Time for French Muslims to find their own voice
https://arab.news/z28us
Paris has shifted its mood. The City of Light is no longer living to the beat of the upcoming Olympic Games, but rather to the upcoming parliamentary elections. For some, this is turning out to be even more entertaining. President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the parliament following the results of this month’s European elections, in which right-wing parties increased their representation. What has followed is a comical “Game of Thrones” from within all political parties. Let’s put it this way, it is a flourishing meme season for French politics.
One aspect of these upcoming parliamentary elections is the vote of French Muslims. Many ask how they will vote. There is no doubt about how they will cast their votes. Close to two-thirds of them will vote for Jean-Luc Melenchon’s La France Insoumise party and its allies. Many have explained this with reference to the situation in Gaza and because Melenchon has voiced criticism toward Israel. This is, according to analysts, why 62 percent of French Muslims voted for his party in the European elections.
However, this reasoning is not actually the case. Melenchon got 69 percent of Muslim votes in the first round of the presidential election in 2022 and at that time there was no war in Gaza. He is a political animal who knows how to capitalize on this situation and please this audience. Muslims are the only community that has such a concentrated and unicolored vote. No other religious group gives more than 30 to 35 percent to a single political party. So, close to 70 percent of Muslim votes going to Melenchon is a big difference.
There has been a capacity of the left, through various movements, to encapsulate the Muslim vote
Khaled Abou Zahr
Why did Muslims align firstly with the Socialist Party in the 1980s and now with La France Insoumise? There has been a capacity of the left, through various movements, to encapsulate the Muslim vote. Since the arrival of Francois Mitterrand as president in 1981, a voice within the Socialist Party encapsulated the complaints and sorrows of French Muslims from Africa. One clear movement in that path was Harlem Desir’s SOS Racism association and its famous “Hands off my pal” slogan that, with a symbolic yellow pin in the shape of a palm, stood against racism. This movement of the mid-1980s anchored the Muslim vote on the left.
One might draw an easy comparison with the Black vote in the US, which has been mainly anchored with the Democratic Party. I think that, for both communities, we have gone full circle, whereby now, if they choose to vote outside of this guideline, they are deemed “not Black” or depicted as the “good Arab” wanting to please his master. The left has become a bully to these communities. But more importantly, have French Muslims actually benefited from voting predominantly for the left all these years? Judging by the complaints and statistics on social progress, it seems not.
The left has allowed the community to not assimilate. Through the hijacking of words such as humanism and painting the conservative parties as racist, the Muslims have been encouraged to stay within their community and not fight positively for a greater share of the pie of what a great country France can be.
Looking at the results of the European elections with French residents in the UAE, we also notice an absolute majority for La France Insoumise. Melenchon also scored well in the first round of the last presidential election. The UAE has indeed welcomed a large community of French people of North African heritage. Rightly, they all praise the UAE for the positive environment it has created. And this is why I see a big contradiction — not to say hypocrisy — in their vote.
This also means finding ways to be useful for your country and not falling into the trap of victimization
Khaled Abou Zahr
We can start with what seems to matter most to people: their wallet. Melenchon plans taxation that goes up to 90 percent, while they enjoy zero tax in the UAE. Yet, more importantly, we notice that the two visions are completely different. And so, which is it they want? It is very symbolic of the conundrum of the community. They cannot appreciate the way of life and the vision we see in the Gulf, while voting for the far left at home. This does not make sense; not even the Gaza situation explains this. If they want the same environment that promotes entrepreneurship and personal success, they need to fight for it at home and change their political allegiance.
Assimilating in a new country is very difficult. No doubt about it. You need to fight for a place. And this takes time. It takes champions to push through and open doors. It demands excellence and ways to bring your country forward. The Italians lived it before the North African immigrants, the Spanish did too and so did the Portuguese. For each of these communities, finding their place in France was an uphill battle. And this also means finding ways to be useful for your country and not falling into the trap of victimization. In short, French Muslims need to stop thinking of themselves as victims of oppression.
Moreover, I can tell you that every single French Muslim living outside his country is more French than any other country of his heritage. It is only in France that he locks back into his country of origin. When he has the opportunity to travel, it is his French passport he proudly waves. And being French goes beyond borders. It follows you wherever you go. I simply wish that the majority of this community would stop following a single political voice that casts them as eternal victims and start thinking about a future of positive achievements for generations to come.
- Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
