Explained: Emmanuel Macron’s dispute with Pakistan over school IDs for Muslim children
France demands apology for ‘blatant lies’ following Pakistani minister’s ‘Nazi’ allegations
A Pakistani minister has withdrawn comments comparing Emmanuel Macron’s treatment of Muslims to the Nazis persecution of Jews during the Second World War, following outrage from Paris.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had demanded the immediate deletion of the tweeted claims by Islamad’s Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari about new rules requiring children at French schools to have ID numbers.
In the since-deleted post, Mazari had written that “Macron is doing to Muslims what the Nazis did to the Jews – Muslim children will get ID numbers (other children won’t) just as Jews were forced to wear the yellow star on their clothing for identification”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mazari linked to an article on The Muslim Vibe media platform that also claimed - incorrectly - that the ID numbers would only be given to Muslim children. The article has since been amended.
Macron proposed the ID rollout as part of a ban on home-schooling in a “push to clamp down on radical Islam” following a string of terror attacks on French soil, Politico reports. The schools plan is part of a proposed “charter of republican values” and will apply to all children, not just Muslims.
Parents who home-school their children “will face up to six months in jail” under legislation in a bill unveiled last week, adds The Times. More than 50,000 children are currently home-schooled in France and the new rules are “an attempt to prevent them from falling under the influence of religious radicals”, the newspaper reports.
Responding to Mazari’s Nazi comparisons, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said that “these despicable words are blatant lies, loaded with an ideology of hatred and violence”.
“Such slanderous comments are disgraceful at such level of responsibility” and are “deeply shocking and insulting”, the spokesperson added.
But Mazari and The Muslim Vibe were not alone in suggesting that Macron’s plan only extended to Muslim children.
Karen Attiah, the global opinions editor at The Washington Post, also sparked anger by tweeting that Macron “wants to give Muslim kids IDs to go to school”. Attiah later apologised for the error, but added: “To act like Macron isn’t stoking Islamophobia is simply folly.”
Macron has committed to confronting Islamism in France in the wake of the series of high-profile terrorist attacks in his country.
In October, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis” globally and vowed to work against “Islamist separatism” in France.
Two weeks later, history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside his Paris school for showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during a lesson about freedom of speech.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs.
Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Is Europe ready to come to its own defense?
Today's Big Question 'There is a risk our Europe could die'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Panama presidency won by stand-in for fugitive
Speed Read José Raúl Mulino was the stand-in candidate for disqualified former president Ricardo Martinelli
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Xi comes to Europe: what's on the agenda?
The Explainer China's president visiting for first time since 2019, with spotlight on support for Russia over Ukraine and trade tensions with EU
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Russia gains as Ukraine awaits US aid
Speed Read Ukrainian forces have retreated from several villages as the situation at the front line worsens
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Haiti interim council, prime minister sworn in
Speed Read Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns amid surging gang violence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Myanmar: the Spring Revolution and the downfall of the generals
Talking Point An armed protest movement has swept across the country since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in 2021
By The Week Staff Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published