{"id":5269,"date":"2014-01-06T00:53:24","date_gmt":"2014-01-05T23:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soerenkern.com\/?p=5269"},"modified":"2014-05-04T01:41:46","modified_gmt":"2014-05-04T00:41:46","slug":"islamization-france-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soerenkern.com\/web\/2014\/01\/06\/islamization-france-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"The Islamization of France in 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"france<\/a><\/p>\n

A chronological review of some of the main stories about the rise of Islam in France during 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Islamization of France in 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute<\/a> | January 6, 2014<\/p>\n

The Muslim population of France reached an estimated 6.5 million in 2013. Although France is prohibited by law from collecting official statistics about the race or religion of its citizens, this estimate is based on the average of several recent studies that attempt to calculate the number of people in France whose origins are from Muslim majority countries.<\/p>\n

This estimate would imply that the Muslim population of France is now approximately 10% of the country\u2019s total population of around 66 million. In real terms, France has the largest Muslim population in the European Union.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Islam and the question of Muslim immigration were an ever-present topic in newspaper headlines during 2013. In practical terms, the debate over Islam in France centered mainly on questions over French identity, secularism and security-related issues.<\/p>\n

What follows is a chronological review of some of the main stories about the rise of Islam in France during 2013:<\/p>\n

On January 1, 2013, Interior Minister Manuel Valls announced that a total of 1,193 cars and trucks were torched<\/a> across France on New Year\u2019s Eve. He also said he was \u201cshocked\u201d by an RTL Radio report which estimated that more than 40,000 cars are burned<\/a> in France every year.<\/p>\n

Valls broke with recent tradition by publicly announcing the number of car burnings because \u201cthe French people should know the truth.\u201d His predecessor, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, decided in 2010 to stop making public the number of car burnings because doing so had the effect of encouraging competition between rival gangs of Muslim youths, determined to see which of them could cause the most destruction.<\/p>\n

Car burnings are increasingly commonplace in all French cities and are often attributed to shiftless young Muslims who reside in suburban slums known as banlieues<\/em>. French authorities are especially eager to avoid a repetition of the riots in 2005<\/a>, when the deaths of two Muslim teenagers in the banlieue<\/em> of Clichy-sous-Bois near Paris sparked weeks of looting and car-burning, and led to the imposition of a state of emergency.<\/p>\n

\"france<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, jihadists in France and elsewhere debated how to respond to a comic book biography<\/a> of the Prophet Mohammed published on January 2 by the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo.<\/p>\n

According to the inestimable Middle East Media Research Institute<\/a> (MEMRI), which translated the Arabic twitter posts of several jihadists, the suggestions included: \u201ckilling France\u2019s ambassadors, just as the \u2018manly\u2019 Libyan fighters killed the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi; carrying out operations similar to 9\/11, London\u2019s July 7, 2005 bombings, and Madrid\u2019s March 11, 2004 bombings, because only attacks of this kind would deter and defeat the \u2018crusaders\u2019; carrying out assassinations; conducting suicide bombings outside the French Information Ministry building; and holding demonstrations outside French embassies, especially in Egypt, because it has [allegedly] been proven that the Egyptian public can sway the entire Arab public.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also suggested that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) kill the hostages it is holding, and that anyone who can kill a French national do so without hesitation.<\/p>\n

The Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo were destroyed in an arson attack<\/a> in November 2011 after the magazine featured a cartoon of Mohammed on its cover. The attack marked a serious escalation of a long-running Islamic war on free speech and expression in Europe.<\/p>\n

Also in January, France braced for threats from angry Muslims after the French military began operations against Islamist insurgents in northern Mali, a former French colony, on January 11.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche<\/em><\/a>, Paris\u2019s top anti-terrorism judge, Marc Tr\u00e9vidic, said: \u201cWe have a very large Malian community in France, but also from sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. These \u2018black\u2019 French Muslims who were suffering from latent racism from \u2018Arabs\u2019 have for the first time found their jihad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e9vidic added: \u201cAll the ingredients exist so that there are repercussions on our soil. France is backing those who want to intervene militarily in Timbuktu. So we are the enemy and are identified as such.\u201d He also said the French had to get used to the idea that terrorism was here to stay and could not be eradicated. \u201cWe will have to accept this reality without deluding ourselves. It means we have to accept that attacks will succeed and there will be deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Islamists held a demonstration held outside the French Embassy in London to protest against the military campaign in Mali. In a video posted on YouTube<\/a> on January 20, a British Islamist was filmed saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cLook to your own doorstep in France. Your own French women are abandoning their Christianity and donning the hijab and the burqa\u2026Our eyes are on Paris\u2026We will not stop, as Muslims, until the whole world is governed by Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo French government, let that be a warning, or a piece of advice, to you. Take it the way you want, because you will never stop the army of the Muslims. You will never stop Muslims, because this nation is far too large to be stopped. This [Muslim] nation is like a tidal wave. When it starts, it doesn\u2019t stop. It will conquer the east of the East and the west of the West, because that is the prophecy of our Prophet Mohammed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are saying to [French President] Fran\u00e7ois Hollande is that the Muslims throughout the world will not rest until Islam dominates France, until Islam dominates the entire world. Islam will not dominate only Mali, Afghanistan, and Africa, but also France, Paris, and England. Fran\u00e7ois Hollande, you must understand a few facts of life: You are a son of Pharaoh. The blood of Pharaoh courses through your veins.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Islamic movement will become a system of life under your nose. Your wife, French women, the people of France, will live under the Islamic movement, even if you don\u2019t like it. Most of the residents of Paris are Muslims. Allah willing, most of the French system will be according to Islamic Sharia law. Most of the residents of France will be Muslims, Allah willing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A survey published in the Paris-based newspaper Le Monde<\/em><\/a> on January 24 found that 74% of French citizens view Islam as \u201cintolerant\u201d and \u201cincompatible\u201d with French values. The survey, conducted by Ipsos<\/a>, also found that 70% of respondents said there are too many foreigners in France, and 67% said they no longer feel at home in France.<\/p>\n

In February<\/strong>, French authorities launched a crackdown<\/a> on homegrown Islamic extremists considered to be a potential risk to public order. During a hearing at the French Senate on February 5, Interior Minister Manual Valls said he had ordered the intelligence services to \u201cneutralize\u201d individuals linked to jihadist networks.<\/p>\n

Valls made the announcement on the same day that police rounded up four suspected jihadists<\/a>, aged between 22 and 37, in the southern Paris suburb of L\u2019Ha\u00ff-les-Roses. The four\u2014three French citizens, including one with Franco-Algerian dual citizenship, and one Malian\u2014were suspected of trying to join Islamist extremists in Mali, a haven for global jihadists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must continue this work to dismantle these networks that want to act on our territory or smuggle individuals to carry out jihad, to learn the practices of terrorism,\u201d Valls said<\/a>. \u201cWe are fighting terrorism outside of France, but we are also fighting an internal enemy since there are those French who fit into this process of radicalization. This enemy must be fought with the greatest determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March<\/strong>, the daily newspaper Le Figaro<\/em><\/a> reported that \u201cat least 50\u201d and \u201cas many as 80\u201d French citizens were fighting with jihadist groups in Syria. (Since then, French counter-terrorism authorities have increased that estimate to at least 300).<\/p>\n

The French anti-terrorism judge, Marc Tr\u00e9vidic, told Le Figaro<\/em> that the presence of so many French jihadists in Syria presents French authorities with an uncomfortable paradox. Because France officially supports the effort to overthrow the Assad regime\u2014France was the first Western country to recognize Syria\u2019s rebel council as the country\u2019s legitimate interlocutors\u2014it is difficult for the French government to come out and say that it does not support those who are fighting the war.<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e9vidic said Syria was a natural destination for French jihadists. There are no visa requirements for French citizens to enter neighboring Turkey, where it is easy to find Syrian contacts and then cross a porous border. He also said that trained and experienced jihadists, once back in France, could become a dangerous problem for the authorities.<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e9vidic referred to the fight in Syria as an \u201cauthorized jihad\u201d and added: \u201cIt is particularly complicated to qualify their adventures in Syria as acts of terrorism. But let\u2019s not be fooled. A good proportion of [the jihadists] are going there in the hope of helping to establish a radical Islamic state. The actual terrorism will begin just as soon as the Assad regime is defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interview with Tr\u00e9vidic came just two days after French police arrested three suspected Islamists<\/a> in the town of Marignane, near Marseille. Police\u2014who became suspicious after the suspects had hoisted a jihadist flag on the roof of their house\u2014found weapons and explosives at the home of one of the suspects, all French citizens between the ages of 18 and 27.<\/p>\n

Paris prosecutor Fran\u00e7ois Molins said on March 11 that the three men may have been planning an attack to commemorate the first anniversary of the shooting rampage in the southern city of Toulouse by Mohamed Merah<\/a>, a 23-year-old French Islamic jihadist of Algerian origin who killed three French paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi with close-range shots to the head.<\/p>\n

On March 30, police in Paris evacuated the Eiffel Tower<\/a> following an anonymous bomb threat. The Paris landmark\u2014which was evacuated due to bomb threats on at least two other occasions in August<\/a> and October<\/a>\u2014was on high counterterrorism alert throughout 2013 amid heightened concern about threats to France over its military campaign in Mali.<\/p>\n

Also in March, a school in the town of Arveyres in southwestern France said it would no longer offer a meat alternative to students who do not eat pork. According to French television TF1<\/a>, 28 of the 180 children attending the school used to be offered a substitute meat when pork was on the menu.<\/p>\n

The mayor of Arveyres, Beno\u00eet Gheysens, said the move was taken because of the cost of providing alternative meals, many of which went to waste. \u201cOften children who did not take the substitute dinner complained and did not eat the pork. It distressed the staff to see how much food was wasted,\u201d Gheysens said.<\/p>\n

Muslim parents were enraged by the decision, and some responded by vandalizing Gheysens\u2019 car<\/a> and harassing him after hours at his home.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a survey published by the newspaper Le Parisien<\/em><\/a> on March 25 found that the vast majority of French citizens say they are in favor of the burqa ban, which entered into force in April 2011.<\/p>\n

The law\u2014which prohibits the wearing of Islamic body-covering burqas and face-covering niqabs in all public spaces in France\u2014was enacted amid rising frustration that the country\u2019s Muslim population is not integrating into French society.<\/p>\n

The poll found that 86% of French people are in favor of introducing legislation that would ban \u201call signs of religious or political affiliation\u201d in public and private schools and nurseries. According to the same poll, 83% support a law that would extend the ban to all privately-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

In April<\/strong>, French Education Minister Vincent Peillon announced a plan<\/a> that would force students in primary and secondary schools to debate \u201csecular morality\u201d [morale la\u00efque<\/em>] for one hour every week beginning in September 2015. The plan is part of government efforts to reinforce secular values in French schools in light of the growing influence of Islam in the country.<\/p>\n

Peillon\u2019s original plan was for the topic to be taught as a separate subject with dedicated teachers. But after a wave of opposition from teachers, the plan was watered down, and discussion of secular values will now take the form of debates rather than formal teaching.<\/p>\n

According to the plan, teachers will be given special training on how to lead debates on issues in which Islam takes a different position, and students will be evaluated individually based on their knowledge and behavior.<\/p>\n

In May<\/strong>, police arrested Alexandre Dhaussy<\/a>, a 22-year-old French convert to Islam, who allegedly stabbed French soldier C\u00e9dric Cordiez<\/a> in the neck while he was on patrol at the La D\u00e9fense transport hub in Paris on May 25. Cordiez survived the attack, which police say was inspired by the brutal killing of British soldier Lee Rigby<\/a> in London on May 22.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Fran\u00e7ois Molins said that Dhaussy\u2014who was filmed praying just moments before the stabbing\u2014\u201cwanted to attack a representative of the state\u201d and \u201cacted in the name of his religious ideology.\u201d Since his detention, Dhaussy has repeatedly invoked the name of Allah.<\/p>\n

Also in May, a report by the Reuters news agency<\/a> threw a spotlight on the growing problem of Islamic radicalization within the French prison system. The report says France is unique among Western countries because of the sheer number of Muslim inmates.<\/p>\n

Although no official data exist, more than half of the inmates in French prisons are believed to be Muslim, rising to 70% in some urban areas. This disproportionate ratio, coupled with overcrowding and overtaxed guards, makes young Muslims in French prisons easy prey for jihadist recruiters, according to guards, prison directors, ex-inmates, chaplains and crime experts interviewed by Reuters.<\/p>\n

In June<\/strong>, counter-terrorism police in Paris arrested six jihadists<\/a> accused of belonging to an Islamist cell and preparing attacks in the country. The suspects, aged 22 to 38, included four French nationals, one man from Benin and another from the Comoros islands.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, the Collective against Islamophobia in France<\/a> (CCIF), a Muslim rights group, filed a lawsuit against Ivan Rioufol<\/a>, a well-known French journalist, for \u201clibel and public insult and especially to incitement to hatred, discrimination and racial violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rioufol, who has written for the newspaper Le Figaro<\/em> for almost three decades, made allegedly offending remarks about Islam during a radio interview<\/a> in November 15, 2012. Speaking as a guest on the RTL radio program called \u201cWe Reshape the World,\u201d Rioufol objected to a CCIF poster campaign under the slogan \u201cWe are the Nation<\/a>\u201d which sought to portray France as a Muslim country. Rioufol said this violated the spirit of France\u2019s inclusive, secular republic. The CCIF disagreed and is now suing Rioufol under France\u2019s 1881 Press Law.<\/p>\n

According to Rioufol, who is awaiting his trial at the 17th Criminal Court in Paris, Muslims are using the Press Law to \u201cpenalize criticism, intimidate journalists, censor the media and to reintroduce the offense of blasphemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a blog post<\/a> on Le Figaro\u2019s website, Rioufol reminds his readers of a statement made by CCIF spokesman Marwan Muhammad at a mosque in Orly in southern Paris in August 2011: \u201cWho has the right to say that France in thirty or forty years will not be a Muslim country? Who has the right in this country to deprive us of it? Nobody has the right to deny us that hope, to deny us the right to hope in a true global Islamic society. Nobody has the right in this country to define for us what the French identity is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in June, Muslims went on a riot after police stopped a 25-year-old woman for wearing a niqab in Argenteuil, a suburb 12 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of Paris. It is against the law to wear the face-covering niqab or the body-covering burqa in public spaces in France; violators are subject to fines of up to \u20ac150 ($200).<\/p>\n

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien<\/em><\/a>, the woman had initially agreed to the identity check, but a passerby got involved, saying that, in his opinion, the check was illegitimate. He then began to attack the police; almost immediately more than 50 Muslims joined the melee. Outnumbered, the police were forced to call in reinforcements, who eventually used tear gas to disperse the crowd.<\/p>\n

In July<\/strong>, hundreds of Muslims in Trappes, a suburb situated 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Paris, went on a three-day rioting spree<\/a> after police attempted to check the identity of a Muslim woman who was wearing a niqab in public.<\/p>\n

The unrest began on July 19 when a crowd of up to 400 Muslims gathered outside the Trappes police station in response to the arrest of a 21-year-old man who assaulted a police officer during the identity check of his 20-year-old wife.<\/p>\n

After police in Trappes rejected Muslim demands to release the husband, the mob went on a rampage, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at police, pelting police with firecrackers from rooftops, burning cars and trucks and destroying public property, including several bus stops, before being repelled by riot police. Despite a heavily reinforced police presence, the rioting continued on July 20 and 21.<\/p>\n

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Also in July, the European Parliament voted to remove the immunity<\/a> of Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French anti-immigration party Front National, for remarks in which she compared Muslims taking over French streets for prayers to the Nazi occupation of France.<\/p>\n

During a political rally in the French city of Lyon in December 2010, Le Pen said<\/a>: \u201cFor those who want to talk a lot about World War II, if it is about occupation, then we could also talk about it [Muslim prayers in the streets], because that is occupation of territory. It is an occupation of sections of the territory, of districts in which religious laws apply. It is an occupation. There are of course no tanks, there are no soldiers but it is nevertheless an occupation and it weighs heavily on local residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French government banned street prayers<\/a> in 2011 after thousands of Muslims from Paris to Marseille and elsewhere closed off streets and sidewalks (by doing so, they closed down local businesses and trapped non-Muslim residents in their homes and offices) to accommodate overflowing crowds for midday prayers.<\/p>\n

The loss of immunity means Le Pen could be prosecuted in France. Polls conducted during 2013 consistently show that Le Pen has surged to become one of the most popular politicians in France.<\/p>\n

In August<\/strong>, two French converts to Islam fighting in Syria caused consternation in France by issuing a call for jihad<\/a>. In a video<\/a> posted on YouTube, the half-brothers from the southern city of Toulouse\u2014home of the al-Qaeda-inspired murderer Mohamed Merah\u2014appeal for holy war and urge French President Fran\u00e7ois Holland to convert to Islam.<\/p>\n

Also in August, the High Council of Integration<\/a> [HCI], a government-funded research institute, recommended that the wearing of religious symbols\u2014such as crucifixes, Jewish skullcaps and Muslim headscarves\u2014should be banned in French universities to ease the \u201cescalating religious tensions in all areas of university life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 54-page report (PDF here<\/a>), HCI says its research has shown that some universities have experienced problems from demands to be \u201cexcused from attendance for religious reasons…for separation of the sexes in lectures and seminars, instances of proselytizing, disagreements over the curriculum, and the wearing of religious clothes and symbols.\u201d<\/p>\n

A law passed in 2004 prohibits the wearing or open display of religious symbols in all French schools and colleges, but does not apply to universities.<\/p>\n

In September<\/strong>, the French government introduced a \u201csecularism charter<\/a>\u201d for schools. The document\u2014which is to appear in a prominent location in all of the 55,000 public schools in France\u2014would serve to remind students and teachers of a list of secular principles underpinning the separation of mosque and state.<\/p>\n

Also in September, a new \u201cDictionary of Islamophobia<\/a>\u201d was published that systematically takes the words and expressions spoken by politicians, journalists, intellectuals, artists and writers in France and claims to show how \u201cIslamophobia is becoming commonplace today.\u201d Each entry in the 366-page dictionary provides the context and an explanation of the offending words. The book calls for vigilance to advance the concept of \u201cliving together.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October<\/strong>, a French convert to Islam\u2014who was sentenced to six months in prison for biting a police officer<\/a> while he was arresting her for wearing a niqab\u2014appeared at her appeal hearing wearing a niqab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Louise-Marie Suisse, who was 18 at the time, bit the police officer during an identity check in Marseille in July 2012. In September of that year, a court found her guilty of \u201cviolent behavior toward a person vested with public authority\u201d and sentenced her to six months in prison.<\/p>\n

On October 25, 2013, an appeals court in Aix-en-Provence upheld the conviction<\/a>. Upon exiting the courtroom, Suisse shouted: \u201cThis is injustice. Muslims are oppressed in France. The law on the niqab is draconian.\u201d<\/p>\n

In November<\/strong>, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) opened a landmark hearing<\/a> to consider the legality of France\u2019s ban on wearing Islamic veils in public spaces.<\/p>\n

The Strasbourg-based ECHR enforces the European Convention on Human Rights<\/a> and its jurisdiction is compulsory and binding for all 47 member states of the Council of Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s ruling\u2014expected to be issued sometime during the middle of 2014\u2014will determine the fate of the debate over so-called burqa bans that have been raging across Europe for many years.<\/p>\n

The court began hearing the case\u2014which is being brought by a 23-year-old French Muslim woman identified only by her initials S.A.S.\u2014on November 27.<\/p>\n

According to a summary of the case<\/a> published by the court, S.A.S. sued the French State in April 2011, when legislation banning people from covering their faces in public places came into force.<\/p>\n

S.A.S. argues that the French law violates six articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. These are: Article 3 (no one shall be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment); Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life); Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion); Article 10 (freedom of expression); Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association); and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).<\/p>\n

This is the first time the supra-national ECHR has agreed to consider the legality of the face-covering niqab or the body-covering burqa in public spaces in a European country.<\/p>\n

In a separate case, an appeals court in Paris on November 27 upheld the dismissal<\/a> of a Muslim nursery worker who was fired for wearing an Islamic headscarf to work, in violation of an internal dress code banning religious garments.<\/p>\n

The decision overturned a lower court\u2019s ruling<\/a> that the Baby Loup daycare center, situated in the Parisian suburb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, was guilty of religious discrimination when it fired Fatima Afif in December 2008.<\/p>\n

The appeals court ruled that the daycare center, which takes care of infants from 55 different nationalities, had a right \u201cto impose neutrality on its personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyer defending Baby-Loup, Richard Malka, welcomed the ruling because it \u201creaffirms the strength of the principle of secularism.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Collective Against Islamophobia in France<\/a> (CCIF) denounced the ruling as \u201ca veritable judicial scandal\u201d that means \u201cnobody is protected against being judged by one\u2019s religious, ethnic or social origin.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December<\/strong>, a panel appointed by French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to review France\u2019s integration policies urged the government to implement a \u201cnew form of secularism\u201d that would raise the profile of Islam<\/a> in public life\u2014in order to improve the integration of Muslim immigrants.<\/p>\n

Among a long list of recommendations aimed at \u201crecognizing the richness of multiple identities,\u201d the panel said that public schools in France should begin allowing Muslim pupils to wear headscarves in class (clothing that has been outlawed since 2004), and that courses should be taught in Arabic and African languages rather than in French.<\/p>\n

The panel also recommended a number of other multicultural changes that would provide greater recognition to the \u201cArab-oriental dimension\u201d of France\u2019s national identity. These include changing street and place names, overhauling the history curriculum taught in schools and creating a special day to honor the contribution of immigrant cultures.<\/p>\n

More notably, the panel said that authorities and the media should be prohibited from referring to people\u2019s nationality, religion or ethnicity in public, and that the government should create a new law that would make \u201cracial harassment\u201d a punishable offense.<\/p>\n

The controversial recommendations are contained in a series of five documents<\/a> that were discretely posted on the prime minister\u2019s official website in November, but only came to public attention on December 12, after an expos\u00e9<\/a> by the French daily newspaper, Le Figaro<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the proposals to develop an \u201cinclusive secularism\u201d in France have sparked a firestorm of criticism.<\/p>\n

Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Cop\u00e9, the leader of France\u2019s main opposition party, the conservative UMP, said in a statement<\/a> that the proposals are \u201cexplosive and irresponsible\u201d because they replace \u201cthe one and indivisible French Republic with a motley assembly of communities, ethnicities and groups of all kinds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leader of the FN, Marine Le Pen\u2014who has attained record-breaking popularity<\/a> for her criticism of runaway immigration\u2014said the report\u2019s recommendations are \u201ca very grave provocation\u201d and implementing them would be tantamount to \u201ca declaration of war on the French people.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the French philosopher and essayist Alain Finkielkraut, multiculturalism and runaway Muslim immigration are responsible for the destruction of French national identity.<\/p>\n

In a politically incorrect interview<\/a> with the Germany newsmagazine Der Spiegel on December 6 to discuss his latest book\u2014\u201cL\u2019identite malheureuse<\/a>\u201d [The Unhappy Identity]\u2014Finkielkraut says European elites have consistently misrepresented multiculturalism as the model for the future. Instead, he says, \u201cmistrust prevails, communitarianism is rampant\u2014parallel societies are forming that continuously distance themselves from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Finkielkraut:<\/p>\n

\u201cImmigration used to go hand-in-hand with integration into French culture. That was the rule of the game. Many of the new arrivals no longer want to play by that rule. If the immigrants are in the majority in their neighborhoods, how can we integrate them? \u2026 Many Muslims in Europe are re-Islamizing themselves. \u2026 The left does not want to accept that there is a clash of civilizations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Finkielkraut sums it up this way: \u201cI am of the opinion that our generation\u2019s task is not to recreate the world, but to prevent its decline. \u2026 I become sad and feel a growing sense of anxiety. Optimism would seem a bit ridiculous these days. I wish the politicians were able to speak the truth and look reality in the face. Then, I believe, France would be capable of a true awakening\u2014of contemplating a policy of civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soeren Kern<\/em><\/a> is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based <\/em>Gatestone Institute<\/em><\/a>. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estrat\u00e9gicos \/ Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>. Follow him on <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Link to Original Article: http:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/4120\/islamization-france<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A chronological review of some of the main stories about the rise of Islam in France during 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[107,48],"tags":[52,181],"class_list":["post-5269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-france-islam-in-europe","category-islam-in-europe","tag-france","tag-islam-in-europe"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Islamization of France in 2013 - Soeren Kern | Geopolitical Perspectives on Europe, America and the Middle East<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/soerenkern.com\/web\/2014\/01\/06\/islamization-france-2013\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Islamization of France in 2013 - 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