My mother has lived there for years, and I lived there as a little kid. The Algerian problem has been terrible for years. I know it's very unfashionable to say there are any differences between people, but they really do seem to think and operate differently than the European French. The European French have been very unhappy from Day 1 of the Algerians settling in France. After 40 years, they still haven't mixed, and their culture is distinct still from that of the French. They still are very religious Muslims, whereas the French are very Catholic, although these days they are not as religious as they used to be. But when it comes to relationships, food, music, psychology, everything, they live totally differently than the French.
My mother feels terrible about what is happening to the Jews because she feels they are wonderful citizens and wonderful people; Jewish people just don't go around beating up people and killing for fun as the Arabs there do. They are good people and are much more French than the Arabs. So, since the regular French and the Arab French are so very different, it just doesn't seem logical to me to call France anti-Semitic, especially when the Arabs there hate the French and the Jews equally!! And us too, I'm sure.
I certainly see the distinction, and I understand the distance between those who are citizens and those who are truly French.
Still, French citizens are a French responsibility and one I think Chirac must accept. Just as we must face the same responsibility for those of our citizens who use racism and religion as the basis of their hate and cruelty.
I appreciate the discussion very much and I've learned from it.
Take care, with best wishes…