Even in the North African neighborhoods, where there is some vandalism and hooliganism, we are not talking about raging murder rates and horrible violent crime. Clichy is simply not comparable to Detroit.
There are troubles and turbulence, to be sure, but these things are relative. Relative to the French norm, it is distressing. Relative to the American bottom, it is positively tranquil.
The "Muslim" issue in France seems to be greatly exaggerated. Perhaps Jean-Marie has had too much airtime.
People of Muslim North African ORIGIN constitute somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5% of the population of the Republic. This is small compared to the American black population, or Hispanic.
And those Beurs speak French and are acculturated into France in French schools. There is hooliganism, yes, but many of the hooligans are not MUSLIMS, they are shiftless kids of Muslim origin.
This is a rather important distinction.
Most youth in France are secular, whether they are of Catholic or Muslim origin. There are, of course, devout Catholics and devout Muslims still, too. But most Beur kids, however turbulent, are interested in having fun and having sex, not going to mosque. There are social frustrations and economic difficulties, but this is not primarily an expression of RELIGIOUS problems.
There are, to be sure, radical Muslims. This is also true in America. A key difference, though, is that the big mosques in America are apart from the society, and conduct cloak and dagger indoctrination in their schools. The big Muslim establishment in France radiates from the clerics of the Grand Mosque de Paris and the adjacent Institut du Monde Arab. And these are primarily Moroccan and Tunisian-influenced people, with Algerians as well, of course. They are very moderate, part of the French fabric like Jews are, and condemn violence and terrorism quite strongly. In America, the Muslim leaders have been strangely silent, because there is a resentment of the society. Muslims in France, most of them, do not have the same resentment towards French society, and it shows.
But most importantly of all, most of those Beur kids of Muslim origin are no more Muslim than the other French kids of Catholic origin are practicing Catholics.
So, the "threat", to the extent it will develop, will be one of turbulent youth. Jean-Marie will call it "Islamiste" to beat the drum and rile up the nativists. But those youth are not really Muslims at all. Their parents or grandparents were. They are French Beurs, mostly secular.