The church in the northern French town which was attacked on Tuesday by Daesh (ISIS) had donated a plot of land for building a mosque in 2000.
Not much else is known about the mosque, although some reports suggest that it had been frequented by notorious jihadist, Maxime Hauchard, who appeared in a video of the beheading of American Peter Kassig in 2014.
Normandy: Jihadist Maxime Hauchard frequented the mosque of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, according to security sources.
— Lucy Clarke-Billings (@LucyCB_1) July 26, 2016
Tuesday's attack saw an elderly priest brutally murdered by Daesh affiliates, who stormed the church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass. They held 5 hostages before slashing the throat of Father Jaques Hamel.
The attackers, who the Daesh group described as “soldiers” for the extremist organisation, were shot dead by police.
It was an act that further heightened anti-Islamic sentiment in France, with many taking to social media to condemn mosques as a hub for radicalization.
The French president must round up and deport all Muslims and bulldoze all the mosques ! Rid France of Islam #SayNoToIslam
— SoapGuruOfOz (@The_Rebel_Heart) July 27, 2016
However, amid the hate-speech and anti-Islamic rhetoric being bandied about on social media, news of the church’s previous act of acceptance towards Islam has helped highlight the importance of tolerance and unity between different religions.
According for France 24, the imam of the mosque said he was “stunned” by the murder of the local priest, Jacques Hamel, who he described as a friend.
“I don’t understand, all of our prayers go to his family and the Catholic community,” said Mohammed Karabila, who heads the regional council of Muslim worship for Haute Normandie.
The vast majority of Jihadist recruitment does not happen in a mosque, it happens online or in small social groups
— Iyad el-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) July 27, 2016
Karabila said he had met with Hamel on several occasions and had been part of an interfaith committee for the past 18 months.
“We talked about religion and how to live together. It has been 18 months that civilians have been attacked, now they are attacking religious symbols, using our religion as a pretext. It is no longer possible,” he said.
He said he was “stunned by the death of my friend. He was someone who gave his life to others. We are dumbfounded at the mosque.”
This latest attack comes as France remains on high alert after a truck ploughed into a crowd of people on Bastille day, killing 130. Daesh claimed responsiblity for the attack.
AM
