From Anarchists to Jihadists…

From the age of 10, Saïd had developed a strong interest – that of flying aeroplanes high above his 5-storied apartment building. This interest had urged him to create his very own collection of toy planes – a thing of fame among his friends during his adolescence. Now, at the age of 30, Saïd is satisfied with the job he has – cooking at a local kebab shop at Saint-Denis – one of Paris’s sprawling banlieues.

A couple of years ago, Saïd sold some marijuana to other youngsters around the Parisian suburb of Bobigny, in order to pay for his ticket for a Metallica concert. However, the only show he got was that of the insides of a prison cell as he got busted along with his supplier. Fortunately for him, he came out and swore never to go in again. Meanwhile, some others like him are not that lucky.

Inside the bars of the French prisons, brewing in the frustrated minds of ‘society’s rejects’ are ideas that have come to earn very specific labels in modern society – radical and extremist. And in the last few decades, it has mostly been associated to puritanical Islamic ideologies. Although the French government does not keep a tab on the religious beliefs of inmates, roughly 27% of them were registered for Ramadan in 2015 – making it a minimum percentage of Muslims in French prison. Some reports have claimed that the actual number could be as high as 60-80%. We do not need the actual figure to come to a simple conclusion – for a country having a Muslim population of 5-7%, there are a disproportionately high number of them in prison right now. For those recruiting in the name of a ‘Salafist jihad’ the prisons offer a highly eager workforce that is filled with anger and frustration, how appropriate. In fact, according to French newspaper Le Figaro the estimated number of those radicalized stands at over 8000.

A study carried out by International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence claimed that the current prison system in France maybe the lead cause of radicalization by bringing the non-violent offenders with the violent ones. However, organizations and the government itself have a hard time figuring out the exact number of those who are radicalized by getting misled between those who turn to Salafi Islam and those who actually take up arms. And the wrong figure will only but slow down any efforts put out to stop the most violent offenders among them to find a reason to justify their anger and violence.

But where does all this anger come from that seems to fuel a generational revolt among the French underdogs in the form of violence and terror? Hidden deep behind the veil of modernity, sophistication and liberty, the French society has fractures – a term that political scientist Gilles Kepel likes to use - which has been churning out extremists for centuries. In fact, bombing in a Parisian public place can be first dated back to the year 1894 when anarchist Emile Henry detonated a bomb at a café near the Saint-Lazare station in Paris. With the November 13 attacks, not much seems to have changed. Such an issue could be traced back to several influencing factors, of which we shall look at a few closely. While the prison system contains the ‘delinquent’ part of the society, its sole purpose is to separate them from the rest of the society to provide security. It definitely does not treat the root of the problem, neither does it attempt to address any such issues, that may lead the delinquents through the gates of prison in the first place. Social problems affecting a certain section of the society are ever changing – taking new forms – but inherently draws a familiar picture of social segregation and discrimination.

So how does discrimination play a part in securing one’s place in the prison? One has to only look at the United States of America for the answer. Roughly 17% of the American population is of African origins – however underlying racism has segregated the American society through heavy discrimination in the workforce. The result – African-Americans are the most poverty stricken ethnic group in the United States with 27.4% living below the poverty line. The figure worsens when you take the youngsters – among those under 6 years of age, 45.8 percent of the black children live in poverty. Does poverty and neglect really push people to a life of crime? Knowing well the extent of our survival instinct – we should have little reasons to doubt that. African-Americans make up to 37% of the prison population – which makes them 3 times as likely to be incarcerated than any other ethnic group. While this may come as shocking – or not – it is definitely not a very unique case.

But why do I talk about the African-Americans? I believe that French Muslims take a very similar position as the African-Americans do in their respective societies. France has seen a flux of immigration from places more appropriate for its colonial history – North Africa - bringing their diverse Muslim traditions to France. What could have been a remarkable story about multiculturality has turned into a horror show between revolting youngsters and reprimanding elites waving political discourse based on religious acceptance of their own understanding. And in the midst of a very heated presidential race, France is struggling to come to terms with its social exclusivity towards its Muslim immigrants whose cultural traditions and norms were not able to peacefully integrate with the native French culture. As a result, our young generation of French Muslims grew up in a France as Muslims with no Islamic cultural roots.

Which brings us back to my last question – does poverty and neglect really push people to a life of crime? According to a study done in 2000 for the European Economic Review, it may seem so. And after years of discrimination, the poverty and neglect becomes – which in France’s case applies to the case of its Muslim immigrants in the 21st century. While a study confirms that a Muslim candidate is 2.5 times less likely to get a job than his or her female counterpart, the stories of the attackers in France bears witness to this statistic.

The TIME magazine did a profile on the two brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack back in 2015. Apparently, for the two Kouachi brothers’ life was tough around the low-income suburbs of Paris, just like the one where Saïd lives. Most of the young people in these areas are tired and frustrated but they get by like Saïd. But some turn to a life of crime. In almost all the cases finding a good job was a general problem, especially when you are part of a developed country that is synonymous to modernity and where you are classified by your ability to consume. How can a guy or a girl - who has lived an entire life through a religion and culture that ceased to integrate peacefully as it should have been – fare in such a place? Somehow most do get by and some do it pretty well. But the issue is not about the ones who turn out well is it? It is about the ones who don’t.

Remember Emile Henry? That guy who blew a bomb at a café in Paris in 1894 in the name of total anarchy. What’s the difference between Emile and Cherif Kouachi, who was one of the brother who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack? You could see it as a generational change, with conflicting traditions that have manifested in the form of Islamophobia in France – especially among certain sections of the French middle class. The message is clear – if you are a very religious Muslim in France it will increase the likelihood of being stigmatized. While that happened, the pre-existing problems in the society that once led an Emile to resort to radicalization became a similar cause for Cherif.

One might ask how they are not able to rise up in society, despite having education and healthcare provided to all French citizens. The discrimination in the job market is, not just in France but even in other European countries, the most common manifestation of the underlying xenophobia in society. The poor – or the one having less – is systematically shut down by the elite to uphold the current social structure. In a 21st century post-colonial France that seemed to be rich in wealth, at the feet of this discrimination was its colonial heritage for its presence in North Africa. In a natural course of decolonization, France took in a lot of North African immigrants which followed a culture that rooted back to Islam – which was still a religion much ignored and foreign for the French society. As we now know, the integration was only half hearted as Islam becomes more and more synonymous with terrorism in the eyes of a lot of far-right activists and politicians in France.

While a lot went wrong due to Islamophobia among the French ruling class, the situation may have been worsened due to a much more complex structure in the depths of the French society – elitism. French society is – first and foremost – elitist. They believe in the crème-de-la-crème or nothing to run the most important aspects of the country. As you have a look at the presidential debates and the polling system that rules the French television – their desire for most elite comes bursting out. Eleven white men and women with true blue French origins with some common European influence. Almost all of them passed out of either the ENA, Ecole Polytéchnique or Sciences Po, three of the major grandes écoles of France which educate some of the ‘elites’ of the nation. What about the rest? Will they never get past this class system to properly integrate with the nation? Will a French person of North African ancestry and Islam as their religion ever get to show his or her face on national television for a presidential debate? Only time will tell. For various such reasons the upcoming elections hold the answer to a major question – faced with the knowledge of such inequalities in the society and the existing knowledge we have at treating social issues, what is the most rational step the French people can take? However, given that the underlying problem is not viewed objectively by the majority of the political class, the elections itself will not provide a solution.

While France offers education to all its citizens, the quality of education is not optimally handed out to them. Despite efforts by some of the grandes écoles to integrate students from immigrant communities living in impoverished zones – there simply isn’t enough space in these institutions to accommodate everyone. What goes ignored are all the other institutions which may provide you with the education you need but might not give the impression of you as an ‘elite’ in the eyes of prospective employers. One has to go back to the underlying idea that creates this unfair requirement in the first place – does an employer really get the best by choosing from these top schools? Are all the others less worthy? If the other universities were not providing adequate education to their students and, as a result, slowing them down in the competition in the job market, how could the French government possibly undo this trend? One simple way would be to look for higher representation of people from the North African community in French politics. However, things will definitely not be that easy as Front National, Marine Le Pen’s right-wing party, is expecting to win a considerable percentage of youth vote. And polls suggest that they seem be fuelled by one major factor – bring a radical change to France and its position in the European Union. At this point, a question arises - will the French democracy be able to protect the minority’s interest against a structure that favoured the majority?

Saïd definitely thinks so. In fact, despite all the troubles he had, France is the only country he can associate with home. His sense of belongingness to France has not been affected. He believes that change will come – “as the new generation grows up in an era of knowledge and awareness”. He even believes that Muslims of North African ancestry will one day have a place among the French elites. While it is a promising idea – it could, as always, go two ways. As with the rest of the world, the image of the French élite may eventually change and dissolve with changing shapes of the society and a more peaceful integration. Despite having a so called Catholic population of around 60%; 63% of the French population claims to be non-religious. In fact, more and more French catholic families have given up on religion around France in the 20th century. While the Islamic population in France grows – it won’t be too late before the most practiced religion in France becomes Islam. Only time will tell how the two cultures merge together. And even if one day Islam is peacefully integrated into the French society, will there be a new revolt from a new generation? Will there, one day, be peace between the elite and the radical?