Predominantly Muslim immigrant communities constitute about 10% of the French population. If French leftists didn't think about them first and foremost, rather than Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., in relation to secularism, it would be odd.
>Championing the rights of Muslims in North
> Africa against the clash-of-civilizations rhetoric of the Right was
> *the* defining experience of the postwar French left, like the civil
> rights movement and Vietnam rolled into one.
I don't think French leftists have done all that well in this respect: e.g..
"Bien sûr, certaines jeunes filles affirment que cela représente leur choix personnel. Mais même si cela est vrai, ce choix contribue à l'oppression de celles qui voudraient résister et il est tout aussi inacceptable [Of course, certain girls affirm that hijab represents their personal choice. But even if that is true, their choice contributes to the oppression of those who would like to resist and it is just as unacceptable]" (Sophie Gargan, "Port du voile: une pression réactionnaire," Lutte Ouvrière 1833, 19 September 2003, <http://www.lutte-ouvriere-journal.org/article.php?LO=1833&ARTICLE=2>).
That's not a very enlightened opinion if you ask me.
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>