The concrete barrenness of la D\u00e9fense to the west of Paris is not alleviated by the symbolism of the massive geometric square with a hole in it facing the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. A fantasy of the ex-Pr\u00e9sident who attacked the Muslims on account of their multiple marriages but who himself kept a wife and discretely a mistress. It is a monument to usury, the high rise buildings spiraling upwards in tune with the numbers multiplication of the finance houses\u2019 computers. But where are the 150,000 people who are supposed to work here and where even the 20,000 who are supposed to live here? Decreasing rents indicate the malaise of la D\u00e9fense\u2019s housing market.
\nHollande has the same problem, perhaps he will build high rises.
\nIt is almost with relief that we finally find the mosque, which is not marked on any of the detailed maps available from the information centres. A relief from the architectural tyranny, symbolism and abstract artistry of le complexe. A relief issuing from the initial sighting only however, of this construct of human proportions \u2013 down there it lay in the shadow of Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale\u2019s towers, the \u2018mosque\u2019, wedged between the car park and the cemetery, a big, shabby, off-white tented affair with portakabin toilets \u2013 a completion of the symbolism. Very ind\u00e9fense. We were told that the Muslims working in Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale had been \u2018generously granted\u2019 the space by their employees. They did not seem to be aware of the caste cannibale in whose shadow they were worshipping the Lord of the Worlds.
\nThe Central Mosque in contrast, in the centre of Paris, is a beautiful structure of balanced proportions built in the traditional Algerian style. It is full of people \u2013 with many non-Muslim Parisians who are welcomed off the streets to get a glimpse of the Muslim salat, the inner courtyards with their gardens and the wood paneled library. The hizb of the Quran according to the recitation of warsh is recited daily after Asr. In one corner is a tea house, with adjacent garden, in which Muslims and non-Muslims mix freely, and a hammam facility.
\nEven the mosques of the more \u2018ghetto\u2019 like quarters of Paris around Bellevue, Barb\u00e8s and Asni\u00e8res are vibrant with life, overflowing at the times of the salat and full of the recitation of the Quran. Are not these Parisians with their black, brown and coffee coloured faces the real French? For beneath their colouring is the French language \u2013 often no other spoken by the young \u2018immigrants\u2019 – and language is the ultimate definition of nationality. The Algerians with their 130 years as a French D\u00e9partement have had time to get to know the real France, to extract the best from it, and to add the blood, sweat and tears of their experience to the reality of being French. The black Africans of West Africa still have a joie de vivre which many white French have lost to their being systematized.
\nOne solution to the dubious high-risers and les scandales would be to recognize multiple marriages. Hardly an adventurous move for a society which within one generation has gone from a vaguely christian critique of sexuality to an active propogation of the lgbt ideology. But a head-ache surely for the first generation of death-tax officials, the avocats skilled in wills and testaments and the celibate bishops. But it would regenerate les Fran\u00e7ais, increase the population, strengthen family ties, assure the honouring of women, eliminate the hypocrisy of la ma\u00eetresse, cool the ardour of the presse jaune and build bridges between North Africa and the Arab world in general. It might unfortunately lead to an increase in Dassault’s weapons sales in the Gulf and Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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