Bataclan Survivor Calls Jesse Hughes a "Spreader of Hate" in Open Letter

Photo: Stephen McGill

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished May 25, 2016

A survivor of the tragic terrorist attacks that rocked Paris last year has written an open letter to Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes, condemning the musician's accusations that the security team at the city's Bataclan theatre were involved in the attack.

Last week, the band were dropped from the lineups of two French music festivals after Hughes once again insinuated that security at Paris venue Le Bataclan was complicit in last November's attacks, with the entire incident being the result of a Muslim "conspiracy." Back in March, Hughes had also suggested that members of the venue's security team "had a reason to not show up" in an interview with FOX Business Network, which he later apologized for.

Now, Bataclan survivor Ismael El Iraki has responded to Hughes' comments in an open letter on Facebook.

"I never thought that you would become one of those spreaders of fear. You always felt like a maverick, a rebel: we now know that you are not," he wrote. "I live and breathe rock 'n' roll, and I could not look more Muslim if I tried. But apparently, the big bad Muslim conspiracy missed me. Damn, they forgot to warn me. They also forgot to warn Djamila, and all the other Arabs who got shot and killed that very night. They forgot to warn my fellow Moroccan Amin, who was shot that very night. Apparently, a few weeks later, the also forgot to warn Leila, another fellow Morrocan, who got killed in the Ouagadougou attack."

El Iraki makes reference to a Muslim concertgoer by the name of Didi, who was instrumental in opening a door of the venue to ensure an escape before running back inside to save more people himself.

"He was a fucking hero. An unarmed, red-blooded, real-life fucking hero that you just insulted with your racist, hateful comments," he wrote. "You, who are not a hero. You who are, just like me, just a regular guy who happened to be caught in an awful situation and did whatever he could to get out of it and try to help some people around him.

"You say: 'Islam is the problem.' I say: 'All you fucking bigots and your fairytale shit stories are the problem.' Rock 'n' roll is love, man. LOVE. Look at yourself: you have become a spreader of hate, brother. Try to be more in life like the persona we all love when you are on stage. Try to spread the love. The real love, the kind that sees right through people's beards and skin colors and religious shit and garments, the kind that can unite not only a concert crowd but hopefully a nation, a whole world."

Read El Iraki's letter in its entirety below. Hughes has not responded to the letter or festival drops at this time.

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