Mennel subected to cyberbullying

Mennel Ibtissem (22), a French-Syrian singer who became viral on the internet after her 2018 performance of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on The Voice France,  watched over 900, 000 times on YouTube.

In one Instagram post, she expressed doubts about the terrorist nature of the 2016 Nice lorry attack. She said the message from the day after the attack was taken out of context. The social media comments, which have now been deleted, emerged after her acclaimed performance on the programme. French media reported that in a post about the attack in Nice, in which 86 people were killed on Bastille Day she said: “It has become a routine, one attack a week! And to always remain faithful the terrorist took his identity papers with him. It’s true that when you’re planning a dirty move, you don’t forget to take your papers”.

The message reportedly included the hashtag#PrenezNousPourDesCons” ( Take us for idiots). The driver of the lorry was identified as a 31-year-old Tunisian man.  Weeks later after men burst into a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray killing an elderly priest she said:” The real terrorist is our government”, which sparked a social media storm with some users saying it was an insult to the victims of the Nice attack. The pressure piled on broadcaster TF1, The Voice’s producers to remove her from the competition while others came to the singer’s defence, saying she was being unfairly targeted for being a Muslim. Ms Ibtissem eventually apologised saying “ obviously she condemned terrorism”. But on Friday she announced she was leaving the programme. Her announcement in French has been watched more than 500, 000 times, with thousands of users expressing support for her.

France has traditionally been a beacon for reformers, with French centrist President Emmanuel Macron on Friday revealed a set of laws to fight what he described as the threat from radical Islamists and other extremists. He wanted to put the French republican values on the frontline in the battle against the divisions in society and wanted Islam in France to be a positive part of society. “ I’m not saying we need to create a French style of Islam, but that there can be a solid partnership with the French State. The best way we can do that is by freeing it from foreign influence”.

Despite Mennel Ibtissem’s success, she was subjected to the worst kind of cyberbullying, simply because she is Muslim and later because she removed her turban.

 

 

 

She faced a lot of criticism after her decision not to wear a hijab.