Approval of the building permit for the Grand Mosque in Marseille, France

Islam Story The Administrative Court of Appeal in Marseille, France, upheld the building permit for the city's Grand Mosque, which had been revoked by the Administrative Court in late October 2011. The court based its decision on recommendations submitted in late May by the General Rapporteur, an independent judge whose role is to advise the court. This allowed work to resume on the project, which had been repeatedly delayed in a city with one of the largest Muslim communities in France. A major Islamic organization in France confirmed that several Muslim cemeteries were desecrated earlier this week in the southeast of the country. The French Council of the Muslim Faith strongly condemned the desecration of Muslim graves, describing it as a cowardly act. Local newspapers reported that the acts included racist graffiti on the graves. France has the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe, and Paris is struggling to combat the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia. A wave of killings this year involving a young Frenchman of Algerian origin has reignited the debate about the extent of Muslim integration into French society.