Church Fires Fuel Anti-Muslim Conspiracism

From France 3: Un feu de végétation a provoqué l’incendie de l’église de Montenach en Moselle à la frontière Luxembourgeoise ce jeudi 30 avril 2026. Une partie du clocher s’est effondrée, la charpente a été entièrement brûlée, 60 pompiers et 40 véhicules étaient engagés pour circonscrire le sinistre maîtrisé en fin d’après-midi. News that a brushfire in eastern France had spread to a church ought to be a subject of merely local interest – however, images of the blaze, but not links to the news reports, are currently doing the rounds on social media, based on the assumption that when churches catch fire the reason must be arson, and that the arsonists must be Muslims, who always get away unobserved and without leaving any incriminating evidence. Followers of the likes of Tommy Robinson congratulate themselves for penetrating the mystery through their superior deductive abilities. This is a regular occurence – back in 2019, Full Fact noted the existence of a map that purported to show…