As Islamic outrages multiply, PC France remains adamant: This has nothing to do with Islam
PARIS. Islam, où est le problème? [literally,
Islam, where is the problem?]. In the wake of the latest spate of
Islamic rage operations, Yves Calvi, one of our most decent journalists,
made an honest effort to squarely face the question. Though he tried as
usual to include a broad range of guests, the September 24th broadcast
of his political discussion program “Mots Croisés” was a mismatch, with
philosopher Alain Finkielkraut fending off a barrage of accusations from
all sides. Accusations, of course, against us, not against Islam.
The
very possibility that Islam might be a problem was evacuated early on.
The majority of Muslims in France are law-abiding well-integrated
members of society. The proof? French Muslims did not react violently to
Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures of Muhamed. Consequently, the problem is
not Islam and Islam is not a problem. The problem is the failure of
French society to integrate immigrants and make them feel at home. The
problem is the stigmatization of Muslim immigrants down to the third and
fourth generation, relegated to ghettoes, victims of discrimination in
the job market, subjected to humiliating ID controls, constantly
suspected of criminality.
Clémentine
Autain of the Front de Gauche [The Left Front, ed.] extended the
humiliation argument to its outer limits. Those immigrants had to put up
with the debate on national identity, the burqa ban, the invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq, and the festering Israel-Palestinian crisis.
Finkielkraut and Socialist politician Julian Dray managed to squeeze in a
few words about anti-Semitism without really linking it to Islam or
stemming the tide of criticism of French society.
Finkielkraut
gave a subtle explanation for this studied reluctance to entertain the
notion that Islam in and of itself might be a problem by citing the case
of his colleague Robert Redeker, a philosophy professor who has been in
hiding and under police protection since he published an unvarnished
reflection on Islam in the Figaro daily in September 2006.
Asked
for reactions to a proposed Qatari investment of 50 million euros in
the banlieues (suburbs), Calvi’s guests were almost unanimously opposed
to what seems like foreign interference in domestic affairs. But, argued
Rama Yade, who served as Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs in the
Sarkozy government, we have to ask why Qatar would step in. It’s because
we have neglected the banlieues. Aside from the fact that this is not
true, it does not explain the warlike behavior that actually provokes
the question Islam, where is the problem?
Latifa
ibn Ziaten, the bereaved mother of the first parachutist killed by
Mohamed Merah [the French-Algerian terrorist who murdered four men and
three children in Toulouse in March of this year, ed.], contends that
her son Imad is a war casualty, targeted and killed solely because he
was in the service. The Defense Department refuses, on the grounds that
he was not on duty when he was shot. Merah lured Imad into an ambush by
pretending he was interested in buying the scooter the parachutist had
advertised online. Merah’s “home movie” shows Imad, who refused the
order to kneel, standing upright and looking his killer in the eyes.
Calvi
ran an excerpt of a TV interview of the soft-spoken dignified grieving
mother. Tears flow as she tells how she found the courage one day to
visit the neighborhood where Merah grew up. She came upon a group of
youths and asked them if they knew Mohamed Merah. They slapped their
thighs and high fived. Merah? He’s a hero, he’s a shahid [Islamic
martyr. ed.], he’s our model. When she told them Merah killed her son,
the boys sobered and apologized. She says, with a mixture of boundless
grief and determination, “I spoke to them for 45 minutes. ... I am
Muslim and I’m telling you they strike fear in my heart. Something has
to be done. If nothing is done, I tell you, there will be other Merahs.”
In
this and other recent interviews, Madame Ziaten, who has created a
foundation in the memory of her son, elaborated on her conception of
Islam. She raised her children in their religion and taught them to
respect their country – France. To her eyes and to her heart, Merah
betrays Islam. “We’re Muslim but there are things we don’t know. Jihad
we don’t know. That’s not Islam.” We cannot doubt her sincerity.
Does
it take an Israeli who served in Gaza to get to the heart of the Islam,
où est le problème question? The journalist Zvi Yehezkeli has produced a
four-part documentary for Israel's Channel 10 entitled Allah Islam.
Passing for a Palestinian journalist, he was welcomed into the intimacy
of Muslim communities in several European countries including France and
Denmark (see our own Lars Hedegaard in that segment). I don’t expect
any French TV channel to run a subtitled version of the series!
Left,
Right, and Center in France defend the “modèle républicain” of
integration as opposed to a decried “Anglo-Saxon” mosaic of juxtaposed
ethnic communities. This might be one more blinding illusion. According
to an article in the daily Libération, the Franco-Qatari fund for the
banlieues didn’t come out of the blue on a magic carpet; it was
negotiated by members of Aneld (Association nationale des élus locaux
pour la diversité), an association of local elected officials whose
diversity is rather uniform. Not bothering to create a lobby, they went
straight to the source. If the government still hasn’t managed to
curtail the influence of foreign states in French mosques, how will it
deal with these freelance foreign policy makers?
In
the field, the issue is crystallized in anecdotes like this: C., a
Frenchman in his 60s, Parisian born-baptized-and bred, practices his
profession in a firm that, like many others escaping high rents, located
in the banlieue. “We do not feel safe in Aulnay-sous-bois,” he says.
“We have to take infinite precautions to protect ourselves and our
offices. I saw a garage explode. Because ‘they’ didn’t want to vacate
it. The police stood by and did nothing. I cross a large open area on my
way to work. The other day, someone walking behind me called out. I
turned and asked him what he wanted.” C.’s gaunt face is hidden by a
thick, short, salt and pepper beard. “’Are you a Jew?’” he asked. I
replied, ‘absolutely not,’ he mumbled ‘OK,’ and I went my way.”
What if he were Jewish, and admitted it? What if he bore some identifying feature? Like Jewish eyes?
Kevin
Noubissi and Sofiane Tadbirt, both 21, were savagely murdered on Friday
evening in Echirolles, a banlieue of Grenoble. Kevin and Sofiane were
known as big brothers in the community, models of integrity,
integration, and success. They intervened to keep the peace, lead the
way, help others to succeed. Kevin’s younger brother had offended
someone earlier that day “by the way he looked at him”. The offended
party punched him and sprayed him with tear gas. Kevin asked the
aggressor to apologize. The now doubly offended party raised a platoon
of 15 young men armed with knives, clubs, hammers, baseball bats. … They
stabbed, slashed, and pummeled Kevin and his friend Sofiane to death.
This
evening [October 3rd, ed.] President Hollande and Interior Minister
Manuel Valls visited Echirolles. Residents pressed around the president,
pleading for law and order. A woman called to him from an upper story
window. We voted for you, give us more police to protect us from these
thugs. A tall African man said gently, almost talking to himself: “We
came here to escape persecution in our own countries.”
Où
est le problème? The problem is that these well-meaning afflicted
people brought their misfortune with them. The skirmish between the
youths of Echirolles and the thugs from neighboring Villeneuve is of the
same nature as this week’s massacres in Kenya and Somalia. How can
French society, the government, police and educational system deal with
it? Twelve suspects have been arrested in the Echirolles case, among
them are two brothers who are serving in the army, and their mother.
Zvi
Yehezkeli's documentary in Hebrew is posted at This Ongoing War.
Dispatch International would like to be contacted if somebody would
provide the series with English subtitles.
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