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Secret Strategy for the Islamization of France An
official report dealing with religious expression in French schools
has become a must read for anyone interested in the Islamization of
France. Written under the auspices of the top national education
official, Jean-Pierre Obin, the report was not initially released by
the Ministry of Education. But it was leaked on the Internet in March
and now can be found on some websites.  Do the
French want such folks in their midst one day? Scores of informants
told the Obin team that these neighborhoods were undergoing a "rapid
and recent swing" toward Islamization, thanks to the growing
influence of religious activists. These young men, intense and highly
intellectual in their piety, are sometimes former residents of the
neighborhood who have been to prison, where they were converted to
Islam. More often, however, they are educated men with degrees from
universities in France, North Africa, or the Middle East. They have
come to be known as "bearded ones" (distinctive beards are a marker
of Muslim purists and extremists--think of bin Laden) or "big
brothers" (a name evocative of the worldwide jihadist movement's
Muslim Brotherhood), and they offer young people a proud identity--
Muslim--in place of the dismal identity of unassimilated immigrant.
The worst experience of the French with Islam is not in the
present, or in the past, but ominously - in the future. Photo
Credits: Apostolic
Temple ______________________________
The 37-page report is the product of a study carried out between
October 2003 and May 2004 by a team of 10 inspectors, including Obin.
In addition to examining the recent literature on religion and
schools in France, they visited 61 academic and vocational high
schools in 24 départements, chosen not as a cross-section of public
schools, but rather as schools typical of those where religious
expression has become a problem because of the high concentration of
ethnic and religious minorities. Many are located in ethnically
segregated neighborhoods now often referred to, the report says, "by
analogy with the United States, as 'ghettos.'" In each school,
inspectors interviewed the management team, staff, and teachers, as
well as lay people from the community, including parents, social
workers, and elected officials. In addition, regional education
officials were asked to submit accounts of their experiences in
primary schools. Amid much diversity--some of the schools were
rural, some urban; some had fairly homogeneous student populations,
others immigrants from many different countries--the inspectors
report two consistent findings: a marked increase in religious
expression, especially Muslim expression, in schools; and denial on
the part of officials at all levels--from the classroom, to the
principal's office, to the regional administration--that this
phenomenon is occurring. The researchers began by studying the
neighborhoods surrounding the schools. Mostly, these were depressed
areas abandoned by anyone with a secure income. The report describes
the flight of "French" residents and "European" shops--sometimes
after they have been the targets of violence--in tandem with the
arrival of immigrants and the collapse of real estate
values. Scores of informants told the Obin team that these
neighborhoods were undergoing a "rapid and recent swing" toward
Islamization, thanks to the growing influence of religious activists.
These young men, intense and highly intellectual in their piety, are
sometimes former residents of the neighborhood who have been to
prison, where they were converted to Islam. More often, however, they
are educated men with degrees from universities in France, North
Africa, or the Middle East. They have come to be known as "bearded
ones" (distinctive beards are a marker of Muslim purists and
extremists--think of bin Laden) or "big brothers" (a name evocative
of the worldwide jihadist movement's Muslim Brotherhood), and they
offer young people a proud identity--Muslim--in place of the dismal
identity of unassimilated immigrant. The biggest social change
entailed by this Islamization, Obin reports, is a deterioration in
the position of females. Teenage girls are forbidden to play sports
and are constantly watched by an informal religious police made up of
young men, sometimes their own younger brothers. Makeup, skirts, and
form-fitting dresses are forbidden; dark, loose trousers are the
strongly recommended attire. To go to the blackboard in front of a
class, some Muslim girls put on long coats. Often, they are forced to
wear the headscarf, or hijab, and forbidden to frequent coed movie
theaters, community centers, and gyms, or even to go out at all on
weekends. Lots of young women were afraid to tell the Obin team
what punishments are in store for them if they disobey. Not only
female students but also female teachers, Muslim and non-Muslim
alike, are frequently subjected to sexist remarks by male teenagers.
In primary schools, the report cites instances of first grade boys'
refusing to participate in co-ed activities and Muslim children's
refusing to sing, dance, or draw a face. In one school, restrooms
were segregated: some for Muslim students and some for "French." Some
lunchrooms were segregated, by section or table. Some students
required halal meat; at one school, the principal provided only halal
meat for everyone. With Muslim proselytizing on the rise, the
report states that students are under pressure to observe Ramadan,
the annual month during which Muslims fast during the day. In some
high schools, it is simply impossible for non-Muslim kids not to join
in, whether they like it or not. Obin cites one student who tried to
commit suicide because of intimidation and threats from other kids
over this issue. Obin also emphasizes that many conversions to Islam
are taking place under duress. Inevitably, the report records
rampant "Judeophobia," to use the term in vogue in France. Among even
the youngest students, the term "Jew" has become the all-purpose
insult. Obin deplores the fact that principals and teachers do not
strenuously object to this, treating it simply as part of the youth
culture. Even more serious is the increase in assaults on Jews or
those presumed to be Jewish. Usually the assailants are Muslim
students. Sometimes the victims are, too: One Turkish high-school
girl was relentlessly harassed and bullied at school because her
country is an ally of Israel. The section of the report on anti-
Semitism winds up with this sad conclusion: In France today, Jewish
kids are not welcome at every school. Many are forced to switch
schools or even conceal their identity to escape anti-
Semitism. According to the report, Muslim students perceive a large
gap between the French and themselves. Even though most of the Muslim
kids are actually French citizens, they see themselves as Muslims
first, and more and more of them hail Osama bin Laden as their hero.
In their eyes, he represents a victorious Islam triumphing over the
West. Finally, the report discusses a host of difficulties teachers
encounter in dealing with specific subjects in the classroom. Most
Muslim kids refuse to participate in sports or swimming, the girls
out of modesty, the boys because they do not want to swim in "girls'
water" or "non-Muslim water." When it comes to literature, French
philosophers such as Voltaire and Rousseau are very often boycotted
because of their supposed Islamophobia. Molière, the father of French
satiric comedy, is among the writers most often boycotted. As for
history, Muslim students object to its Judeo-Christian bias and
blatant falsehood. They loudly protest the Crusades, and commonly
deny the Holocaust. Under the circumstances, many teachers censor
their own material, often skipping entire topics, like the history of
Israel or of Christianity. The report cites one teacher who keeps a
Koran on his desk for reference whenever a thorny issue arises. It
cites Muslim students who refuse to use the plus sign in mathematics
because it looks like a cross. Field trips, especially to churches,
cathedrals, and monasteries, are boycotted. Contrary to
conventional wisdom, these pathologies are now present across France.
Muslim "ghettos" are found not only in the suburbs of major cities
but in towns and villages as well. Obin describes them as islands of
counterculture, sealed off and opposed to modern democratic
society. Summing up, Obin explains his disturbing findings as the
result primarily of indoctrination orchestrated over years by
international Muslim organizations. From an early age, students are
taught what to think, what to believe, and to regard their school
teachers as liars. The goal of the radical groups seeking to
segregate Muslim communities and denouncing integration as
oppression, Obin writes, is to take the Muslim residents of France
out of the French nation and make them think of themselves as part of
the international Muslim community.
In a particularly interesting observation, Obin notes that it is
the schools that have reached accommodations with the extremists that
are most plagued by violence against girls, Jews, and teachers.
Schools that refuse to tolerate the intolerable have coped much
better with the problems described in the report. As a result, Obin
calls for a policy of no compromise with Islamist demands. Still
unclear is how French educators can be expected to hang tough while
their government refuses to own up to the problem--as demonstrated by
its failure to make public the Obin report. With the Muslim share of
the French population already over 10 percent and growing, the
schools are only the tip of the iceberg. The worst experience of
the French with Islam is not in the present, or in the past, but
ominously - in the future.
_____________________ Olivier Guitta is a specialist commentator on
the Middle East and Europe.
Story Credits: Olivier Guitta writing in the Weekly
Standard
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