rfmcdonald | [LINK] "Europe: Study Shows France Leading In Muslim Integration" (Reply)

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

More than half of French Muslims are concerned about joblessness, according to survey data collected by Pew in April 2006. But unlike their coreligionists elsewhere, a substantial majority embraces the customs of their countrymen.

"Nearly eight in 10 French Muslims generally say they want to adopt French customs," Allen said. "And this high preference for assimilation certainly compares with that in Spain, although Spanish Muslims tend also to come from North Africa. Only 53 percent of Muslims in Spain say they want to adopt Spanish customs. Only 41 percent in Britain say the same about British customs. And nearly 30 percent in Germany say that. So you can see that in some sense the Muslims in France feel more at home in that country."

As with the Paris riots last fall, the arrests of British-born Muslims in London in connection with an alleged plot to blow up airliners have prompted speculation that ethnic discrimination and joblessness have made Islamic extremism attractive to British Muslims. But French Muslims also face unemployment and prejudice. In fact, 37 percent of French Muslims reported a bad experience due to their race, ethnicity, or religion, compared to 28 percent among British Muslims.

Yet, the worldviews of French and British Muslims are worlds apart, according to Allen.

"When you ask questions about things like [potential] Iranian nuclear weapons -- this is a very striking finding," Allen said. "When we asked whether they favored or opposed Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, fully 71 percent of French Muslims opposed it, whereas only 41 percent of British Muslims opposed it. You just sort of see a different worldview operating there. I think it is partly French culture, and it is also partly the culture that their family lived in North Africa, too, in a more secularized outlook and a feeling that religion can be separated from the state."