Delafosse openly accused of Islamophobia: are LFI elected officials exploiting the Muslim vote in Montpellier in view of the municipal elections ?

Michaël Delafosse pris pour cible dans un tract distribué dans certains quartiers de la ville. Montage midi libre

Dans des tracts qui circulent à Montpellier, le maire est accusé de stigmatiser des citoyens de confession musulmane. Le premier magistrat s’en indigne alors que ces allégations s’organisent sur fond d’élection municipale de 2026…

Is the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse, the target of a defamatory campaign accusing him of stigmatizing citizens of Montpellier who are Muslims? ? Is he “Islamophobic”, as assured by the leaflets and posters that have been circulating in Montpellier since June ? Is he paying for his determination to defend secularism at all costs in his policy ?

The leaflet that circulates.

This is in any case what an investigation by L'Opinion reveals, which threw a spanner in the works by highlighting the existence of these leaflets distributed at the exit of the La Paillade mosque, or deposited in mailboxes in working-class neighborhoods of the city and in Juvignac. What does this leaflet say? ? That Michaël Delafosse “participates in the closure of mosques and Muslim establishments. He waited until more than 30,000 deaths and 17 demonstrations in Montpellier to talk about a ceasefire. He becomes a policeman of women's clothing (abaya)! "

"Oumma Montpellier" under surveillance

Michaël Delafosse knows that this full-scale attack has been organized for months from a group on the WhatsApp social network called "Oumma Montpellier". “Oumma”, meaning “the community” of believers in Arabic, discusses many topics, including international and local politics. To be part of this loop, you have to be invited and its participants are hand-picked.

It talks about the pro-Gaza demonstrations but also refers to the mayor of Montpellier as “a Zionist” and "a declared adversary". His faults are numerous: having "projected the caricatures of our Prophet on the Hôtel de Région"; having said of the assassin of Samuel Paty that it was “a Muslim fanatic”, having established a charter of secularism “which stigmatizes Muslims”, of having “declared for the abaya, a garment worn by our sisters that this garment was an attack on secularism” or of having “contributed to the closure of several Muslim educational establishments and a mosque“…

Challenge of the next municipal elections

“When we saw all these messages we were afraid”, remembers the deputy for security Sébastien Cote. But the Montpellier majority also knows that “Oumma Montpellier” calls for voting for La France Insoumise, ready for anything “to win these votes in the neighborhoods. But I will remain uncompromising on the values ​​of the Republic, secularism, and living together, even if it means losing an election. I am not prepared to back down on this fundamental issue”, Michaël Delafosse estimated yesterday morning, fairly disillusioned by these attacks that he considers “unworthy”.

A mayor who refuses, for the time being, to file a complaint. The LFI elected officials of Montpellier, suspected of working through communitarianism, do not wish, for the time being, to respond. Rhany Slimane, coordinator of LFI in Montpellier reserves the right to follow up but, in his entourage, he is said to be "disgusted" by these accusations. Contacted, the MP for the 2nd constituency of Hérault Nathalie Oziol assures that she has not “nothing to add on this subject”. But declared in the Opinion that when Michaël Delafosse arrived at the town hall, he “perverted secularism to cast suspicion on Muslims”. And adds that “for a Christian feast of Saint-Roch, he sees no problem of neutrality”.

Behind these attacks is the battle of the next municipal elections while LFI records record scores in the neighborhoods where the leaflets and posters are widely distributed. This will be an opportunity to confront "the values" of each camp…

Support for the mayor is organizing

Around the mayor, messages of support were very numerous after the Opinion article. For the PS federation, this is a “cynical use of Muslim communitarianism by LFI activists and local leaders, in line with the strategy revealed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon”. The socialist president of the region, Carole Delga, castigates “this defamatory campaign led by LFI… unworthy of your commitment to Montpellier, of your universalist, anti-racist and secular vision recognized beyond our ranks". Socialist senator Hussein Bourgi éevokes "a collusion between far-left groups and Islamists. We have been denouncing it for 5 years. We will continue to combat these dangerous, toxic and deadly connections for the Republic”… 

I subscribe to read the rest