On a trip to Mulhouse, in the East of France, on 18 February 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at length about what he called "Islamist separatism". Claiming that he is willing to fight "Islamist separatism" without making "a plan against Islam", Macron announced a series of measures against "foreign influences" on Islam in France, ranging from foreign imams to the financing of mosques on French territory. The French president set out his doctrine on this sensitive subject, at the eve of critical municipal elections that took place on 15 and 22 March 2020 and with his party (the Republic on the Move) at great risk.
Macron spent a day in Bourtzwiller, a working-class district of Mulhouse, and one of the almost fifty territories – 47 to be exact – that are subject to a coordinated fight against radicalization and community withdrawal: This type of neighborhood has a reinforcement of 10 to 35 police officers deployed to fight crime and trafficking.
Separatism replaces communitarianism
The political lexicon used to refer to the process of Islamist radicalization has been enriched by the use of a "radical" vocabulary, that of separatism. This clearly means that the official political discourse endorses what has been in vogue in France for the past few years: Islamism is a radical break with the Republican model and its values.
