hampered by a bad signal for cell phones. People weren’t even sure if the trains would be running to take them home.

But the panic started when the 75,000-strong crowd was filing outside of the stadium. Already on edge, Jaber and her friends were walking through one of the exit corridors when people behind them started running hysterically. Jaber and her friends started running as fast as they could, some losing shoes as they fled.

“For a few minutes, we thought something is going to happen behind us,” Jaber said. “We thought we were living terrorism as it was happening.”

“It was a nightmare,” she said.

It was hours later that Jaber learned three armed men had detonated explosive devices while trying to enter the stadium.

Jaber is 25, a native of France whose two parents are Syrian. A graduate student working toward her doctorate in political science, she noted that Muslims in France have been the targets of those who believe Islam is a violent religion, as well as fodder for right-wing politicians who want an easy vote.

“There is no easy solution to Islamophobia,” she said. “As Muslims, our salvation comes from our neighbors. Instead of being scared, we should be more open. We should express ourselves and let people know us personally.”

“We all need to come together to fight groups like ISIS,” Jaber added, using another acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the armed group that claimed responsibility for Friday night’s attacks.

A 19-year-old Muslim woman declined to give her name, fearful of retribution for speaking out. But as someone who lives in one of the districts that were hit in Friday’s attacks, she was devastated and sad for the victims and their families.

But she also urged reflection and analysis.

“It is the key to process these events and to prevent misconceptions about who the guilty ones are,” she said. “As a French Muslim, I worry that this massacre will be used against the French Muslim community by politicians, like it happened back in January when Charlie Hebdo was attacked. But I also worry that refugees, especially those coming from Syria, will be the next target of conservative politics and racist acts.”

Al Jazeera: The ISIL threat