Islamophobia: 274 attacks on French Muslims in Six Months

France has seen an alarming rise in violent anti-Muslim acts across the country since the Jan. 7-9 attacks on the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper.

The French Council for the Muslim Religion warned of an increase in Islamophobic attacks and threats in France during the first six months of the year, rising by four-folds than in 2014.

According to reports about five million Muslims, mostly from North Africa, living in France, which ranks first for the number of Muslims in the European countries.

Head of the Council said in a statement published by Al Jazeera on Friday said that the number of anti-Muslim acts and threats accounts to 274 during the first half of 2015, while the figure did not exceed 72 cases for the same period in 2014.

strongly criticizing blaming Muslims for the January’s terrorist attacks in Paris, Zekri an Observatory said that the pace of Islamophobic acts in France has increased dramatically, after Paris attack.

Since the attacks, mosques have been damaged by a grenade, gunshots and repeated vandalism, and stores owned by Muslims have been burned, he added.

The head of the Observatory accused the French politicians of being “indifferent” towards the assaults on Muslims. He also criticized some politicians for involvement in “provocative speeches”.

According to Zekri this figures do not reflect the actual number of the assaults and threats against Muslims in France, noting that many Muslims do not report the attacks committed against them to the police.