Can Muslims integrate into western societies? The French say NON!

"Face à l'islam, les Français s'inquiètent" - That's the unsurprising headline on a report in Le Journal du Dimanche (= Sunday Journal) on a recent survey conducted by pollsters IFOP (French Institute of Public Opinions). It means "Confronted by Islam, the French are getting worried." No kidding!

The IFOP poll showed that 61% of French people think that Islamism is "incompatible with the values of French society." That's a rise of 8% over the number who thought that when asked in 2018. The polling firm was investigating the "worrying" rise and influence of Islamism in France, and its manifestations in many aspects of public life, particularly in the public display of such symbols of Islam as the wearing of the niqab (veil) and burqa (complete head-to-toe body covering). (If you're not sure of the difference, click here for Walt's explanation.)

Another manifestation of the Islamization of France (and all of western Europe) is the increasing number of schools where Islam, including the law of Sharia, is taught. According to the IFOP survey, 80% of pensioners, 69% of workers, 70% of employers, and even 55% of left-wing voters expressed concern about this. According to another IFOP survey, nearly half (46%) of foreign-born Muslim immigrants want France to replace its legal system with Sharia law. That point of view is supported by 18% of Islamists born in France.

On this and other questions on the accommodation of Muslims, the poll noted a strong difference of opinion between between left and right. About 55% of the supporters of the leftist group France Insumisa and the Socialist Party defended Muslim worship, while 85% of the supporters of Marine Le Pen's National Rally agreed with the statement that "Islamism is incompatible with the values of French society."

The survey results add to those compiled last month by international global consulting firm IPSOS, which revealed that 60% of French people saw as a threat the already massive but still growing number of immigrants arriving as a result of President Emmanuel Macron's open border policy. "More than one in two French (60%) see migrants as a threat," the survey data said, and 65% "think that welcoming them will not improve the country's situation. 45% of French people think that "the arrival of migrants deprives French people of social services," it added, noting that "the idea that French people should be given priority in the allocation of jobs has increased in France over the past three years."

The people of France seem pretty clued in about the threat to their society posed by the influx of alien immigrants and "refugees". The people of Québec have also figured it out. See "Québec to require immigrant wannabes to pass values test", WWW 31/10/19. Whether the realization comes too late to keep the Muslim tails from wagging the French and Québécois dogs doesn't bear thinking about. President Trump has moved to stop or at least limit Muslim immigration. Canada's Islamophile Prime Minister? Hah!