THE NOVEMBER 2005 RIOTS BY DISAFFECTED IMMIGRANT
Egypt Today, Egypt
September 2007
Je Suis Musulman…
After riots in Paris, bombings in the United Kingdom and Spain, a
high-profile assassination in the Netherlands and recent events in
London and Scotland, Europe’s Muslims are coming under increasing
scrutiny.
Nowhere is this more true than in France, where the newly elected
president has made immigration his top priority.
Amina stopped writing for a minute and looked around
her. Her classmates were hard at work finishing their French
composition. Fifteen girls going through a dry run of the dreaded
Baccalaureat. They all wore the same uniform, with their long hair
braided tight.
The year was 1954 and the place a French Lycee in Cairo. The
girls were of different nationalities – Egyptian, French, Greek
and Armenian. They all lived in Cairo, but shared the privilege
of being French-educated. Moreover, all of them somehow considered
themselves French. Hadn’t they all chanted with their French comrades
"Our ancestors the Gaul"?
Like her schoolmates, Amina was in love with France and had been since
she learned to read. When she was filling in her application to the
Baccalaureat, she had been tempted to write "French" in the box for
her nationality. Why not, she wondered? That’s how she felt. The
protagonists of her cherished novels were closer to her heart and
mind than her own family, and though she had never visited Paris,
she had studied its plan so well that she knew she could find her
way unhesitatingly to Verlaine’s house or Sartre and Beauvoir’s
favorite cafes.
The young girl is representative of a social class that had
embraced colonization as a path toward advancement, had adopted
the colonialist’s culture and attitudes and felt more at home with
foreigners than in its own native environment.
It was this class that produced the ideal candidates for emigration
from North Africa and the Middle East, settling into their new lives
in France without experiencing or causing any trouble. These immigrants
always belonged to the higher echelons of society back in their native
countries. In their adoptive homeland, they meshed seamlessly into the
intellectual world, carving careers for themselves as writers, poets,
painters, university professors, researchers and often successful
businesspeople.
Amina herself, armed a few years later with her Baccalaureat and
brimming with excitement, went to university in France, determined
to make it her home.
She married a fellow student – French, of course – found a job,
raised a family and never looked back.
Remy de la Mauviniere With rioting from central Paris to towns on the
Mediterranean and German borders, tension between Muslim immigrants
has been acknowledged as a "French problem."
Today Amina, not yet 70, is an elegant, youthful widow splitting her
time between her apartment in Paris and the family house in Heliopolis,
where her brother still lives. "Whenever I come back, I know I made
the right choice," she says, looking out the window and frowning at
the passing man with a cart who sporadically cries out "Robabekia
[junk, or used goods]."
All French Being Equal
Amina never felt that being Egyptian and a Muslim deprived her of
any of the privileges enjoyed by the rest of the French nation. "No
one cares," she asserts. "Of course in the cites [housing projects]
it may be different," she concedes, "but then the young Arabs should
concentrate on bettering themselves, learning French, getting a job,
instead of causing trouble and giving Islam a bad name."
No accurate statistics are available since the French law on laicite
(secularism) precludes the classification of citizens according
to their religion, but an unofficial poll released in 2007 places
Muslims at three percent of the total French population. The US State
Department puts the figure at closer to 10 percent.
Though France is thought to have come a long way in integrating
Muslims, the path it decided to follow has been fraught with
difficulties. With the recent election of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French
have opted for a new style of dealing with immigrants (read: Muslims),
particularly after the controversy over wearing the veil in schools
and the ugly slum riots of 2005. The new approach could well stem
the continual flow of unskilled – and undesired – immigrants. The
question is, will it also close the door to the highly educated,
specialized settler the French economy is in need of? And what of
those already well established in France?
Remy de la Mauviniere The widespread riots helped usher in a new
French president who has cracked down on illegal immigrants and made
the rules of family reunification more stringent.
Sarkozy’s intentions were never a secret. Long before he became the new
occupant of the Elysee, he was planning the creation of a new ministry,
the Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, to be headed by
his friend and ideological ally Brice Hortefeux. The ministry’s aim is
to harden the conditions under which immigrants are allowed to bring
family members to France under the family reunification policy. Thus,
immigrant workers applying for permission to bring their families
over must prove that they have a steady job, can provide adequate
lodging and that the newcomers have learned to speak French before
their arrival.
>From the outset, Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that
immigration was the first priority for the new president. Sarkozy
has set his new ministry against the ministries of foreign affairs
and interior, blocking decisions that were previously part of their
jurisdiction. Cases in point are the toughening of rules against
illegal immigration and enforcing the expulsion of 25,000 immigrants
who were "without papers."
Adding fuel to the fire was Sarkozy’s announcement that it was high
time for France to consider its own interests and only allow immigrants
who can actively help it fulfill its economic and demographic needs.
Although the phrase rubs some sensibilities the wrong way, "selective
immigration" is rapidly becoming part of the new government discourse
and has been met with approval from Muslims who have successfully
integrated into French society.
Hussein G, a young doctor at La Salpetrière, completely agrees with
Sarkozy’s policies. "Think of it this way," he says. "France [and
Europe in general] needs workers and competent professionals. We,
on the other hand, do not find satisfactory opportunities in our
countries. Why not forget the romantic notion that everyone should
have the same chance and accept that we are not all equal and some
of us are more wanted here than others?"
Fred Ernst/Associated Even before the urban unrest, tensions between
the secular French and Muslim immigrants were high from the controversy
over wearing the veil in schools.
Financial aid of some kind to encourage voluntary return to the country
of origin is now on the table, an option forced on a number of people
who relied on the rule that every child of school age residing in
France has the right to go to school regardless of his or her civil
status. Parents living illegally in the country could previously stay
until their child finished school. This is no longer permissible:
If the parents want their child to be schooled in France, he or she
has to be left with a guardian with legal residency papers.
On the Continent
The new restrictions on immigration from Muslim countries aim to
assuage anxiety among Europeans who feel that their civilization and
ways of life are threatened by the demographic incursion. Earlier this
year and for the first time in the history of the European Union, the
Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) issued an official
report about Islamophobia in Europe. Although the United Kingdom is
the only European country that issued an official account of the
phenomenon, Islamophobia is now recognized as endemic throughout
the EU.
In an earlier EUMC report, the center’s chief Beate Winkler
asked European politicians to take steps to integrate European
Muslims. Viewed in the context of the booming Muslim population in
Europe, a notion that seems to alarm some communities, her appeal
takes greater urgency.
While it is true that in the past couple of decades, Islam seems to
have caused many headaches in France and in Europe in general, it
may be argued that this is nothing new. Tensions between Christian
France and the Muslim world have in fact been latent for the past
13 centuries, though never before acknowledged so clearly as a
"French problem."
A huge volume published in 2006 under the direction of Mohammed Arkoun,
Histoire de l’Islam et des Musulmans en France du Moyen Age a nos jours
(History of Islam and the Muslims in France from the Middle Age to
the Present Day) retraces the history of a love-hate relationship. In
the book’s preface, historian Jacques Le Goff states: "This question
does not date from September 11, or from the appearance of Islamism
on the international scene with the Iranian revolution or even from
the war of Algeria. It was born before France was ‘France,’ when the
country was still in gestation with the battle of Poitiers and then
the Crusades – with the reception of Arab thought and sciences in
our medieval universities."
The work presents a fascinating collection of research papers that
undoubtedly will shed new light on many aspects of the problem;
however it is of little help to iron out the immediate tribulations
faced by two generations of Muslims parked in the suburbs of every
large French city. Le Goff admits that, "Islam obviously is a question
for France, a question which interferes daily [in its affairs] with its
big national controversies and its recurrent outbursts in the media."
In May 2003, the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM) was founded
under the aegis of Sarkozy, then the Minister of the Interior, who
desired to have official delegates of the Muslim community in the
same manner as existing representatives of the Jewish, Catholic and
Protestant faiths.
The CFCM is a private non-profit association comprising 25 regional
councils of the Muslim faith.
The group has no legal standing but has become the de facto
representative of French Muslims before the national government. Two
organizations are recognized by the CFCM: the Federation of French
Muslims (Moroccan) and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France
(UOIF) which is a chapter of the Union of Islamic Organizations of
Europe (UOIE, directed from London and assisted by the European Council
of Research and Fatwas, a body that issues collective fatwas to answer
the questions of the Muslims of Europe). The UOIE is rumored to be
influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. Collectively, the organizations
share 1,535 currently active mosques in France.
Rude Awakenings
It is generally difficult to determine in France, or in Europe for
that matter, who may be called a Muslim.
The majority of Muslims who have settled in Europe observe certain
practices, but the degree of adherence to and identification with
Islam varies. In France, for example, a majority of Muslims observe
Ramadan, while the observance of five daily prayers and abstinence
from alcohol are rather more pliable.
The Institut francais de l’opinion (IFOP) published a 2001 survey
which roughly divided people of "Islam observing lineage" (Muslims) in
France into more-or-less equivalent thirds: those who are "observant
believers," those without religious belief who culturally identify
with Islam enough to observe Ramadan, and those of Muslim "extraction"
but without strong cultural or religious ties.
Cherine is an example of the second distinction.
Hailing from a conservative family, she left Egypt in the late 1990s
for France. An aspiring actress, Cherine quickly began mixing with
artists. "I always felt welcome everywhere," she says. "Of course I
did my very best to blend in and although I look distinctly Oriental I
was never asked any questions about my religion, my family or about
anything private. The French are welcoming, as long as you do not
try to make a point about your different beliefs and customs, making
a show of your religiosity, your hatred of other ethnic groups or
indulge in misplaced proselytizing.
"I personally believe that if I wanted to wear the veil and practice
separation of the sexes, I should have chosen to settle in a Muslim
country. I went to France because this is where my career will
flourish and this is where I want to stay. I am certainly prepared
to accept their customs and respect them. No one I know makes a show
of practicing their religion and neither do I. If I choose to wear a
scarf I am free to do so, but if I decided that I would not appear
in a play unveiled, then obviously I might not get a part. Muslims
who have trouble are those intent on making trouble."
Cherine concedes that the poorer immigrants have it much worse,
and when they do not speak French their situation becomes near
hopeless. "But then again, what brings them to France?" she wonders
impatiently. "By now they should know that they are better off in
their country no matter how poor they are. There, they always have
relatives and the people in the villages are less cruel than the
immigrants in the suburbs who have enough problems without taking on
those of the new arrivals. Maybe France should help these people stay
where they are rather than allowing them to come to France where they
only make trouble."
The Muslims Cherine has in mind are those who come to France and
fail to adapt for lack of financial or intellectual possibilities. A
minority, however, consider it their duty to establish Islam in Europe.
Not all of them are intent on doing so through violence. There are
plenty of mosques where peace and respect for the Other are preached.
Lubna married a Frenchman who had come to Egypt and embraced Islam. He
was looking for a veiled young woman to marry and when he met Lubna,
he knew she was the one. Currently living in St. Denis, a Paris suburb
mostly populated by Algerians, the couple hold religious classes and
activities aimed at keeping the youngsters off the streets. They both
say that they have never encountered any hostility. "As long as we
do not transgress against anyone, no one transgresses against us,"
says Lubna.
Olivier B, a young schoolteacher turned journalist with solid
experience in Cairo, believes that most French intellectuals are
traditionally leftists who think the onus is on the government to
absorb Muslim immigrants and create opportunities for them. "There
is no question that if immigrants pour into France and find no place
to stay and no way to make a living, they will eventually cause
trouble. In a better world, everyone who wishes to settle in France
should find assistance and a positive climate. This is not so at
the moment – and maybe during an interim period at least selective
immigration should be adopted. There is no point in bringing more
people who will live here in squalor. It is a well-established fact
that misery breeds violence."
Conflict resolution
Fortunately, a new generation of women is emerging from the French
suburbs, ready to peacefully search for their place in European
society. After the 2005 riots, a group of girls from the cites
launched Ni putes ni soumises (Neither Whores Nor Servants) to assert
a woman’s right to follow her own moral code – different from that of
her parents, but different also from European mores. These young women
are doing well at school and aim at higher education and a career.
Often able to bypass their parents’ wishes, they create a space for
themselves where they try to accommodate modernity with religiosity.
History has taught us that first-generation immigrants are always
among their new society’s dispossessed.
Upward mobility is the result of struggle and the challenge of
the social order. And as young Muslims manage to carve a place for
themselves in Europe – most of them absorbed into the mainstream of
society – the religious leaders who hope to use them to spread the
faith might find that they have been left behind.
"I met a large number of these so-called Muslim ‘fanatics’," says
Karim, a young student at an Amsterdam university. "Mostly they feel
inadequate, money-less and powerless. The only place where they are
given consideration is the mosque. Outside the mosque, they feel
that they do not count. Those who manage to escape through study or
a stroke of good luck [finding a job] are much less interested in
running to the sheikhs. The solution [to their problems] will come
from better housing, sporting clubs and good schools for the young
immigrants. These things will give them a sense of their value that
they lose when they arrive, dispossessed, in Europe. It takes time –
it always does when one has to create a new life, complete with new
attitudes and the acceptance of a new culture. But most of them are
slowly getting there." et
Muslims in France
Muslims were called upon to help France in its modern wars. They are
said to have fought valiantly, and the Great Mosque of Paris was built
in 1922 in recognition of the fallen tirailleurs (colonial infantry)
who distinguished themselves in the battle of Verdun.
Following the wars, however, the nation’s gratitude waned considerably
as Muslims became known in France mainly as unskilled workers.
Muslim immigration – mostly male – was high following World War II
because the French (and European) workforce was inadequate for the
reconstruction effort. Immigrants came from Algeria and other North
African colonies and at first had to leave their families behind.
In 1974 the French government passed a law allowing families of
first generation Muslims to join their breadwinners and settle in
France. Many wives and children arrived and asked for the French
nationality, which was granted to the second generation – until 1992,
when nationality law reform delayed obtainment of French nationality
until a request was made in adulthood.
First- and second-generation Muslims were settled in suburban housing
projects. Undeniably the intention was to provide the immigrants with
affordable accommodation, but as their numbers grew, the lack of
infrastructure and social support transformed these agglomerations
into dormitory cities, or more accurately, ghettos. Women, children
and unemployed youth were left to their own devices all day, awaiting
the return of the men. Often these women, who knew no French and who
remained steeped in their religion, were incapable of transmitting
the first elements of French language and culture to their children,
placing them at a disadvantage when they started school and sowing thus
the seeds of the underachievement that plagues the young inhabitants
of these housing projects.
The immigrant families are not only disconnected from the general
population, but are further divided along ethnic lines (buildings
of exclusively Turkish, Moroccan, Tunisian, etc. families). Boredom
and dejection have become the characteristics of these cites, making
them breeding grounds for petty criminality or excess religiosity,
the latter believed to sometimes draw idle young people towards
terrorist activities.
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