France: The Model of How to Deal With Moslem Integration?

That is the opinion of Matthew Kaminski, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe, who lives in Paris. He believes that with the riots that have been raging in France for a year, "French Muslims, like Muslims elsewhere in Europe, exhibit the pathologies that have long characterized the American underclass"--but at the same time Kaminski thinks the French do have a unique advantage in their relationship to their Moslem citizens:

According to a Pew Global Attitudes survey published in July, 42% of French Muslims consider themselves French first; 47%, Muslim first. (In Britain, the numbers are 7% British first; 81%, Muslim first.) In the same poll, 78% of French Muslims say that they want to adapt to French customs. Another recent survey, this one for La Vie, a Catholic monthly, appears to show that French Muslims aren't averse to "French" values: 91% of those interviewed approved of gender equality, 73% of the separation of church and state; 69% said that they don't oppose Muslim women marrying outside the faith.

What is not clear in Mr. Kaminski's article is whether these numbers include the opinion of the radical Moslems who have been rioting, burning buses, and attacking police during the past year? As the riots continue, how will the opinions of this element grow and influence the overall Frence Muslim community?

He quotes from Integrating Islam, by Jonathan Laurence and Justin Vaisse who focus on France--home to Europe's largest Moslem population. Laurence and Vaisse argue that France's Moslems are in many respects moderate and had few protests against Denmark's Mohammed cartoons. (Of course, with the year-long riots going on, maybe the potential protesters were otherwise occupied.)

Kaminski also notes that Dalil Boubakeur, the head of the French Muslim Council, is quoted liberally in "Integrating Islam":

He calls Islam "a religion and a culture that has combined itself with other cultures and that is now combining itself with Western democracy." French Muslims, he adds, "wish for a tolerant Islam, humanist, inviting the faithful to live with their times, to accept modernity."

Still, it would do well for the authors of "Integrating Islam" to keep in mind that historically Islam has often combined itself with other cultures by taking over the country through expansion and occupation.

Kaminski notes that France recognizes the radical element of Islam that has also found a home in France:

It matters, then, that France's anti-terrorism laws are the toughest anywhere in the Western world. French prosecutors can hold terror suspects for years without charge; the definition of "links to terrorism" is loose. Every mosque in France is monitored. Since 9/11, the government has cracked down on foreign financing and moved to train "French imams." All this--more than the slow integrationist trend that Messrs. Laurence and Vaisse celebrate--may be the reason why France hasn't been hit by terrorism since a wave of subway bombings in 1995.

While this may be impressive, it reflects Kaminiski's view of the ongoing riots as a social unrest and not an intifada.

But how much less terrorized does France feel at having their buses burned as opposed to having their subways blown up?

Technorati Tag: Paris Riots and France.