Halal butcher shop targeted twice in racist attacks in France

«Pigs in France, Arabs Out». This racist message was shockingly found by Khaled Belhaj, the owner of a halal butcher shop in a town in Haute-Garonne, France, scrawled on his shop window the day after Eid. The police quickly intervened to document the hate crime, but just 24 hours later, the same hateful slogan reappeared. Over the course of two days, the shop belonging to this French-Moroccan businessman was targeted twice, according to La Dépêche.

«It’s not just our business that’s being attacked, it’s a whole community, an identity, a way of living peacefully and respecting others», Khaled Belhaj denounced on his Facebook page. He also spoke out on TikTok, warning about the normalization of hate speech in France and urging people to speak up: «If we stay silent, it will keep happening. We refuse to look the other way and let these acts multiply with indifference».

For safety reasons, Khaled and his partner Anaïs filed a complaint and removed the «halal» sign from their window. «I’m now afraid they’ll escalate, maybe vandalize the shop or worse, harm employees or customers», he shared, expressing concern for the community’s safety. The couple’s complaint has prompted an official police investigation.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident. Just two weeks ago, a court handed down a verdict in a similar case: a 28-year-old man received a two-year suspended prison sentence for spray-painting «Dirty race, Free France» on a halal butcher shop and mosque in La Roche-sur-Foron, Haute-Savoie, according to France Bleu.