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re: France/Algeria: on Immigration and a Football Match (Alain de Benoist, France) (John Eipper, USA, 12/17/09 4:44 am)

Alain de Benoist writes:

When commenting my posting of 16 December, JE asked, Was there any violence or destruction during the celebration, or was it all carried out in good, wholesome fun? Answer: there was a great deal of destruction, and that was apparently part of the fun. In one of the photos, in the background, you can see fire coming from a burned car. Many cars were burned, and many people injured. In Marseille (where the same celebrations happened), two ships were sunk. These demonstrations were taken by French people as a shock. It shows, unfortunately, that many Algerian-born (or of Algerian descent) young immigrants feel themselves Algerian, and not all French, though most of them have acquired (automatically) French nationality. The problem is that most of them take every opportunity to say how much they hate France. This is one of the big differences compared with immigration in America, where most immigrants have a sincere desire to become Americans.

JE comments: Part of the "national narrative" in the US concerns the enthusiasm with which immigrants embrace their adoptive nation. Can we say that this is generally not the case in Europe, or are people of Algerian descent in France different, perhaps as a continued fallout from the bitter war for Algerian independence? What about immigrants from former colonies of the UK?

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