Groups representing French Muslims have urged authorities to step in to protect them in the same way as they have boosted security around Jewish sites.
“All Muslim organizations in France are concerned about the numerous anti-Muslim acts seen in the past few days and call on the authorities to be vigilant to ensure the security of mosques,” said Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris and president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls told CNN’s French affiliate BFMTV on Monday that a number of mosques had been attacked in recent days, with shots being fired in some cases.
In other instances, religious buildings have been set on fire, a pig’s head has been stuck to a prayer room door and messages of hate have been sprayed on walls, according to French media reports.
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“He was killed by false Muslims,” said Malek, warning of the dangers of a wider backlash against those who share his faith.
“I address myself now to all the racists, Islamophobes and anti-Semites,” he said. “One must not confuse extremists with Muslims. Mad people have neither color or religion.
“I want to make another point: Don’t tar everybody with the same brush, don’t burn mosques — or synagogues. You are attacking people. It won’t bring our dead back, and it won’t appease the families.”
CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen, Alexander Felton and Khushbu Shah contributed to this report.
