The French go to the polls this weekend for the first round of voting in the presidential election.
Some say the election rhetoric has taken on an anti-Muslim tone.
Pictured, Mohamed Merah. His rampage may be one reason some French have turned against Muslims.
After Mohamed Merah murdered seven French people to avenge alleged wrongs done to Muslims in Afghanistan and to Palestinian children, the electioneering took on an anti-immigration tone.
Pictured, Sarkozy (DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images)
In reaction, centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to cut immigration by 50 percent. During his tenure, Sarkozy banned burqas in France.
Pictured, Marine Le Pen (DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images)
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right National Front, is proudly anti-Islam.
“Is fighting Islamic fundamentalism reprehensible? Is fighting against the Sharia (Muslim law) reprehensible?,” Le Pen said during an interview with The Associated Press. “I take responsibility.”
Pictured, Francois Hollande (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Frontrunner, Socialist Party candidate, Francois Hollande, through his spokesman criticized Sarkozy for his complaints that there are too many foreigners in France. Mireille Le Corre, immigration spokeswoman Hollande, said Sarkozy’s plan to halve immigration was ‘impossible and bad politics.’
“To achieve it would be an attack on people’s fundamental rights and would see France hauled before European courts and vilified in other countries. It would be simply impossible to achieve,” she told PressTV.
Canada has had its own struggles lately with welcoming immigrants. After incidents of honour killings, such as the case of the Shafia family murders, immigration officials have said they may block immigrants whose have committed crimes recognized by Canadian standards, though not in their home countries. Examples include domestic violence and polygamy, the Toronto Sun reports.
Further to that, the city of Gatineau in Quebec was criticized in December after it released a statement of values aimed at immigrants that included advice that honour killing and domestic violence were illegal. The guide included advice that bribing public officials is illegal and cooking smelly food may offend neighbours.
The rubble of the World Trade Center smoulders following the 9/11 attacks. (ALEX FUCHS/AFP/Getty Images)
After 9/11, there was a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment in the world. The number of anti-Muslim hate groups in the U.S. tripled to 30 in 2011, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Reuters reports. The FBI found crimes against Muslims jumped to a five year high in 2010, according to the story.
