"Let Us Understand..."

Nicolas Sarkozy has expressed his views on the Swiss vote to ban minarets. His statement was published in Le Monde. Since it is rather long, I have condensed parts of it. It is interesting to follow his thinking as it progresses from a condescending understanding of the Swiss reaction to a reaffirmation of his own major goals for France: "métissage" and "living-together" in some kind of Utopian, republican and wholly artificial construct:

Through a referendum, the Swiss people have just voted against the construction of new minarets on their territory. This decision legitimately raises many questions. A referendum forces you to answer a question by a yes or a no. Can you answer yes or no to such a complicated question, that touches on so many profound things? I am convinced that you can only arouse painful misunderstandings, a feeling of injustice, that you can wound souls when you give such a definitive response to a problem that ought to be resolved on a case by case basis that respects each person's convictions and beliefs.

Note: Right from the start he questions the validity of referendums themselves. A subtle way of saying that he does not approve of the Swiss response. But he certainly approved of the Irish response - the second time around, when they voted as ordered.

He then expresses his shock at the excessive reactions in the media to the Swiss vote that he qualifies as "caricatures".

Behind the violence of these positions hides the reality of a visceral mistrust for anything emanating from the people. Reference to the people, for some, is the beginning of populism. But when you become deaf to the cries of the people and indifferent to their problems and their aspirations, then you do feed populism. This contempt for the people, and it is a type of contempt, always ends badly. How can anyone be surprised at the success extremists have when the sufferings of the voters have not been taken into account?

Note: It is hard to keep a straight face. Sarkozy, of all people, has shown total indifference, if not contempt, for the cries and aspirations of the French and the Irish when they voted against the EU Constitution in 2005 and against the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.

So, instead of condemning the Swiss because we do not like their response, it is better to ask ourselves what is revealed by this vote. Why has Switzerland, a country with a long tradition of openness, hospitality, tolerance expressed such a rejection with such force? And how would the French people respond to the same question?

Answer: Why don't you let the French tell you how they feel. On with a referendum!

He then says that we must try to understand what the people were trying to say, because to go into denial would be the worst thing.

Let us understand that what happened in Switzerland has nothing to do with freedom to worship or freedom of conscience. Nobody, in Switzerland or anywhere else, is questioning these fundamental freedoms.

Notice how he now tries to exclude religion from the debate. As if Islam had nothing to do with it.

The peoples of Europe are welcoming, they are tolerant, it is in their nature and their culture. But they do not want their daily lives, their way of thinking and their social relationships denatured. And the feeling of losing one's identity can be a cause of profound suffering. Globalization contributes to the aggravation of this feeling.

Globalization renders identity problematical because it seeks to shake it up, and in so doing it increases certain needs. This is because the more the world is open, the more movement and mixing together of ideas, men, capital and merchandise are intensified, then the greater the need to be anchored, with a system of values, the greater the need to feel one is not alone in the world. This need to belong can be fulfilled by the tribe or the nation, by communitarianism or by the republic.

National identity is the antidote to tribalism and communitarianism. That is why I wanted a great debate on national identity. (...)

He repeats that an open discussion is necessary in order to prevent a repression of feelings that will lead to "a terrible rancor". He goes on to describe Switzerland as a country that knows it has to change, as a country that has practiced, like no other, the mixing together of cultures throughout its history.

"Métissage" is the willingness to live together. Communitarianism is the choice to live separately. But métissage is not the denial of identity. It is, for each person, the recognition, understanding and respect of the other.

For the one who welcomes it is the recognition of what the other can bring. For the one who arrives it is the respect of what was already there. For the one who welcomes it is an offer to share his heritage, his history, his civilization and his art of living. For the one who arrives it is the willingness to enter without brutality, but in a natural manner, into this society that he is going to transform (...)

The above is a typical Sarkozy exercise in vapid repetition. Totally empty words based on a totally unrealizable goal. He goes on to repeat his tiresome litany that "laïcité" means respecting all religions.

I address my Muslim compatriots and tell them that I will do everything I can so that they feel they are citizens like the others, enjoying the same rights as everyone else to live out their faith, to practice their religion with the same freedom and the same dignity. I will fight all forms of discrimination.

But I want to say as well that in our country, where Christian civilization has left such a profound trace, where the values of the republic are an integral part of our national identity, anything that appears to challenge this heritage and its values would doom to failure the necessary implantation of an Islam of France (...)

Note: Christianity is now just a "trace".

Christian, Jew or Muslim, a man of faith, whatever his faith, a believer, whatever his belief, each must refrain from all ostentatiousness and from all provocations and, conscious of the opportunity he has to live in a land of freedom, he must practice his faith with humble discretion - not from lukewarm convictions but from the fraternal respect he feels towards one who does not think as he does, and with whom he wants to live.

Here is a reader's comment from the website Juif that also published the text:

- This Monsieur Sarkozy is priceless... perhaps when you open your eyes one day, you will see that the Islam that has settled in France does not have any of the same aspirations as the other preceding waves of immigration into France - Jews, Poles, Spaniards, Italians and others, integrated themselves entirely and without conditions into the life and history of this land, France, that they love unto death, and even unto dhimmitude. They also participated in the cultural richness and in all domains without insult to the values that reign in this wonderful France that we love so. The immigration we were a part of never burned cars, or spat on the flag or offended the national anthem that thrills us.

Our indignation today focuses on this latest massive wave of immigrants that respects nothing, through its violence, anti-Semitism, and the denial of the country in which it lives and from which it profits. And so Mr. President, do not take a chance on a referendum; you would be surprised at the outcome that might be contrary to all the politically correct formulas that you dispense in your great speeches of no real substance.

With all due respect to your office...

Note: In the above comment his reference to "dhimmitude" is a bit puzzling, but he is clearly indicating that dhimmitude is worse than death: "unto death, EVEN unto dhimmitude". He seems to be saying that some people may love their country too much, so much that they allow Islam in to destroy it, lulled into believing they are doing the right thing.

In the video below, one of several that are now online of the Barbès quarter of Paris, where they pray in the streets on Friday, we see how Sarkozy's lofty words match the reality of what Frenchmen see on an every day basis, at least in parts of France.