‘Dirty Arab’: As the French elect their mayors, Muslim candidates face unrestrained hatred

‘Dirty Arab’: As the French elect their mayors, Muslim candidates face unrestrained hatred Submitted by Tassa Adidi on Thu, 03/19/2026 - 09:21 Ongoing municipal elections in France are marked by racist attacks and accusations of Islamist infiltration Electoral posters of far-right party Rassemblement National's candidate for mayor of Marseille, Franck Allisio, and incumbent mayor and candidate for re-election Benoit Payan, in Marseille, south-eastern France, on 17 March 2026 (Elodie Clement/AFP) Off Toufik Khiar has lost count of the number of times he has gone to the police station in recent days to report the defacement and removal of his campaign posters for France ’s municipal elections, where he came fourth in the first round on Sunday. The 43-year-old former economics and management professor decided to run for mayor of Kremlin-Bicetre, a town on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, under the Green Party banner. He had been an opposition city councillor there since 2020.