Dick Young, Paris, France
The Trump Administration can now use France as a model to deal with radical Islam in America.
The Daily Mail’s Raven Saunt and Peter Allen explain French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to strengthen secularism against what Macron referred to as Islamist separatism. They write (abridged):
Emmanuel Macron has described Islam as ‘a religion that is in crisis all over the world’ as he unveiled a proposal to battle Islamic radicalism which had created a ‘parallel society’ living outside of French values.
In a keynote speech lasting more than an hour, France’s head of state said earlier today that Islam was in crisis due to ‘an extreme hardening’ of positions in recent years.
He said the government would this year present a draft law aimed at strengthening secularism in France against what Macron described as ‘Islamist separatism’ in the country.
Macron insisted ‘no concessions’ would be made in a new drive to push religion out of education and the public sector across the country.
He coined the term ‘separatism’ to describe the underworld that thrives in some neighborhoods around France where Muslims with a radical vision of their religion take control of the local population to inculcate their beliefs.
But members of the nation’s six-million-strong Muslim community — the largest in Western Europe — immediately accused him of stirring up Islamophobic and racist feeling so as to appeal to far-Right voters ahead of the presidential elections.
He said all French Imams would have to be certified from now on and could be shut down at any time.
The head of state added that there would also be closer scrutiny of the curriculum at private schools and stricter limits on home-schooling for reasons other than a child’s health problems.
The head of state added that there would also be closer scrutiny of the curriculum at private schools and stricter limits on home-schooling for reasons other than a child’s health problems.
By RAVEN SAUNT and PETER ALLEN IN PARIS FOR MAILONLINE
With 751 “no go zones” in France, citizens will be happy to see their government defend the country’s culture from separatist tendencies.
