Report on the “threat” of the Muslim Brotherhood: barely examined, already widely exploited

A national defense and security council, chaired by Emmanuel Macron himself, is examining a report on the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, May 21. An investigation – the broad outlines of which were leaked in the columns of Le Figaro – warns of a “threat to national cohesion” with the development of Islamism “from below” and at the municipal level.

According to the document obtained by Agence France Presse (AFP), the report "very clearly establishes the anti-republican and subversive nature of the Muslim Brotherhood" and "proposes ways to address this threat," summarized the source within the presidential palace. The President of the Republic, like Prime Minister François Bayrou, the ministers responsible for foreign affairs, finance, national education, higher education and sports had a meeting at the Élysée Palace at 11:30 a.m. to decide how to combat this "entryism."

A meeting on which a section of the political and media class is trying to impose their narrative. Le Journal du dimanche ( JDD ) and Le Point – two publications that happily support the fascisation of public debate – have, for example, jumped at the chance to praise the relevance of a report that is "finally revealed" by the former, and which could signal "the end of naivety" by the latter.

Following this council, measures will be taken , "some of which will be communicated," but others will remain classified, the Élysée Palace announced in advance. "One of the aims of this report is to raise awareness among the State about this problem," but also "to make the general public and local elected officials aware of the threat and how it operates," particularly in the run-up to the 2026 municipal elections , the government asserts. "Entryism takes a long time, it's hidden, and it's a discourse that is very officially policed," adds a source interviewed by Le Figaro , who also points to " charitable dynamics on the ground."

Faced with the spectre of the report being used for Islamophobic purposes, the Élysée Palace attempted to clarify its objective. "We are all perfectly aligned in saying that we must not lump people together" with Muslims because "we are fighting against Islamism and its radical excesses," it announced. The Minister of the Interior – just elected head of the Republicans (LR) party – Bruno Retailleau, however, did not hesitate, in front of journalists waiting for him in front of the LR headquarters after his victory on Sunday, May 18, to raise the spectre of a "very clear threat to the Republic, a threat to national cohesion," even if it meant bringing up the card of a so-called "submersion."

The former senator, whose ideological proximity to the extreme right is no longer in doubt, even believes that the "ultimate objective" of the Muslim Brotherhood "is to push all of French society into Sharia law ." A difficult position to maintain for the council, which also announced that it wants to look into social networks. All in order to combat what it considers to be channels used... "to try to demonstrate that the State is Islamophobic." The same Bruno Retailleau had already distinguished himself at the end of April, during an interview with the Tribune dimanche , by relaying a fake news story which says that "the word "Islamophobia " was coined by the Muslim Brotherhood to prohibit any criticism of a religion."

The political implications of such a report by the Bayrou government are also being called into question in light of the latest proposal from the secretary general of Renaissance, Gabriel Attal . The Hauts-de-Seine MP proposed "for minors under 15 years of age, to ban the wearing of the veil in public spaces." The former Prime Minister justifies his announcement by saying it is an "attack on gender equality and child protection." The party, which will hold a thematic convention on sovereign issues on Monday, May 26, thus wishes to establish "an offense of coercion to wear the veil against parents who force their underage daughters to wear the veil."

A possible measure denounced by several left-wing voices. The rebellious deputy ( ^17th constituency, Paris) Danièle Obono castigates the "Islamophobic race to the bottom between the presidential candidates within the bourgeois bloc." The same goes for her colleague Thomas Portes ( ^3rd constituency, Seine-Saint-Denis): " The assassination of Aboubakar Cissé and the explosion of attacks against Muslims are apparently not enough for the Macronists. This evening, Gabriel Attal launches a new Islamophobic offensive."

On the French Communist Party (PCF) side, Hauts-de-Seine senator Pierre Ouzoulias believes that Gabriel Attal is "looking for a rebound to forget his political difficulties, even if it means stigmatizing some of our compatriots." The vice-president of the Senate adds: "Running after the extreme right is running to your own downfall. If Gabriel Attal were sincere in his fight for secularism and equality between women and men, he would fight with me to extend the 2004 law to private schools under contract ."

The same goes for the Générations MP ( ^8th constituency, Yvelines) Benjamin Lucas, who criticises "the impressive effect of the new pontificate" , namely that "Jean-Marie Le Pen has been resurrected" . The conclusions of this report have barely been revealed when the right and the extreme right seize upon it to unfold their racist obsessions.