Salut!

Macron's vision of France and Islam: is this the president's biggest challenge?

Just now, the French president Emmanuel Macron probably has more on his mind than the long-awaited, much-delayed initiative he promises on how Islam in France should be organised. The weekend has seen widespread protests about the price of fuel at the pump. As ever, I am torn between admiration for the "up with this we shall not put" rebelliousness of the French and anger at the belief that it's perfectly OK to stop people going about their daily lives. At one blockade in Savoie, a women anxious to get her daughter to the doctor panicked when confronted by protestors and tried to drive on. She knocked over and killed a female demonstrator who probably had nothing to do with impeding her journey to the medical appointment. Desperately sad on all levels ...

But there remains the issue of whether a better, differently organised Islam would both satisfy Muslims and tackle extremism. I am grateful to The National for allowing me to reproduce my work here ...

France and Islam: a divided religion in a divided country

The mosque at Lunel, a small southern town from which up to 30 people left to join terrorist groups in Syria or Iraq, or to accompany those doing so: see this previous item

I recently completed a fairly comprehensive three-part series for The National* on France and Islam - and many of the issues of tolerance, integration and radicalisation that arise from such a broad subject. In the footnote, you will find links to each of the published items as they appeared at the newspaper's website.

For weeks, I badgered Ahmet Ogras, president the Conseil Français du Culte Musulman (the French Muslim Council, or CFCM) for an interview. Despite the demands of Ramadan, he finally agreed but, unfortunately, a little too late for inclusion in the series, though I had hoped to squeeze in a short article to accompany the last instalment.

An appearance at Salut! is modest consolation but it feels right to find space at least here for Mr Ogras's thoughts, especially with the Emmanuel Macron initiative on the organisation of the religion in France thought to be imminent ....