Probably the best analysis so far of the Islamists’ success in the recent French elections has not appeared anywhere in the French press, but on Szazadveg in Hungary. How typical.
The authors show that the key difference between practicing Muslims (regardless of radicalism or moderation) and the rest of the population is that Muslims vote as a bloc. The minister in a Catholic church or the head of a club will call for support for a particular candidate and a large proportion of the members will listen – when it is not against their will. The Imam will call for the election of a certain candidate and EVERYONE votes for that candidate. This gives Muslim community leaders incredible bargaining power.
Second observation. French Muslims do not feel they are citizens of France. To them, France is a country of infidels, French politics is indifferent to them, differences between French politicians are meaningless. There is no current of French politics with which they sympathize. They are only interested in when France will be conquered.
A third interesting finding. There are about 600,000 Muslims living in France whose ancestors came during or just after the First World War. These families practiced Islam only in private and very lukewarmly – if at all. They seemed to be perfectly integrated. This year, members of these families voted the same way as Islamic State supporters.