Monday, January 28, 2008

Aaah, if had only been Pipes, Spencer or Bostom vs Tariq Ramadan


Khaleej Times:

PARIS - A scion of France’s veteran far-right leader and and Europe’s best known Muslim intellectual wrangled over whether immigrant children should adopt French names and other cures for suburban unrest at a rare left-right clash in Paris on Monday.

Marine Le Pen, daughter of National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, and Oxford University academic Tariq Ramadan, ripped into each other’s political beliefs in what many supporters of the two said before the event would be a “debate with the devil’.

Officially, the event, organised by the Kitson, a private debating forum, was completely off the record.

Why be on anyone's side in that one?

But it was no surprise to the restricted audience to hear one calling for immigrant youths to adopt French names and learn to speak French properly if they wanted to boost their chances of getting work and acceptance.

It was no shock for the other to declare that immigration is now unavoidable for Europe’s economic future and that it is for European governments to change their attitudes and policies to make sure immigrant communities get a fair share of work and housing

Good luck on that one. It's EUROPE Tariq. Oh and by the way, about those communities where the French Police are afraid to visit and Shariah rules......

Voices were raised. Each accused the other of deforming his or her views. Virtually their only area of agreement was in opposing controversial DNA tests for the families of new migrants proposed by the Sarkozy government. “Useless and idiotic,” said one. “A dangerous precedent,” added the other.

Le Pen came away from the event saying she was “disappointed” at her rival’s discourse. Ramadan said he had faced more of a challenge trying to counter Nicolas Sarkozy before the mainstream right winger became French president.

“I thought he was a brilliant debater. I found he was just very extreme left wing,” Le Pen told AFP afterwards, while acknowledging she had proposed measures that would anger immigrant communities.

A pox on you both.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right. Give 'em French names and French lessons. And a key to the wine cellar while you're at it. Do they keep the intelligent members of that family locked in the attic, or what?

The FIOE charter is up at Gates of Vienna. Just sayin'. If there is an award for taqiyya I think we have our winners. Between them and Obama it's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Resistance Is Futilllllllllle.....

Sodra Djavul said...

Hey, I'm no fan of Le Pen, Sr. after that little "banlieue voting" switcheroo he pulled against Sarkozy last election. But then again, I'm no fan of Sarkozy not actually doing what he was elected to do, which I might remind you, was to clean up the banlieues.

Having said that, why such vitriol directed at Marine Le Pen? Is she not going far enough? If they are to stay, they must assimilate into French society. If they are not, what are you suggesting?

George Bush, Sr. was not his father (who did have business dealing with the Nazi regime), and neither is George W. his grandfather.

What do you want to see out of the French politicos?

Genuinely confused.

- Sodra

Epaminondas said...

Sodra there is NO POINT in talking about compulsory assimilation until there is complete social mobility, something the USA has 95% of its immigration based on since europe never did it.

Still doesn't.

If you had complete social mobility, blind to race and religion, THEN talking about shutting off immigration (the only possible answer) would simply be a practical measure to keep the jihadists out.

LePen is a racist. His solutions are not solutions. They are reactionary crap and BNPish if not cloned.

I thought perhaps Sarkozy was an answer but you are right about the suburbs and the banlieues.