(Radio France) Valérie Pécresse, the president of the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, has denounced what she called “urban separatism” and said eradicating Islamism was impossible without breaking up France’s urban ghettos.
“We can’t eradicate Islamism if we do not break up urban ghettos,” Pécresse said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD). “These ghettos … favour selfishness, community withdrawal and indoctrination.
“The government turns its head when confronted by this urban separatism,” she added, expressing regret that a plan to address the issue of France’s “banlieues” (suburbs) had been nipped in the bud two years ago.
The banlieues have been the subject of heated debate for decades, spilling over into various other issues, most recently radicalisation and police violence.
