MONTPELLIER: The Arab world and Muslims living inside France heaved a collective sigh of relief with the news that Emmanuel Macron had defeated Marine Le Pen to become president.
“I feel like I have been holding my breath for the past few weeks but can now breathe at last,” said Mounia, a 32-year-old housewife living in Paris. “France hasn’t betrayed us.”
Her view has been echoed by many of the 5 million or so Muslims living in France, from the banlieues of Paris to the high-rise apartments in Marseille.
The view from the largest mosque in Paris was that the election of Macron as France’s next president over far-right leader Le Pen was a sign of reconciliation between religions.
“It is a clear sign of hope to French Muslims that they can live in harmony and respect of French values,” said a spokesman for La Grande Mosquée de Paris.
The vote ended up being polarized between the town and the countryside. Most of the Muslim voters are drawn to the big cities, and like most everybody else, they rejected the rhetoric of fear from Madame Le Pen. Part of her manifesto was to regain the “soul” of France by banning halal meat, the burkini and religious clothing.
“While it may look like a resounding victory, the vote follows pretty much the traditional lines,” said Abdul, a 45-year-old teacher in Montpellier.
“The rural voters want a conservative candidate who they think will look after them. Basically, if you have a pen knife, you supported Le Pen. If you work with a laptop, you supported Macron. If you look at the Hérault, the people in the countryside voted for Le Pen, but in the towns, even the small towns, they went for Macron.”
Even though Syria was much discussed during the presidential campaign, it is not thought that the candidates’ views influenced the voters. At the outset many Muslim voters were skeptical of Macron. It was only when it was either him or Le Pen that they realized they had only one option.
Macron certainly posed fewer problems for Muslim voters. He told a crowd that “no religion is a problem in France today” and even condemned France for its “crimes and acts of barbarism” during its colonial rule in Algeria.
Le Pen, in contrast, made it clear that Muslims were hardly welcome in France. She blamed them for the insecurity in the country, which is still in a state of emergency.
“Why just pick on Muslims?” asked Mohammed, a 29-year-old delivery driver. “Terrorists kill Muslims too.”
Macron’s willingness to be open to new ideas, optimistic about the future and above all European in his outlook has won him many fans. Christiane, a 40-year-old who lives near Béziers in the south of France with her Tunisian husband, says that the mood among her friends is positive.
“For myself and my husband, I’m not expecting great things,” she told Arab News. “But for my children and grandchildren, we all feel that things can only get better under Macron.”
This view was echoed by Faysal, a 44-year-old Lebanese consultant who has been living in France for 17 years. “It’s a victory for France, the French, Europe and anyone anywhere in the world who fights against racism, enmity and intolerance,” he said. “I am very proud to be French today.”
Some Muslims, though, remain skeptical that Macron will change anything. “He’s part of the elite, went to a Grand Ecole, worked for Rothschild, was economy minister. What does he know about my life? And what does he care?” said Mustafa, a 19-year-old who works in his father’s shop.
However, some Muslims, particularly in the south, even those in the towns, say that they voted for Le Pen. The reason? Because she would keep out immigrants.
“There are too many immigrants here,” said Ahmed, a 25-year-old who family came to France from Algeria two generations ago. “I know this might sound harsh, but when my parents came, they tried to integrate. They wanted to be French. The immigrants that come now make no effort to integrate, they listen to this fundamentalist nonsense and make it worse for us. Personally, I wish they wouldn’t try to come here. And those that are here should be sent home.”
Anha, 33, an Algerian-born housewife of French origin, was not convinced by any of the candidates, but believes that a Macron victory was better than Le Pen.
“I am relieved that Marine Le Pen didn’t win because she represents a real threat for France in economic, social and political terms,” she said.
“For me Macron is not the left and his liberal vision is too clinical, too cold for a country like France that certainly needs reform, but that does not mean that we must liberalize without checks. Personally, I am reluctant toward Macron because he wants to lead France the way one runs a company and his relationship with the banking milieu leads me to think that he will once again give priority to the wealthy and to finance banks. Overall I think the candidates were all mediocre except perhaps Melenchon. If we voted Macron it was by default.”
