[ExI] What the France!?

[Tom Nowell]

Now, to address the matter of "why shouldn't France expel the Muslims before they become a majority and destroy French institutions?"

I do not believe mass expulsion would work. I can also argue it would harm France for three main reasons: It undermines the foundations of the French state ; it would encourage mass disobedience to the French state ; it would damage international relations.

To expel a large percentage of a nation's population takes a lot of work, a lot of time and requires collaboration from a lot of people. To relocate the Apaches and other native American groups took many years and a lot of hard work by the US military. Stalin required absolute totalitarian control to do what he did. When you consider how long it takes western states to deport failed asylum seekers, you can imagine how difficult it would be to perform a mass expulsion.

 In the planning stages, word would get out - many Jews fled Nazi Germany well before the concentration camps were set up, and the steady exodus of Christians from Palestine comes as people hear the rhetoric of the Israeli state and the rhetoric of Hamas and come to the conclusion it's too dangerous for them. During this time, I'm sure some people would go underground and change their identities successfully, some muslims would be driven into the arms of extremists and commit terrorist acts, and others would try to inform the world at large what has happening. It is unlikely to achieve 100% expulsion of the Muslims from France.

The damage France would sustain would be huge. The French Republic is based on liberte, egalite, fraternite - mass expulsions deprive people of liberty, deny equality on the basis of religion, and shit on ideas of fraternity. This destroys the philosophical basis of the French State.

Many people in Europe have heard tales of the heroes who sheltered Jews in World War II, and helped smuggle people to safety. A mass ethnic cleansing in their own backyard would cause many otherwise law-abiding French people to become wannabe Oskar Schindlers and find ways to subvert the mass expulsion. It only takes a few sympathisers in the government departments controlling records to create a whole load of fake IDs or to shred the records of who's a Muslim.

France likes to position itself as a player on the world stage of diplomacy. It likes to maintain influence in Africa and to negotiate with Middle Eastern countries away from the Anglo-American way of doing things. Any displays of massive prejudice against Islam would destroy France's hard-won influence in many countries, and destroy what generations of politicians had fought to achieve.

So, enough of the negativity - what more optimistic way can I think of? Well, it's the one we're trying in Britain. Try and get more moderate muslims into politics and give ordinary muslims a stake in how things are. By getting moderate muslims into government, you give voice to all the ordinary people who just want to live their lives and avoid what the extremists say. You will build a solid base for muslims willing to live in a secular society.

 Also, when people have something to lose from the extremists, they are less likely to give them the time of day. If a muslim immigrant sees his daughters get educated and gain careers, when the next group of Islamists come to suggest jihad in the west and the setting up of a Taleban-style state, he's more likely to think "but they'll take away my own daughter's jobs, and cause my family hardship."

So, for the French I would recommend a healthy dose of Segolene Royal trying to get muslim candidates for her Socialist party, and when Nicholas Sarkozy sees a potential voting bloc favouring the opposition he will suddenly start taking the plight of muslim immigrants more seriously.

Tom