FRIDAY SERMONS AT PARIS GRAND MOSQUE: IN MIDST OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004988 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2016 TAGS: KISL PTER SCUL FR SUBJECT: FRIDAY SERMONS AT PARIS GRAND MOSQUE: IN MIDST OF MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, IMAM OFFERS PRAYERS FOR LEBANON Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) Days after the Grand Mosque of Paris issued a statement of sympathy to the Lebanese people in the wake of Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Poloff attended the weekly Friday sermon on July 21 at the mosque. Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, announced earlier in the week that "the Muslim community is following events of recent days with very great concern. We express our total solidarity with the Lebanese people." He also stated that Friday prayers at the mosque would address the situation in Lebanon. SERMON OFFERS PRAYERS FOR "OUR BROTHERS IN LEBANON" ¶2. (U) The July 21 Friday "khutba" (sermon) at the Grand Mosque of Paris offered prayers for the Lebanese people, asking God to protect "our brothers in Lebanon." The sermon and prayers were almost entirely in Arabic. While Friday sermons in many countries have concluded with prayers for Palestinians and Iraqis over the past several years, Lebanon was added to the list for the July 21 sermon. While much of the "khutba" focused on issues common to Friday sermons such as moral values and encouraging "travelers, immigrants, and Muslims in France and everywhere" to remember God in their daily lives, the sermon also decried violence in "the Middle East" specifically naming "Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq." ¶3. (C) The Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon were on the minds of many congregants, with small groups of men discussing the topic in French and Arabic in communal ablution rooms and in the prayer rooms before the "dhuhr" (noon prayer) service. In the communal ablution room, Poloff heard men harshly criticizing Israel in French and Arabic and expressing their sadness about political conditions in the Middle East. "Iraq and now Beirut, where are they going to go next?" one man asked his friends. ARABIC DOMINANT AT PARIS GRAND MOSQUE ¶4. (C) The mosque was packed for the "dhuhr" prayers on July 21, which one congregant sitting next to Poloff said is normal for Friday prayers. Hundreds of men filled the central prayer room as well as overflow rooms and hallways in the basement of the mosque. The congregation was multi-ethnic, though most were of North African origin. The congregants included men of all ages, including substantial numbers of young men. While some congregants spoke French to each other, Arabic dominated. Most wore Western clothes, including one young man sitting next to Poloff who wore shorts, though some congregants sported traditional Arab clothing such as the "thobe" common to the Arabian Peninsula. Outside the mosque, men in "thobes" collected money for the construction of mosques in France, while veiled women begged for charity. Following the Friday prayers, crowds of congregants moved towards cafes and restaurants in the area surrounding the mosque. In the communal spirit common to many Friday prayer services, some congregants greeted strangers leaving the mosque with them. At a sandwich shop across the street from the mosque, several congregants called out a traditional Muslim greeting to Poloff as they passed by: "Salaam alay-kum" (Peace be with you). Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON