In France, Prisons Filled With Muslims
About 60 to 70 percent of all inmates in the country’s prison system are Muslim, according to Muslim leaders, sociologists and researchers, though Muslims make up only about 12 percent of the country’s population…
The shocking number of Muslims in French jails are only meaningful if we also measure the illiteracy and unemployment rate amongst them.
Some blame should rightly be laid on the Muslim community’s doorstep for not organizing effective support structures, and this includes playing a more vigorous role in the political process and even something as innocuous as cross-cultural outreach. But mostly, the lack of emancipation of certain minorities can be attributed to sustained neglect from French society at large; a fact that French President Nicolas Sarkozy himself acknowledged and pledged to correct.
The appalling numbers therefore are more a reflection of French society’s bigoted habits than anything else, and this has become worse all over Europe since the campaign of demonization of the Muslim community after the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Immigration, especially from Muslim countries, have become political batons for right-wing conservatives; and all over Europe, the donning of the hijab has been crafted to mean sure radicalism amongst the general Muslim community.
Be warned. The high number of Muslim incarcerated also means that the statistic of disenfranchisement feeds itself. A Muslim seeking employment already faces discrimination; a Muslim ex-convict would face an even more hostile job market.
But there is a greater danger lurking just around the corner. Prison gives resentment an outlet to grow. Muslims especially would be enticed by what I would call the Qutb-ian perception of a society that is sick in so many ways. The “revolutionary” mantle is an all-too-easy cloak to don when one is convinced by his own victim-hood.
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