Forgive me for returning to France and national identity for this week's East West column in The National, Abu Dhabi. It's an important debate and, a few evenings ago, a French acquaintance answered criticism of the timing ("cynically close to regional elections") by pointing out that on that basis, the debate would never happen since there are always elections of one kind or another looming in France ...
The best part of a recent return to Paris was not strolling through the narrow streets of the Left Bank or old stamping grounds on the other side of the Seine. Nor was it the excellent meals I enjoyed at restaurants (chosen carefully; it is possible to eat badly) or at the tables of friends.
What struck me most were the Grande Mosquée de Paris and the people I met there. Travels around the Middle East have left me difficult to impress when it comes to European mosques. How could it be otherwise when I have seen the Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, albeit on the European side of the Bosphorus, and the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat?
But of the mosques I have visited around Europe, the beautiful building in the smart fifth arrondissement of Paris is the one I shall remember the longest. In particular, I loved the lush gardens that greeted the eyes immediately upon passing through the main entrance. The welcome could not have been warmer. Although I had no appointment, one official gave me an impromptu tour. I was also able to speak to worshippers and visitors and their views were of great use as I prepared an article, published on December 5, about France’s current debate on national identity.
It was interesting to note from the history of the mosque that it was built after the First World War with support from the French government in honour of the courage and sacrifice of Muslim soldiers from North Africa who had fought on France’s side. Clearly, at the time, it was considered a cause compelling enough to justify whatever action was needed to overcome the small matter of France’s 1905 law separating religion and state and denying state aid to religious groups.
And who was it, as recently as 2004, who urged an amendment to the same law to permit funding for new mosques in towns where the Muslim communities had insufficient funds of their own? None other than Nicolas Sarkozy, the then finance minister, who believed it was not in France’s interest for Muslims, many having French nationality, to be without adequate places of worship. The danger for France, he said, was not more minarets, but forcing people to pray in dingy basements where they were more likely to come under the influence of extremists.
Five years later the minister-turned-president has modified his views. Writing in Le Monde, he rebuked those who criticised the Swiss for voting to ban minarets.
Three thoughts occur. Mr Sarkozy is not anti-Islam; he did also reaffirm the need for all faiths to have decent places of worship. But if a reasonable man’s thoughts have hardened, we should hardly be surprised that more ignorant people are leaving racist comments on the government’s website about the identity debate. And finally, the French Muslim policeman who told me of his personal struggles with notions of Frenchness must be feeling less French than ever.
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