‘Islamo-hooligan’ Médine performing at the Bataclan is a gift to extremists | Cécile Guerin

Putting the controversial Muslim rapper on stage at the scene of a terrorist attack plays into the hands of the French far-right

Since the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo three years ago, the debate about censorship and the limits of freedom of speech has rumbled on in France. It took a new turn this week with the revelation that the controversial rapper Médine will perform two shows in October at the Bataclan concert hall, where gunmen killed 90 people on 13 November 2015.

The 35-year French-Algerian Muslim, who describes himself as an “Islamo-racaille” (which can be loosely translated as “Islamo-hooligan”), is known for his provocative songs about Islam and France’s brand of secularism (laïcité). The controversy stems from his 2005 album Jihad, the Greatest Battle Is Against Oneself, which includes calls to “crucify secularists like in Golgotha” and statements such as: “I launch fatwas on the heads of idiots”.

Aucun Français ne peut accepter que ce type aille déverser ses saloperies sur le lieu même du carnage du #Bataclan.
La complaisance ou pire, l’incitation au fondamentalisme islamiste, ça suffit ! MLP #PasDeMédineAuBataclan pic.twitter.com/Xqu4JLwz6t

Related: The far right is rising, and Britain is dangerously complacent about it | Ellie Mae O’Hagan

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