By Arlette Khouri
November
30, 2020
Violence
inspired by radical Islam has created a growing sense of insecurity, fear and
Islamophobia in France, which has only fuelled the conflation of Islam and
Islamism in the public’s consciousness, an Arab News/YouGov poll of French
people of Arab origin has found.
Muslims faithfuls wear face
masks as they gather to celebrate Eid al-Adha at Maryam Mosque in the city of
Caen, northwestern France, on July 31, 2020. (AFP/File Photo)
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On Oct. 29,
three people were killed in a stabbing attack near the Notre-Dame basilica in
the southern French city of Nice. It followed the beheading of a French school
teacher near Paris on Oct. 16, who had used caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed
in a lesson about freedom of expression.
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The attacks
have led to a sharpening of rhetoric, both domestically and on the world stage,
which has brought France’s core value of secularism under the spotlight and
raised the spectre of cultural conflict.
“It is
clear that terrorism is also an act of communication. Added to the barbarity of
the modus operandi is a desire to accelerate the break up the society in order
to start a war of religion by accrediting the thesis that the Republic
persecutes its Muslim citizens,” David Djaiz, an essayist and professor at the
prestigious Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), told Arab News.
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Djaiz
believes this is due in part to a mistranslation of French society’s values of
secularism. But he is also aware of some deliberate distortions used to serve
political ends.
“President
Emmanuel Macron spoke of ‘Islamism’ but his words were translated into Arabic
using the word ‘Islam,’” Djaiz said, referring to the French president’s
remarks in response to the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty.
As a
result, some foreign politicians used these distorted words to sow confusion
and to trigger protests and boycotts of French goods, he said.
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“Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for example, has used this discourse in a very
cynical way to satisfy his own political agenda,” Djaiz said.
The climate
this has created in the wake of the Paris and Nice attacks has only served the
interests of jihadist terrorism, which seeks to alienate French Muslims from
the rest of the society, he added.
The
solution may be multi-pronged. Beyond police and judicial operations to break
up Islamist networks, Djaiz wants to see France adopt policies to promote civic
friendship and the recognition of French values.
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“Every
child in this country, regardless of his denominational affiliation, must
receive a positive education in the values of the republic and the principles
that structure it, and first and foremost the principle of secularism,” he
said.
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This
principle of secularism was conceived by the great figures of the Third
Republic, among whom were Protestants, Freemasons and non-believers, to allow
the peaceful coexistence of all denominational components of French society.
For a long
time, this society was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, whose dogma
influenced the state. But in a society that was becoming more pluralized and
complex, republicans sought to separate church and state and allow a diversity
of opinions and beliefs to express themselves peacefully.
“From this
point of view, secularism is therefore a principle that must be particularly
welcoming to Muslims, because it allows everyone to freely exercise their
worship by being protected from the pressures of the group,” said Djaiz. This
allows the individual to freely worship or to abandon their faith without
consequence.
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“Secularism
is not at all a revolver pointed at Islam as the Anglo-Saxon media alleges. On
the contrary, secularism helps to protect all religious convictions,” said
Djaiz.
But is
secularism actually working in reality? Djaiz believes the problem is a
widespread misunderstanding of what it means. “This principle must be explained
to young children and this task must be entrusted essentially to teachers and
all front-line officials in this country,” he said.
“This
pedagogy and explanation work has not been sufficiently done, allowing
secularism to be considered as an aggressiveness towards Islam whereas this is
totally false,” he said.
“But if we
are still debating secularism today, a principle that should have been
validated for several decades, it is because the republic indulged itself in
laxity and laissez-faire and that the Muslims did not grasp this fight.”
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Reaffirming
the value of secularism must be made a priority, says Djaiz. To do this, a
positive political project promoting the concept of civic friendship is
essential.
“This
political project must go beyond our particularisms and cannot be limited to the
values of the republic,” he said. “We need a project that propels us and tells
a new French story that remains largely to be invented.”
The
importance of this “new narrative” is clearly spelled out in the findings of
the Arab News en Francais/YouGov survey, which has uncovered a generational
gap. A majority of young French people of Arab origin are much less
enthusiastic about French institutions than their older counterparts.
According
to the poll, younger people appear more keen on returning to the roots and
origins of their parents and are less inclined to comply with French
regulations.
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Djaiz
believes Muslim scholars and cultural leaders must play their part in
undermining the more extreme interpretations of Islam and promoting openness.
The views of French Muslims who condemn the protests and boycotts of French
goods must also be promoted.
He is
optimistic a new social contract can be established that will mend the
worrisome rifts opening up in French society.
“We are now
on the cusp of very great changes,” he said. “The challenge we are facing today
is to establish a kind of new social contract in which every child of the
republic will have a place so that no one is tempted by extremist and murderous
ideologies.”
Original Headline: How a new social contract
could salvage French secularism
Source: The Arab News
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-west/french-secularism-islamophobia-young-people/d/123639
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