When the Germans occupied France in 1942, wearing a yellow star was imposed on all French and foreign Jews living there.
On Monday, the former adviser at the Elysee Palace for diversity, Abderahmane Dahmane, called on Muslims to wear a "green star" to protest against the debate on secularism and Islam wanted by the ruling UMP.
Dahmane, former national secretary of the UMP, was sacked from his post at the Elysee Palace on 11 March after severely criticizing the debate, calling it a "plague for Muslims" and accusing Mr. Cope of being "neo -Nazi".
"The green star is a sign that Muslims in France have decided to wear in order to request the cancellation of the debate on Islam and an end of the islamophobia of the UMP and Mr. Cope (John Francis)".
The text is signed by Mr. Dahmane, as chairman of the Council of Muslim democrats in France, and by Hassan Ben M'Barek, a spokesman for Suburbs Respect which presents itself as a collective of associations, but whose influence seems limited .
The announcemnt of the green star initiative was made at a press conference held Tuesday at 11:00 AM on the forecourt of the Great Masjid of Paris.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, at a Monday meeting with leaders of the UMP, affirmed the need for the debate on secularism.
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