Paris Celebrates Ramadan - Sequel

Soirée ramadan 2011 à la mairie de Paris by Yann333

Here's a video, just under six minutes, of the ramadan soirée held on August 24 at the Paris City Hall (what a gorgeous interior!). Mayor Bertrand Delanoë greets his guests. Two persons speak to a reporter at several points in the video, but the man's voice did not come through clearly to me. All I could grasp was that he is glad to see the Paris City Hall for the first time, and he doesn't mind a little controversy over a ramadan soirée. The woman, on the other hand, is very clear. She speaks of the joys of multiculturalism, saying that Paris is the very emblem of multiculturalism. She points out, with great satisfaction, that all the ethnic communities are partying side by side, and she makes it sound very normal, as if anything else would not be in keeping with the Parisian spirit.

There are brief snatches of Arabic music. On the walls of the large salon are paintings, some of them depicting nudes, something that would never be allowed in a Muslim-administered public building.

All in all, a somewhat less than spiritual or ascetic scene, but then Mayor Delanoë has said that ramadan is not a religious holiday. For the mayor it's an opportunity to win the minds and hearts of Muslims, in the event he should decide to run in the presidential election.

The video was posted at Novopress on August 28 along with a brief article that reveals the huge cost of this soirée:

The ramadan soirée given on Wednesday by the mayor of Paris created an animated debate among political leaders. Because of its cost (99,000 euros just for the Iftar meal and the cultural activities) and because of its religious nature.

Note: As I indicated, ramadan has been turned into a secular festival by the cunning mayor of Paris.

Furthermore, as a sign of opposition, the members of the Projet Apache (the Bloc Identitaire of Paris) had pasted several hundred protest posters around City Hall the night before.

Below the poster from the Projet Apache showing a rather comical photo of the mayor with these words:

"Today Parisians are homeless, the French have no money, the Europeans are watching their future go down the drain. But I prefer to spend money on RAMADAN!"



I rarely deal with economic issues here, but another article from Novopress reveals that unemployment in France has grown considerably for the third straight month in a row. Young people are the hardest hit, but the article does not say which young people. The politicians pretend it will all go away.

Update: August 29 - I should have added this link to the post. It will send you to the original article about the ramadan soirée.