How do we read Macron's abuse of Islam?

The French President, in a statement (1), on Friday (October 2) 2020, warned of the Muslims of France, whose number is estimated at about six million, saying that they are a minority that may form a "parallel society" inside France, as Islam described [himself] He is facing a worldwide "crisis".

This statement came just before Macron unveiled his plan, through which he seeks to confront what he called the "parallel society" phenomenon in France.

Such accusations are not considered a new matter in France, which is home to the largest number of Muslims in Western Europe, but Macron - this time - has another unique goal that he seeks to achieve behind these accusations, which is the hinting at the use of a militant discourse towards Islam that sacrifices the French Muslim minority and the blockade Originally in return for adopting his papers within the populist political scene in France.

The face of the paradox here is that Macron failed to realize the basic principle that is based on the separation of church and state in France. Rather, the state’s neutrality towards religions prevents him from interfering with what is primarily considered a religious affair of society, but the reality of the situation is much more dangerous [as will be clear in the lines. next].

 Last year, the Guardian (2) published an article titled "The Myth of Europe's Arabization: How a Conspiracy Theory Became a Commonly-Circulated Theory," as the myth of Europe's Arabization has been in circulation since it was preached by Girly Littmann (also known as Pat Your) two decades ago The time, and this thesis attracted many academic criticisms (3), revealing its falsehood after her ideas won admirers among the extreme right-wing movement, including the Norwegian serial killer Anders Bering Brevik (4).

The Norwegian serial killer Anders Bering Brevik

The "European Arabization Myth" thesis is based on feeding a false and very simple claim that European Muslims are participating in a cultural war aimed at overthrowing the European value system, and therefore white Christians must fight to save their civilization.

Although this is a reckless theory, the sober side revolves around what has become known as "Islamic separatism", and the latter itself was one of the ideas circulating in the margin, but it moved from there and became recently among the ideas circulating in the mainstream, thus affecting the politics of the left. And the right in France and abroad.

Of course, one may disagree about who is responsible for starting such a speech in France, but what is certain is that any list about this must include figures such as the commentator Eric Zemmour and the writer Reno Camus (5), who invented the theory of the "great substitution", which has been popularized. On the horizons and became an inspiration to many on the far right around the world.

There are, of course, many crises facing Muslims around the world, whether as citizens of their countries or followers of a religious sect.

For example, a large segment of Muslims live under authoritarian and autocratic regimes, which is in itself a crisis, but it is not something inevitable and unavoidable (6).

(What is not clear, however, is whether President Macron's foreign policy views the issue of the existence of such authoritarian regimes as problematic, and it is likely that he thinks otherwise, i.e. does not consider it a problem)

This is the case. Had Macron seriously dealt with the issue of good governance for Muslims around the world, this would have major repercussions on French foreign policy.

Hence, Macron's failure to prioritize issues of good governance makes his argument about the existence of a crisis within Islam less convincing.

Muslim scholars frequently talk about the "reference crisis" within religious education systems, and complain about the lack of investment in reviving the various educational institutions that would help them recover from the legacy of colonial rule.

Speaking of colonialism, Macron did not raise - as far as I know - the history of French colonialism, and it is certainly an issue closely related to this debate, given the apparent negative impact of the French rule on the various Islamic institutions in North Africa, and without addressing this issue, he will not be able Those institutions deal with the challenges of the modern world.

The point here is that this colonial legacy plays a role in fueling the ideology of extremists, just as authoritarian policies do in the region (7), but these are not the kind of crises that Macron or other European politicians complain of.

Indeed, Macron's statements are nothing but an attempt to attract right-wing voters before the presidential elections in 2022, an election for which he is now in intense competition with Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing National Rally, and the latter is of course not afraid of the issue of blaming all France’s problems for Muslims.

Macron may really believe in his account of a crisis within Islam.

Whatever that was, what really matters is that many of the leading politicians in the European Union, including those committed to liberal democratic values, are now reluctant to blame Muslim minorities and hold them responsible for social problems.

This trend is likely to contribute to politicians gaining many votes in elections, but true leadership requires one to oppose this wave, not work to ride it (and exploit it).

In this context, Reem-Sarah Elouane, a legal researcher at the University of Toulouse 1 (Capital), says: “Intolerance towards Muslims has become a successful brand in France, because it contributes to enhancing viewership on news networks that operate around the clock, seven days a week, It provides an opportunity to shed more light on politicians. Even if the extreme right is not on the hierarchy of power now in France, its ideas certainly run in its corridors. "

The researcher adds that when the time comes to choose between Macron and the right, "the voter will be asked to vote in order to save the republic, especially when Le Pen reaches the second round of the elections."

In addition to the above, Macron's party, labeled "the republic forward", occupies the center stage on the stage of French politics, and this position in particular makes Macron's statements and the statements of a number of lawmakers in his party a matter of concern.

If a politician declared two decades ago that “Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world,” we would surely say that it is a statement from an extremist right-wing party, and we would say the same thing about those who declare that the veil “does not correspond to the civilization of our country.” However, Macron himself declared this talk Two years ago (8).

Not long ago, it would have been surprising for anyone who was not a supporter of the extreme right to say, “I cannot accept anyone coming to participate in our work in the National Assembly (Parliament) wearing a headscarf,” but it did happen, and these words belong to “Anne.” Christine Lang ", a well-known French member of parliament, from Macron's centrist political party.

What's worse, Lang's attack was against an elected student leader, who was visiting her country's parliament and sharing her full rights as a citizen.

In this case, for the supposed defenders of the values ​​of the secular republic, the criticism of the veil has become more important than the defense of civil values ​​and individual freedoms.

Her veil annoyed French politicians ...

French MPs refused to attend Maryam Boghtto for a parliament meeting.

pic.twitter.com/nCM5lRYMqI

- AJ + Arabic (@ajplusarabi) September 20, 2020

Not only that, despite all the talk about (Islamic) separatism in France, the greater interest in these hadiths is targeting Muslim veiled women who perform their civil duties, more than the supporters of the populist extreme right who commit crimes or violate the law.

Like a former Le Pen member, who tried to set fire to a mosque, then shot two people who tried to stop it.

In this regard, the researcher Alwan points out that “although the racial theory known as the“ Great Alternative ”was developed in France and used by the terrorist who committed a horrific massacre in the“ Christchurch Church ”, New Zealand, Macron did not even once mention the danger of ideas. Related to the supremacy of the white race or the ideas of the far right. "

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Margins:

• How do we read Macron's abuse of Islam? ... a translation of an article published in the American magazine "Foreign Policy" on October 8, 2020. 

• Writer: H.A.

  Heller is a research professor at the Royal United Services Institute (UK), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (USA) and the Center for Global Policy (Europe).

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