1of5A banner reads « All united against political islamophobia » during a gathering in Paris, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Activists rallied Sunday in Paris to demand that the French government abandon a bill aimed at rooting out Islamist extremism that the protesters say could trample on religious freedom and make all Muslims into potential suspects.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less2of5Activists hold placards reading « No to the separatism law » in the center, and « Equality of rights is the right of everyone to be different » on the right, during a gathering in Paris, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Activists rallied Sunday in Paris to demand that the French government abandon a bill aimed at rooting out Islamist extremism that the protesters say could trample on religious freedom and make all Muslims into potential suspects.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less
3of54of5Shoppers who belong to the Muslim community wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus walk at the Belleville open market in Paris, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. More than three dozen police officers descended on a small private school in the city, blocked students inside their classrooms, took photos everywhere, even inside the refrigerator, and grilled the school director in her office. The dragnet sweeps schools, shops, clubs or mosques to rout out “radicalization.Michel Euler/APShow MoreShow Less
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PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament is voting Tuesday on a bill that would strengthen government oversight of mosques and religious schools and crack down on polygamy and forced marriage, among other measures aimed at rooting out Islamic radicalism.
The bill is part of broader French efforts to fight extremism in recent years that gained new urgency after a teacher was beheaded in October and other attacks. President Emmanuel Macron says the efforts are also needed to protect French values like gender equality and secularism from encroaching fundamentalism in some communities.
But many French Muslims say the draft law limits religious freedom and unfairly targets them, and say France already has enough laws to fight terrorist violence. Critics call the bill a political maneuver by Macron to win support from conservative and far-right voters ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The bill is expected to win approval in the National Assembly, which is dominated by Macron's centrist party, as well as the conservative-led Senate.
