Move over, Salman Rushdie, Michel Houellebecq, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Islamists have a new bête noire—Barbie. In a Paris suburb, a gang of Muslim youths managed to shut down a screening of Barbie, the PG-rated 2023 movie, because it apparently endorses homosexuality.
The incident took place in Noisy-le-Sec, located in the immigrant-heavy Seine-Saint-Denis département. On Saturday, the local council had planned to show Barbie as part of an outdoor cinema programme for people living in deprived areas. But 15 young people stopped the event from going ahead by threatening council workers and trying to smash equipment. According to local communist mayor Olivier Sarrabeyrouse, the Muslims claimed the film “promoted homosexuality and insulted the image of women.” Sarrabeyrouse has since filed a criminal complaint and rescheduled the movie, remarking, “There is no cultural no-go zone in Noisy-le-Sec.”
Except there is a cultural no-go zone in Noisy-le-Sec, as there are in many parts of France. The Barbie cancellation is by no means an isolated incident. France has the largest Muslim population of any European country, making up between 7% and 10% of the country’s 67 million inhabitants. As a result, France is often held hostage by vocal, radical Muslims.
Back in May, Fabrice Balanche, a professor specialising in the Middle East, was interrupted and attacked in the middle of his lecture at Lumière University Lyon 2 by a group of masked, hooded protestors, who were demonstrating against the university’s ban on holding an iftar (Ramadan fast-breaking meal) on campus. A similar incident took place in February, when Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, a well-known anthropologist, received death threats and was subsequently de-platformed because she planned to give a lecture on the Muslim Brotherhood at the University of Lille. She is now under permanent police protection.
Islamists have also infiltrated France on a systematic level. Earlier this year, a much-needed report by two senior civil servants found that the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist network, has been building “ecosystems at the local level to structure the lives of Muslims from birth till death.” Interior minister Bruno Retailleau stressed that “below-the-radar Islamism is trying to infiltrate institutions, whose ultimate aim is to tip the whole of French society under sharia law.” In response, President Emmanuel Macron presented measures last month to deal with entryism, proposing a law that would increase administrative and financial sanctions for organisations supported by the Brotherhood and decrease opportunities for the foreign funding of mosques, societies and cultural institutions that spread Islamist propaganda.
In cities across France—particularly in Lille, Lyon, and Marseille—there exists a sort of parallel Islamic society. Sporting associations, schools, and even local governments have been taken over by Islamists. This ‘ecosystem’ is used to enforce religious observance among the Muslim population, such as veiling for women, wearing beards for men, dressing in Islamic clothing, and fasting during Ramadan. In many sporting clubs, players are encouraged to pray before matches, and prayer rooms have been set up in changing rooms. The report even showed that groups connected to the Muslim Brotherhood had attempted to sway the European Union through lobbying.
With Islamist influence running this deep, it’s no wonder that local officials like Sarrabeyrouse end up caving to these demands. Bizarrely, Sarrabeyrouse seems to think that the ‘far Right’ is somehow responsible for the Barbie furore, which he believes was “hijacked by the Right.” “Let’s not be fooled,” he said. “This is a dirty political manoeuvre… An incident at Noisy has been taken over by the far-right fringe to stigmatise a neighbourhood.” Similarly, Les Inrockuptibles, a left-leaning magazine, said, “Politicians of the right and far-right have leapt on the news to exploit it and use it for their games.”
It is not, however, “exploitation” or “hijacking” to point out that this is a serious, ongoing problem in France. For far too long, the threat of Islamism has been swept under the rug by cries of ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘racism.’ Allowing this kind of hostile, fanatical ideology to fester has deadly consequences. Who can forget the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre, when 11 employees of the satirical magazine were killed in Paris for the ‘crime’ of printing an image that mocked the Prophet Muhammad? Five years later, in 2020, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside his school by a Russian Muslim refugee, who believed Paty had shown an image of Muhammad as part of a class about free speech.
All of this, of course, runs contrary to France’s official policy of laïcité, or secularism, a deep-rooted value of the republic that aims to keep religion as far away from the state as possible. In practice, this means that those working in the government and public sector are formally not allowed to wear any overt religious symbols, regardless of religion, as are school pupils. Similar rules are in place in many private-sector companies. There are plenty of arguments one can make against laïcité, both from a Christian perspective and a freedom-loving one. But in any case, why should Islamists be given essentially free rein to intimidate the rest of the population into abiding by their religion? While it is good that the Noisy mayor is planning to reschedule the Barbie showing, it is disgraceful that a small group of radicals were able to cancel it in the first place.
It is also abundantly clear that Sarrabeyrouse and those like him will not learn anything from this episode. Even in the face of obvious Islamist coercion, the Left continues to ignore the problem. But this won’t make it go away. Throughout the continent, the insidious influence of political Islam is spreading, from the return of de facto blasphemy laws to the rise of Islamic identity politics to growing censorship under the guise of fighting ‘Islamophobia.’ If the political, cultural, and media elites insist on turning a blind eye to Islamism, it won’t just be the likes of Barbie on the chopping block. Expect to see more cultural cancellations, laws policing criticisms of Islam, and the political mobilisation of a community that is fundamentally at odds with Western values.
Seemingly silly culture war flashpoints like these are a test of Europe’s backbone. If we don’t defend Barbie from 15 angry youths, how can we possibly expect to defend our civilisation from a network of extremists that hate us?
France Is Being Held Hostage by Islamism
Canadian actor Ryan Gosling and Australian actress Margot Robbie (R) pose on the pink carpet upon arrival for the European premiere of “Barbie” in central London on July 12, 2023.
Justin Tallis / AFP
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Move over, Salman Rushdie, Michel Houellebecq, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Islamists have a new bête noire—Barbie. In a Paris suburb, a gang of Muslim youths managed to shut down a screening of Barbie, the PG-rated 2023 movie, because it apparently endorses homosexuality.
The incident took place in Noisy-le-Sec, located in the immigrant-heavy Seine-Saint-Denis département. On Saturday, the local council had planned to show Barbie as part of an outdoor cinema programme for people living in deprived areas. But 15 young people stopped the event from going ahead by threatening council workers and trying to smash equipment. According to local communist mayor Olivier Sarrabeyrouse, the Muslims claimed the film “promoted homosexuality and insulted the image of women.” Sarrabeyrouse has since filed a criminal complaint and rescheduled the movie, remarking, “There is no cultural no-go zone in Noisy-le-Sec.”
Except there is a cultural no-go zone in Noisy-le-Sec, as there are in many parts of France. The Barbie cancellation is by no means an isolated incident. France has the largest Muslim population of any European country, making up between 7% and 10% of the country’s 67 million inhabitants. As a result, France is often held hostage by vocal, radical Muslims.
Back in May, Fabrice Balanche, a professor specialising in the Middle East, was interrupted and attacked in the middle of his lecture at Lumière University Lyon 2 by a group of masked, hooded protestors, who were demonstrating against the university’s ban on holding an iftar (Ramadan fast-breaking meal) on campus. A similar incident took place in February, when Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, a well-known anthropologist, received death threats and was subsequently de-platformed because she planned to give a lecture on the Muslim Brotherhood at the University of Lille. She is now under permanent police protection.
Islamists have also infiltrated France on a systematic level. Earlier this year, a much-needed report by two senior civil servants found that the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist network, has been building “ecosystems at the local level to structure the lives of Muslims from birth till death.” Interior minister Bruno Retailleau stressed that “below-the-radar Islamism is trying to infiltrate institutions, whose ultimate aim is to tip the whole of French society under sharia law.” In response, President Emmanuel Macron presented measures last month to deal with entryism, proposing a law that would increase administrative and financial sanctions for organisations supported by the Brotherhood and decrease opportunities for the foreign funding of mosques, societies and cultural institutions that spread Islamist propaganda.
In cities across France—particularly in Lille, Lyon, and Marseille—there exists a sort of parallel Islamic society. Sporting associations, schools, and even local governments have been taken over by Islamists. This ‘ecosystem’ is used to enforce religious observance among the Muslim population, such as veiling for women, wearing beards for men, dressing in Islamic clothing, and fasting during Ramadan. In many sporting clubs, players are encouraged to pray before matches, and prayer rooms have been set up in changing rooms. The report even showed that groups connected to the Muslim Brotherhood had attempted to sway the European Union through lobbying.
With Islamist influence running this deep, it’s no wonder that local officials like Sarrabeyrouse end up caving to these demands. Bizarrely, Sarrabeyrouse seems to think that the ‘far Right’ is somehow responsible for the Barbie furore, which he believes was “hijacked by the Right.” “Let’s not be fooled,” he said. “This is a dirty political manoeuvre… An incident at Noisy has been taken over by the far-right fringe to stigmatise a neighbourhood.” Similarly, Les Inrockuptibles, a left-leaning magazine, said, “Politicians of the right and far-right have leapt on the news to exploit it and use it for their games.”
It is not, however, “exploitation” or “hijacking” to point out that this is a serious, ongoing problem in France. For far too long, the threat of Islamism has been swept under the rug by cries of ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘racism.’ Allowing this kind of hostile, fanatical ideology to fester has deadly consequences. Who can forget the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre, when 11 employees of the satirical magazine were killed in Paris for the ‘crime’ of printing an image that mocked the Prophet Muhammad? Five years later, in 2020, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside his school by a Russian Muslim refugee, who believed Paty had shown an image of Muhammad as part of a class about free speech.
All of this, of course, runs contrary to France’s official policy of laïcité, or secularism, a deep-rooted value of the republic that aims to keep religion as far away from the state as possible. In practice, this means that those working in the government and public sector are formally not allowed to wear any overt religious symbols, regardless of religion, as are school pupils. Similar rules are in place in many private-sector companies. There are plenty of arguments one can make against laïcité, both from a Christian perspective and a freedom-loving one. But in any case, why should Islamists be given essentially free rein to intimidate the rest of the population into abiding by their religion? While it is good that the Noisy mayor is planning to reschedule the Barbie showing, it is disgraceful that a small group of radicals were able to cancel it in the first place.
It is also abundantly clear that Sarrabeyrouse and those like him will not learn anything from this episode. Even in the face of obvious Islamist coercion, the Left continues to ignore the problem. But this won’t make it go away. Throughout the continent, the insidious influence of political Islam is spreading, from the return of de facto blasphemy laws to the rise of Islamic identity politics to growing censorship under the guise of fighting ‘Islamophobia.’ If the political, cultural, and media elites insist on turning a blind eye to Islamism, it won’t just be the likes of Barbie on the chopping block. Expect to see more cultural cancellations, laws policing criticisms of Islam, and the political mobilisation of a community that is fundamentally at odds with Western values.
Seemingly silly culture war flashpoints like these are a test of Europe’s backbone. If we don’t defend Barbie from 15 angry youths, how can we possibly expect to defend our civilisation from a network of extremists that hate us?
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