In a surprising move, government officials in Paris are taking a hard line against a Muslim Halal store. Their message: sell pork and alcohol or we are shutting you down:
The Good Price mini-market in Colombes has not followed the conditions of its lease, which states the shop must act as a “general food store”, the local authority has said.
It argues that members of the local community are not being served properly if the shop does not sell pork or alcohol products.
“The mayor of Colombes, Nicole Goueta, went there herself and asked the owner to diversify the range of products by adding alcohol and non-halal meats,” the mayor’s chief of staff, Jerome Besnard, told The Telegraph.
The halal supermarket replaced another small supermarket on the site last year and Mr Besnard said older residents had complained they were no longer able to buy the full range of products once available.
“We want a social mix,” Mr Besnard added. “We don’t want any area that is only Muslim or any area where there are no Muslims.” (source)
Now there are several issues here, but the basic principle is clear- the French are starting to push back, and it is reaching the levels of government.
This is important, because as much as Islam is rising in Europe, one of the questions that is equally relevant is- Will the Europeans push back? For many years, and still in many parts of Europe, the answer has been a resounding NO.
Now while it is true that some Europeans are waking up, many still do not care or even side with the Muslims. This does not even include the government, which are often times the biggest propagators of Islam. However, as far as Western Europe is concerned, over the last six months the French are showing themselves to be not only demonstrating a strong popular resistance that is equal to or greater than the movements in other Western European nations, but whose government is formally turning, albeit slowly, against the Muslims. The government aspect is critical, since the government is both a reflection of the people’s mindset as well as the will of the people to fight Islam. The fact that the French government is taking harder and harder stances against Islam, in this case going so far as to force Muslims to violate their faith or suffer legal reprocussions, is very notable.
The Muslims of France may not want to become too bold in their push for Islam. If trends continue this way, and so far they are, they might find themselves in a very difficult position in the not distant future.