President Jacques Chirac's measures to deal with France in crisis, France in flames, do not address the root cause of the violence; therefore, they are destined to fail.
Creating opportunities for young people is all well and good. Condemning the "poison" of racism is also to be lauded. However, it doesn't serve the French well to castigate themselves for failing to integrate the Muslims from North Africa, since Muslims generally have no intention of assimilating - their religion proscribes assimilation with the infidel - and because where people fail to assimilate, they live, by definition, in a parallel universe. It is this parallel universe which we observe in the French ghettos.
It should be pointed out that the French themsleves probably have about as little interest in integrating with the Muslims of North Africa as the Muslims of North Africa have in integrating with the French! To understand why, we need to make a few observations...
First and foremost, France belongs to the French. The French are a deeply proud nation; and there are many good reasons why it is so. French culture is high culture. The French are a clever, refined people. They have contributed much to the world: in the arts, in literature; in cuisine (think of the fine recipes and wonderful cheeses!), in viniculture (some of the finest wines in the world have traditionally been produced by the French), in fashion, in architecture, in furniture design, in science and medicine; indeed in oh so much. Who, for example, has a refined kitchen like the French? Their attention to the delights of the palette and the refinement of the table is unsurpassed by any culture. Nobody understands how to dine better than the French!
Moreover, take their language: Most languages are beautiful in their own way, at least when spoken properly; but it is difficult indeed to outclass the beauty of French when spoken and written well.
So the French have much to be proud of. Do you really think that there is much desire on the part of these people to integrate with people who come from North Africa with a totally different way of living? The French look down their snouts at the English and the Americans, and have great difficulty accepting us on equal terms! What chance have we got of withnessing their integration with Muslims, a people with a totally and utterly alien culture?
Muslims in France are equally proud. They also feel themselves to be superior. This comes from what their faith teaches them rather than from their achievements. Muslims the world over believe - firmly believe - that the world is theirs for the taking! It is their objective to Islamize the world, whether the rest of the non-Muslim world wishes to be Islamized or not.
Muslims live a different life altogether. They like to eat on the floor with their hands, they like to pray five times a day, they like to keep their women subjugated and inferior, covered up for none but the closest relatives to view, and, as we all know, they frown on the consumption of alcohol - at least officially!
For true integration to take place, there has to be some common ground. What common ground can we find between these two diametrically opposed peoples? The difference between them is as great as the difference between black and white, day and night!
Moreover, do you think that French people really want to integrate with a people who feel themselves to be superior, who eat on the floor, who do not respect art and high culture, who do not partake of fine wines, and who treat their women as inferior and as sex objects, there for the pleasure of their men? Oh, the list goes on!
The French should refrain from castigating themselves for their failures in this matter. One should ask oneself if they could have done anything to get Muslims to integrate? After all, the Prophet Muhammad exhorted his followers not to befriend the infidel, not to engage with them unless they absolutely have to. He also exhorted Muslims to kill and maim infidels where'er ye find them, and only to stop when they have been beaten into submission, when the infidel either embraces the faith or feels himself subdued, and when he is prepared to pay the Muslim community the tribute, or jiziyah! - the high tax levied on non-Muslims.
The fact of the matter is that France has just witnessed the first pangs of jihad, or holy war. The youth that rioted were heard shouting Allahu Akbar, God is Great(er)!, and chanting that this land will belong to us soon anyway! If this is not proof that there is something more sinister going on, then what is?
In general, the French response to this crisis is a typical socialist response. If there's a problem, throw more money at it! But I'm sorry to tell you that this one problem which money alone will not solve. What really needs to be done is to roll back the frontiers: The advance of Islam in France (and the West) needs to be halted, now, before it is too late.
Why does political correctness only go one way? How politically correct are Muslims? How much tolerance of non-Muslims do Muslims show? How many churches are built in the Middle East? How many Christian schools? Indeed, how many Christians are allowed to live there?
In the case of France, all troublemakers should be deported forthwith. Sarkozy has promised this. It is to be hoped that he acts on his promise. Further, it is to be hoped that the door through which they are sent is not a revolving one!
All illegal immigrants should be sent home. France is under no obligation to allow them to remain. Islam in France is growing apace. The riots have been a manifestation of this exponential growth. The growth needs to be stemmed; otherwise all good intentions, and all policies, however generous, will fail.
It would seem that France's greatest failure has been one of recognition: Recognition of the true problem facing it!
©Mark Alexander
