French state website set up to spark national identity debate is hijacked by anti-immigrationists

[pampango]

Source: UK Daily Mail

A French government website set up to spark a 'Great Debate' on national identity has been flooded with comments suggesting immigrants should 'go home'. Launched early last month, the Immigration Ministry site has received up to 16,000 postings a week, but was originally moderated to ensure that only positive comments appeared. But, following criticism about censorship, the site was opened up to all, with many using it to air the kind of xenophobic attitudes for which the French are notorious.

'France has become an African colony in a way which cannot be reversed,' reads one, while another says: 'Before France had colonies, now it's been colonised itself.'

Others read: 'Nobody in France asked to be invaded by strangers'; 'Being French is to be born in France to two French parents'; and 'Immigrants who want to impose their lifestyles on us should go home.'

'To refuse this debate and stigmatise the idea that the French people have a unique identity amounts to leaving the field open to extremists,' Mr (French Prime Minister Francois) Fillon said. He was echoing Sarkozy's view that traditional parties like the ruling UMP need to reclaim the subject of patriotic pride from the anti-immigrant National Front, which has long presented itself as the champion of a 'true France'.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1233285/Anti-immigration-comments-flood-French-government-website-set-spark-national-identity-debate.html

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I'm not sure about the British paper citing "the kind of xenophobic attitudes for which the French are notorious". The UK has its own anti-immigration, whites-only party, the BNP.

Other than that, it is interesting that the French government was trying to spark an "identity" debate and that it devolved into something that Sarkozy wanted nothing to do with.

[Flagg]

1. "the kind of xenophobic attitudes for which the French are notorious"

That's rich coming from the daily Mail.

[cowcommander]

2. Makes you appreciate the cultural melting pot we have here in the U.S

It's had its ups and downs, but America's gotten a hell of a lot farther ahead on those issues than everyone else in the world.

[Imajika]

3. Your exactly right..

I find it quite hilarious that America and Americans in general are often portrayed as a bunch of racist rednecks by European media. The truth is, our melting pot is FAR superior to anything going on in Europe and probably anywhere in the world. We've had our bad periods and ups and downs, but it seems to me that Americans are FAR less xenophobic than Europeans.

Oh yeah, xenophobia and outright racism seems to be on the rise in Europe. I do believe the Swiss just added a ban on Minarets to their constitution - 57% of them voted for that.

[burning rain]

4. It's a two-edged sword.

Americans generally are more tolerant of heterogenity, but feel less solidarity, not caring to afford each other social protections. Europeans tend to be in-group caring, out-group antipathetic; Americans tend to be indifferent, period.

[Imajika]

12. Good points...

I think you make some good points here. I will have to think more about what you say, but yeah, sounds like good analysis.

[Odin2005]

6. IMO Europe is a lot more racist than the US, they just hide it better.

[Blue_Tires]

7. in my observation, the French are pretty tolerant

they just have let a frenzied, vocal minority dominate the discussion, like the minutemen and thier ilk were doing a couple years back when the issue was "in style"

[Odin2005]

5. Ugh, French Birthers.

"Being French is to be born in France to two French parents"

Blood-and-Soil thinking? OMFG!!!

[Posteritatis]

11. That's a popular belief in the US too. (nt)

[pampango]

8. In related story from Italy..."Racist abuse against Balotelli feared at Inter-Juve tie"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8396769.stm

"One of the highlights of the Italian football season is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over racist abuse against one of Italy's young stars. But much of the attention will be on how the home fans greet one man, the young Inter player Mario Balotelli. "

"The black striker, who is an Italian citizen, has become a target of racist abuse wherever he plays. Balotelli was born in Sicily to Ghanaian immigrant parents, but they gave him up for adoption to an Italian family when he was three."

""There's no such thing as an Italian negro" - they chanted at one match recently - "you'll always be an African". "

"What is certain is that Mario Balotelli has touched a raw nerve. He symbolises a vision of a new, multicultural and diverse Italy. The incessant abuse shows just how far the country still is from reaching that point. "

[DavidDvorkin]

9. Xenophobes are rarely interested in debate

They tend to want to get their way, to cleanse their countries of what they see as human pollution. They want to push the public's emotional buttons, arousing fear and violence. Why would anyone expect them to join in a rational conversation about immigration?

I wish I could say that xenophobia was limited to the right, but it shows up across the political spectrum.

[LeftishBrit]

10. 'The kind of xenophobic attitudes for which the French are notorious'?

Not to mention, the kind of xenophobic attitudes for which the Daily Mail is notorious!

Pot. Meet. Kettle!

[pampango]

13. French immigration fears cloud identity debate-Agence France-Presse

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZAt5FvV38ibn7jABZpK7TZasQ8g

"President Nicolas Sarkozy insists it is a noble exercise in soul-searching about what defines Frenchness, but the national identity debate gripping France has quickly exposed fears about immigration."

"Sarkozy's right-wing government launched the debate last month, inviting ordinary citizens to explain what it means to be French on an Internet forum and at town hall meetings organised across the country. On Tuesday, the debate goes to the National Assembly where deputies will provide their input before the introspection draws to a close on February 4 with a national conference allowing the government to take stock. The initiative ignited controversy from the outset, with the left accusing Sarkozy of trying to woo far-right voters ahead of March regional elections by appealing to French pride and patriotism."

"It's time we reacted because we are going to be eaten alive," said Andre Valentin, mayor of a small village in northern France. "There are already 10 million of them, 10 million who are getting paid to do nothing." Immigration Minister Eric Besson, who is also the minister for national identity, stepped in and declared such remarks "unacceptable" within the government-sponsored debate."

"The opposition Socialist Party is boycotting the debate, with leader Martine Aubry accusing Sarkozy of whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment and allowing the debate to become a platform for xenophobia."
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It not surprising, but I hadn't known that France had a Minister of Immigration and a Minister of National Identity though the same guy holds both posts currently.

[GreenStormCloud]

14. Let's be blunt. The immigrants they are discussing are Muslims.

Across Europe, anti-Muslim feelings are rising. Sooner or later, the lid is going to blow off the pressure cooker and all hell will break loose as Europe plunges into civil strife.