It’s not an essay. It’s a report from the front. A warning issued from within the State.
In this document published by Fondapol and prefaced by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, Alexandre Brugère, Prefect of Hauts-de-Seine, dares to name the enemy: Islamism in all its forms — jihadist, Muslim Brotherhood, or Salafist — is incompatible with the Republic.
“Even when non-violent, there can be no such thing as ‘good Islamists’ in the eyes of the Republic.”
The diagnosis is chilling: infiltrated mosques, instrumentalized associations, Islamist influencers on social media, complicit local elected officials, and public subsidies sometimes diverted from their intended purposes. Separatism advances quietly but methodically, under the radar and with strategic patience.
But Brugère doesn’t stop at diagnosis. He calls for action: transparency, oversight, dissolutions, expulsions, a crackdown on opaque funding, and above all, a unified front among public actors. He also delivers a message that is rarely heard and yet essential:
“The Republic exists only when it commands respect.”
Respecting the Republic means rejecting electoral opportunism, dubious alliances, and moral compromises. It means choosing principle over calculation, and naming things clearly — not out of hatred, but out of clarity and determination.
Most crucially, Brugère calls upon France’s Republican-minded Muslims. He urges them not to leave the ideological battlefield to the radicals, not to let their religion be hijacked by those who preach hatred and segregation:
“The Republic loves you, and you have every right to your place within it. […] It’s up to you to fight Islamism — within your families, among your friends, at your mosques.”
Our analysis:
- This text has the rare merit of naming responsibilities: those of the State, of elected officials, and of citizens.
- It reminds us that the problem is not spiritual but political, ideological, and organized.
- It exposes the blind spots of a Republic that too often tolerates the intolerable for the sake of comfort or convenience.
This report should be read and debated everywhere: in town halls, public administration schools, media newsrooms, and mosques. Not to stigmatize — but to awaken. Not to divide — but to resist. Together.
When a prefect takes up the pen, it means the fire is already burning.