In the north of Paris there is such an area - the Golden Drop.
The name comes from the cabaret, where in the 15th century local white wine was sold with a golden hue.
In the 19th century it was already a working-class suburb.
Emile Zola described him like this: poverty, alcohol and prostitutes.
Today there is poverty, drugs and Islamist radicalism.
Although there are probably prostitutes too, I didn’t look for them.
In place of factories and pawnshops, there are now African and Arab stores.
Very high unemployment, comparable only to the neighboring suburb of San Denis, and there are also thousands of illegal migrants.
Someone has already been denied a residence permit, someone simply does not have any papers - all these people dissolve in the streets of the Golden Drop.
It is here in 2010 that the famous photographs were taken, where the roads are closed to traffic, carpets are spread on them and thousands of worshipers are sitting.
It was this place that the American channel Fox News called no-go zone, where it is dangerous for non-Muslims to go.
And last year the French authorities announced a "republican reconquista" here - they decided to fight communitarianism by bourgeoisization of the area.
Students, hipsters and exotic lovers are called in, who in theory should squeeze out radical Islam.
We renovated a couple of houses for the sale of apartments, installed a bio cafe serving a vegan burger and beetroot steak, made a fashionable boutique with evening dresses (although the colors and style are still African), opened the only non-Islamic bookstore in the area, where women’s romance novels are now sold ...
What are they counting on?
That the locals would just leave?
Then the problem will move to another area.
Or do they want to assimilate the locals?
Let us suppose.
It's just hard to imagine such a thing.
There is such an African madame in an evening dress with a cart of groceries in the middle of the road (it happened - the sidewalks there are very narrow), then she reads the amorous adventures of some Juan, and her numerous offspring chews a vegan beetroot steak in the kitchen of a social apartment - there are only 224 on one of the streets half a kilometer away.
It is hard to believe in the success of such an undertaking.
Social housing in such places is up to 80% of the total living space.
At the integration courses for newcomers in their language, instead of lectures on the history of the country and Western values, as it turned out, they say (without the knowledge of the authorities) that it was France to blame for all the troubles.
And so they are here to enjoy social benefits and preserve, sometimes even secretly, their culture, religion and values.
40% of French Muslims believe that they are discriminated against, 40% of adults professing Islam, put the norms of Sharia above the laws of the republic.
Among adolescents, this figure is 74%.
The reconquista was choked not only here, but also in the suburbs.
This is openly said by the President of the Ile-de-France region, Valerie Pécresse.
Her proposal to eradicate radical Islam is to demolish the city ghettos, break down the walls that separate the local way of life from the rest of France.
In words, it is beautiful, correct, tough.
And you go do it.
Impossible, because it threatens with such a riot that few politicians will dare to get into it.
At the very beginning of the term, Macron tried to enter through education - he wanted universities to provide preferential places for residents of bad areas, they say, equal opportunities, all things.
Then he began to think about a law to combat radical Islam in France.
But then one thing, then another, then "yellow vests", then COVID-19 - the document was thrown on a shelf, taken out a couple of times, removed.
They returned to development on October 2 after Macron's speech on the topic of separatism, accelerated after the next terrorist attacks.
The statements from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sounded harsh, even revolutionary.
How many necessary and correct things were suggested.
And then snot began: “Well, no-no, well, it’s impossible, but what about human rights, well, this is somehow too much ...” As a result, even the name of the law was changed - the word “separatism” was removed in favor of the vague wording “strengthening of respect principles of the republic ".
However, something useful still remains.
So, the first is religious neutrality in public places and state institutions.
That is, there will be no separate subway cars for women only, as, for example, in Cairo.
It will not be possible to assign separate swimming hours for different sexes based on religion.
All associations, whether religious or sports, must sign a deed of adherence to the principles of the republic if they want to receive government subsidies (and if they don't want to, then don't they?).
Foreign funding of mosques has not been banned, but if a donation of € 10 thousand or more is sent from abroad, you will have to declare it.
It is forbidden to engage in politics in religious institutions, incitement to violence will be punished by seven years in prison, polling stations cannot be located there, including if the elections are not French, but foreign.
The judge can forbid individuals to preach, the prefect has the right to temporarily close the place to avoid terrorist attacks.
They prohibit polygamy, forced marriages, disinheritance on the basis of gender (concerns girls), prison threatens those doctors who will issue certificates of virginity.
Doctors, by the way, were actively against this point, fearing for the health of their patients if they could not provide such a certificate.
School will be compulsory for everyone from three to 16 years old, but home schooling is still allowed (basement Sharia schools, for example), however, parents will have to get a special document.
If before it was just willpower that was enough, now you have to look for a medical justification or other concrete reason why your child cannot attend general lessons.
They will strengthen control over private schools.
Dissemination of data on the private and professional activities of a civil servant, if this information can harm his life, family and health, is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of € 75,000.
There is not a word in the law about migrants, about the system of expulsion of dangerous persons.
And there are about 10,500 of them, of which about 4,000 are foreigners.
Remember, after the murder of the teacher, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs promised to expel 261 people?
During all these months, only a couple of dozen were sent.
The topic of social housing is not touched upon, they do not talk about the struggle against radical Islam and do not mention secularism.
The text upset many, and the president was caught in a vice.
The left called him a hypocrite, the right accused him of lack of political courage.
From above, the Constitutional Council presses on him, which can force him to soften the wording even more, from below the French street is boiling.
I wonder who will take it.
Consideration in parliament is scheduled for January.
But if the law is still adopted, albeit in this form, it will certainly add political points to Macron a year before the presidential elections in France.
Moreover, judging by the activity of his competitors, the election campaign has already begun.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.