“I don’t have to justify myself” affirms Yassine. He will however spend two hours facing the inhabitants of Saint-Jeures during a public meeting on Friday, December 17. After the arson of the building site of his house on October 24, it was necessary to burst the abscess. The project is huge: 1,184m² square in this small village in Haute-Loire where barely a thousand souls live. On the scale of the territory, it is almost pharaonic, with its eleven rooms, each equipped with its personal bathroom. But besides the architecture, one room in particular poses a problem for some inhabitants: the prayer room.
Several sticking points
Alone in front of the room, the future owner first detailed and explained his project. The choice of architectures. His building permit, validated by the town hall on October 20. The inhabitants accuse him of not respecting the local town planning plan, where he tells him to apply the Grenelle 2 law.
The prayer room scares some
It is after an hour that the heart of the problem finally seems to be tackled. The prayer room. “You are going to tell us what’s in this house.” “Tell us how many people can accommodate this prayer room.” Some people suspect him with cover-up of wanting to open a Koranic school. The Lyonnais undeceives them. “It’s for my parents and my parents-in-law. I’m a Muslim but I don’t pray. I’m like a Catholic going to mass for Christmas and Easter.”
– Louise thomann
In the room we can feel all the tension between the inhabitants who oppose the construction of this huge building of 1,184 m². And those who want to welcome Yassine and his family to Saint-Jeures. Boos and applause punctuate the speeches of each other. A police car is parked in front of the room, just in case.
Do you want me here? If you don’t want to, tell me, I won’t force it.
We assure the entrepreneur that there are no racists here, that his skin color or his religion are not the cause of this fierce opposition. Yassine therefore ends his plea with a question: _ “_Do you want me here? If you don’t want to, tell me, I won’t rush through. “ The audience, clearly divided on the subject, did not respond.