Rector of Paris Mosque Accuses Canon Français Banquets of “Exclusion”
7th May 2026
The controversy surrounding the banquets organised by Le Canon français shows no sign of abating. The initiative, launched by two young entrepreneurs to revive traditional banquets centred on culinary specialities from across France, has come under fire from the press and the Left on the grounds that it perpetuates an ideology of exclusion and promotes far-right ideas. The rector of the Paris Mosque has spoken out publicly to, in turn, attack these festive gatherings which bring together several thousand enthusiastic guests in towns and cities across France.
In a video dated April 29th, Chems-Eddine Haffiz, rector of the Paris Mosque—who, given his official position, is regarded as a kind of spokesman for Islam in France—lashed out at the Canon français and its banquets: the fact that it celebrates a cuisine featuring pork, he claimed, is proof of a logic of exclusion. He condemns the “4,000 guests gathered around a spit-roasted pig” and accuses them of “symbolically” excluding those who do not share this cuisine—that is to say, Muslims.
His statement was met with outraged reactions from right-wing politicians, as well as from ordinary “canonniers”, as the participants in these popular feasts are known.