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| Europe |
| Expulsions fuel French Muslim fears |
| 2004-06-03 |
| EFL She came to France from Algeria when she was two years old and, for her and her family, Marseilles is home. Her husband works at an employment agency, and her father fought on the French side in the Algerian war. Yet Nacera fears that life has changed for the worse for Muslims in France, with Islam viewed with suspicion since the 11 September 2001 attacks. "We feel as if we’re being pointed out as the guilty ones - even we Muslim people living here in France feel as if we are somehow held responsible for the climate of insecurity which prevails in much of the West now," she tells me. And for moderate Muslims in France, Nacera admits, there is an added fear - that more fundamentalist forms of Islam are seeking a foothold here, and often finding it among younger Muslims in the smaller mosques. "Ten or 15 years ago, we were living a peaceful form of Islam in France, and all of a sudden foreign influences came in and are changing things. Imams are coming from Afghanistan or Pakistan, going in to the little mosques in Marseilles, preaching another Islam, an Islam we didn’t know before," she says. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #8 Ummm.... that last sentence was directed towards Nacera, not you guys. I just read it and it didn't come across as clear as it seemed when I was writing it. |
| Posted by: Dripping Sarcasm 2004-06-03 6:47:33 PM |
| #7 B-a-r and bulldog - let's not to forget to add, that whatever "peaceful form of Islam" that they were practicing must have left someone wanting, otherwise these Imams wouldn't have found a receptive audience with which to take root. If these Imams showed up with "enforcers" to put down anyone who objected, and they threatened the moderate Muslim's way of life, then it would be time to learn that sometimes you have to stand up to the bullies, even if it means a bloody nose. But, if they just rolled over at the first sign of intimidation, well hey, they do live in France. stop whining that you're different than them, even while you passively get into bed with them. |
| Posted by: Dripping Sarcasm 2004-06-03 6:44:48 PM |
| #6 preaching another Islam, an Islam we didn’t know before But were all-too-happy to embrace, apparently. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-06-03 3:07:29 PM |
| #5 B-a-r - exactly! She identifies the complaint, and the cause, but just seems to be whining impotently. Like there's nothing she can possibly do about it. Does Allah help those who help themselves? If not, maybe she needs to find herself a new god. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-06-03 12:28:47 PM |
| #4 "Ten or 15 years ago, we were living a peaceful form of Islam in France, and all of a sudden foreign influences came in and are changing things. Imams are coming from Afghanistan or Pakistan, going in to the little mosques in Marseilles, preaching another Islam, an Islam we didn’t know before," she says. Ah, so they did recognize the problem back then and did nothing about it? Sorry ma'am, but I'm all out of sympathy here. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-03 12:25:42 PM |
| #3 Perhaps if they stood up to fight agains the militant Islam the rest of the French would look a bit more kindly upon them. |
| Posted by: Yank 2004-06-03 12:03:42 PM |
| #2 Might want to have your hubby get a few like minded buddies and put a bullet into the head of the new imans and his thugs. After awhile it wont be cool to be on that team. Or you can pout and do nothing while they bully their way in. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-06-03 11:59:12 AM |
| #1 "We feel as if we’re being pointed out as the guilty ones - even we Muslim people living here in France feel as if we are somehow held responsible for the climate of insecurity which prevails in much of the West now," she tells me. That's becuase, well, you are. |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-06-03 11:03:24 AM |