Vive la France! French to launch national pride campaign in battle against Islamization

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated during the traditional Bastille Day fireworks display in Paris July 14, 2009.

Fantastic news - Three cheers for the French! It is clear - a reinvigoration of pride in western culture and achievement must not only be done in France - but also across Europe and free western democratic society. It is a chance to give thanks and acknowledge - what has been achieved. And more build a mindset that will protect it. To build a strong European foundation we must also be prepared to look at where we [our societies] went wrong - but rather than allowing our mistakes to be used to destroy [ourselves] - to pull down and replace with - as radical Islam wishes to do - we can use it to build better more stable societies.

Remember - there is no acknowledgement of mistakes or wrong doings in Islam's entire history - this is something that shouldn't be taken lightly.


France is to launch a hard-hitting campaign aimed at 'reaffirming pride' in the country and combating Islamic fundamentalism.

As well as providing civic lessons for adults - including classes about the country's Christian history and liberal political institutions - the government will encourage school children to sing the national anthem at least once a year.

In words which are certain to infuriate ethnic minority groups, Immigration Minister Eric Besson even suggested that 'foreigners' should learn to speak better French.

His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where 'citizenship education' centres on multicultural diversity and the European Union, while 'God Save The Queen' is not even taught in schools.

In an interview broadcast on national TV, Mr Besson said : 'It's necessary to reaffirm the values of national identity and the pride of being French.

'I think, for example, that it would be good for all young French people to have the chance to sing The Marseillaise at least once a year.'

Mr Besson, who was himself born in the former French protectorate of Morocco, also suggested an immediate two-month long 'great debate on national identity' entitled 'What does it mean to be French?'

Making clear that radical Islam was a threat, Mr Besson said: 'In France, the nation and the republic remain the strongest ramparts against ... fundamentalist tendencies. France is diversity, and France is unity.'

Mr Besson defended a decision to send illegal Afghan immigrants - all of them Muslim - back to Kabul on charter flights organised in conjunction with the British government last week, saying there would be many more.

More than 21,000 people have been deported from France this year - with 27,000 the ultimate target, said Mr Besson.

He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.

'For me, there should be no burqas on the street,' said Mr Besson. 'The burqa is against national values - an affront to women's rights and equality.'

Explaining the apparent shift to the extreme right by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, Mr Besson evoked the legacy of Jean Marie Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front party, which is struggling massively with huge debts and low electoral support.

Mr Besson said: 'We should never have abandoned to the National Front a number of values which are part of the Republic's heritage. I think that the political death of the National Front would be the best news for all of us.'

But Mohammed Moussaoui, a prominent French Muslim leader, said debates like the one about the burqa were stigmatizing the country's entire Muslim community, which at some five million is the largest in western Europe. [Sounds a little threatening ~ especially since Muslims are quick to point out how few Muslim women wear the burqa]

Daily Mail