“The police should be called immediately,” suggests a researcher specializing in Salafist networks

According to anthropologist Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, who lives under police protection, it is no longer necessary for “teachers and school executives to take the risk of directly intervening”.

“The police should be called immediately” when the veil is worn in a school establishment, suggests Thursday March 28 on franceinfo Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, anthropologist at the CNRS and author of the book Brotherhood and its networks published by Odile Jacob editions. She is the only French researcher to live under police protection.

The principal of the Maurice-Ravel high school in Paris who asked a student to remove her veil decided to leave his position after receiving death threats. The State decided to file a complaint for “slanderous denunciation”. The young woman had wrongly accused the principal of having assaulted her. “We can understand why he left his post”but “if everyone actually withdraws, yes, we will have lost in advance” against “Salafi ideology”, believes Florence Bergeaud-Blackler. She recommends banning the veil also in private schools and more generally banning it in France “for minors”.

franceinfo: Gabriel Attal has decided to file a complaint for “slanderous denunciation”. He also denounced “a form of Islamist entryism”. He uses the right words ?

Florence Bergeaud-Blackler: It’s important to put words to it. He is right to take such a step. We even have to go much further when there is a serious violation of the law. Everyone knows that you should not wear a veil in a school. Law enforcement should be called immediately. Schools, teachers and school managers must now not take the risk of intervening directly. We have known about this problem for 40 years. It goes back to the Creil affair in 1989. We know exactly how these networks act.

“Recently, it is more and more difficult to work because we are threatened, because we no longer even have access, when we are university students like me, to the campus.”

Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, anthropologist at the CNRS

at franceinfo

So, there are a number of steps to take. I gave a certain number of them in my book. I still have the feeling that these measures are not yet taken seriously.

The principal still preferred to step back a few months before retirement. Do you regret it?

Nicole Belloubet immediately reacted to the threats. There was support. Now we are very far from the mark. Much more upstream work is needed to ensure that these things do not happen. Afterwards, the principal, who is a civil servant, could have remained in office. He made this choice and it is completely respectable. As he approaches retirement, it is understandable that he left his position. It is very important that wherever we can, we resist this push because obviously, if everyone, in fact, withdraws, yes, we will have lost in advance. We need to take these issues much more seriously. And to name the ideology behind it, which is a Salafist ideology, which is Brotherist in particular.

This ideology pushes young people to provoke school authorities?

Absolutely. It does not take the form of an explicit order, but it is in an ideological bath in which these young people are immersed and which encourages them to do this. We are in a somewhat unusual period after October 7.

What do you recommend?

Already, we must be much firmer on the application of this law which must not only affect public schools, but private schools. I would go even further, I think we should ban the veil for minors.

“The objective of the Brotherhood is these Islamic micro-societies which are intended to expand. And there is no Islamic society without the imposition of the veil.”

Florence Bergeaud-Blackler

at franceinfo

We can curb this ideology by taking such measures. But there are still very big taboos. We still do not speak calmly, without censorship, without having a trembling voice, about Brotherhood, these networks and the Muslim Brotherhood which acts in France.