Several thousand protesters against Islamophobia in Paris on Sunday

Several thousand protesters marched in Paris on Sunday, at the call of several organizations and public figures, to denounce "the rise of Islamophobia in France" and pay tribute to Aboubakar Cissé, a young Malian man killed in a mosque in the Gard region.

"Racism begins with words and ends like Aboubakar," proclaimed a placard visible in the procession, which was attended by numerous representatives of La France Insoumise, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Louis Boyard, Aymeric Caron, Aurélie Trouvé and Eric Coquerel, an AFP journalist noted.

"With the death of Aboubakar Cissé , a red line has been crossed," said Tarek, 44, a production manager from the Paris region, marching in the sunshine with a large blue, white and red flag.

Amidst French and Palestinian flags, the protesters chanted "no, no to Islamophobia," with several slogans and placards targeting the Interior Minister: "Even if Retailleau doesn't want it, we're here," and "it's not veiled women, it's not Muslims, it's Retailleau who needs to be fired."

Anti-racist organizations had called for a march in the capital, where the police headquarters counted 3,700 participants and the organizers 15,000, and elsewhere in France: there were around 400 in Lille, around 200 in Lyon according to the headquarters, and 150 in Marseille according to the organizers and the police headquarters.

LFI MP Éric Coquerel deplored an "undeniable increase in Islamophobia, leading to the death of Aboubakar Cissé in a mosque." "We can never overstate the responsibility of Minister Retailleau, who is merging the right and the far right," he declared, assuring "our Muslim compatriots" that "we will not give up."

"Islamophobia kills, injures, discriminates, humiliates... Stop," read a placard in Marseille, where the rally also included a Catholic priest, Father Joseph Sene, 36, who "came to support our Muslim brothers," and a Protestant pastor, Bryan Parrish, 63, who believes "we can live together very well."

The first three months of the year saw a 72% increase in anti-Muslim acts compared to the same period in 2024, with 79 cases recorded, according to a count by the Ministry of the Interior.

Yassine Benyettou, national secretary of the RED Jeunes collective and co-organizer of the march, deplored this week a growing "constant fear" in the Muslim community, believing that the "uninhibited speech" of a section of the political class is fueling an anti-Muslim climate. The murder of Aboubakar Cissé has rekindled a debate around the very term "Islamophobia."

Bruno Retailleau , whose attitude in this affair has been criticized on the left and by those close to the victim, considered that "there is a very marked ideological connotation of the term Islamophobia with regard to the Muslim Brotherhood, which means that in our ministry, we take the precaution of not using it."

Prime Minister François Bayrou, on the other hand, defended the use of the term "Islamophobic" in this case. This debate was echoed in the Parisian demonstration on Sunday, with a protester holding this sign: "They are not Islamophobic, they just don't like Muslims."