In Saint Denis, ten kilometers north of Paris, newborns with an Arab or Muslim first name went from 15% in 1983 to 45% in 2016; they are 19% in all of France. I extract the percentages from the book Arde París. The new French revolution (Lengua de Trapo, 2023), by the journalist from Vitoria Iñaki Gil. A text blessed by the god of opportunity, not opportunism, since it was published just a few weeks before the whole of France went back, in the most literal sense, to catch fire.
More data from the same volume: 61% of the French believe, according to a Harris Interactive study dated 2021, that the theory of the great replacement will materialize. That is to say, they take it for granted that the whites of Christian tradition will be replaced by people from other non-European peoples who will destroy their culture. The latest work by Ipsos for Le Monde says it otherwise: only 40% of the French consider Islam compatible with the values ??of French society. And only 45% believe that immigrants make some effort to integrate.
The riots these days in the neighboring country have revived the debate around these underlying issues. Also here, given that immigration and its integration, or maladjustment, is and will be one of the topics of conversation in this electoral cycle and those to come. There are those who believe that this is so because the extreme right is determined to do so. Whoever reasons like this thinks a lot but walks little.
If we talk about Spain, both Vox and Aliança Catalana are nothing more than the populist and demagogic articulation of a concern that has been present in citizen discussions for more than a decade. It could even be said that both have arrived late. Between us, the analysis of what happened tends to blame mostly French politics and institutions. The République is held responsible for not fulfilling its founding contract of equality. Poverty, the lack of opportunities, the institutional abandonment of the ghettos… would be the cause –and in a way the justification– of the plague of juvenile delinquency and riots experienced these past days in French cities.
The other look, more marginal in these parts, is located at the opposite pole. He accepts, even without citing him, the theses of the far-right Éric Zemmour. France is already in civil war. On one side, the real French, clinging to the values ??of republicanism. On the other, those who profess the Muslim culture and faith, bearers of values ??called to destroy the foundations of the nation that welcomed them decades ago or in the present.
I have seen Romain Gabras’ Athena film twice this week, on the recommendation of Pep Prieto, the RAC1 film critic. The film is a prophecy of what happened. No easy moralizing. He realizes that there is a France that lives outside the law and republican values. And it also certifies that the living conditions and future prospects in these no go zones are more comparable to those of the third world than to what we would consider a European standard. The chicken or the egg? Two chickens?
Whatever the answer, what we already know is that this conflict between old and new Europeans will only get worse. The UN set in 2022 at sixty million the number of immigrants that the old continent will need until 2050 to meet the needs of its labor market. We must continue to fill the positions that we Caucasians decided that we no longer wanted to do and others that will remain empty due to the demographic suicide that our values ??and lifestyle lead us to.
To this we must add that administratively naturalized Europeans, but faithful to their culture and traditions of origin, are the ones who make up the birth statistics in European countries. The human landscape of what is actually already past will continue to change. And very, very fast.
So it is easy to see that the pockets of marginalization, mostly framed under the influence of Islam, will continue to grow. And so will the conviction of the natives that both they and their customs are being replaced by others that are alien to them.
The fire has illuminated the stage for only a few days. But the work will continue. No other solution can be guessed other than ensuring that the explosions of the volcano are as few and as controlled as possible. And maybe that’s the best you can hope for. And not only in France.
