Muslims in France, History Underneath the Carpet

Now that public discourse ponders the “integration” of Muslims, one must (surprisingly) be reminded that France and Islam have always maintained very close relationships, from the Middle-Ages and into the modern period, alternating between conflicts and fusions. “Integration” makes no sense, since the Muslim populations are already here. If we fail to see them, it is because Islam has long been the “unreflected” side of official French politics (as well as of French anti-colonization activists): Islam was the other side of the Mediterranean, and the migrants from Northern and West Africa were never perceived as Mulsims.