1/9 Longish thread on #Islam, #France and #journalism in reply to a number of convos--
I would go to the wall for a religion-free public space. And I also get irritated by coverage that is simply in bad faith (if you'll excuse the pun). My main issue is that if people want to

2/9 pick a fight about poor integration and latent racism,fair enough -- there is plenty to pick on (everywhere) but you can't do it by treating secularism as nothing but a vast cover up for it. But there are a few things that don't help at the moment. First, Macron (who I think

3/9 actually does get it) does himself no favours bysurrounding himself with people like Darmanin --- who actually don't get it and are rabidly right wing. We know why he's doing it but there is a cost. Second, he *did* say Islam needed to be reformed -- it was poor form to say

4/9 the least. Third, a lot of what he's doing should be taking place behind closed doors -- it is necessary and right. But it is also publicly humiliating for a whole group of people who feel humiliated already. Finally and above all -- we need to do better than just *insist* on

5/9 laïcité. We need to explain why this is a public goodSomething of which i am convinced, but I think isn't clear to generations of young Muslims for whom it has not delivered. How we bring this principle to life so that progressives across the world get it, is key. Right now

6/9 it's easy to attack, because it delivers for the usual suspects, but no one else. And a final final word. I think American journalists right now are coming out of a particular culture war (that long predates Trump but made much worse by Trump). I think the blind spots are

7/9 more than not getting it (J McCauley at WaPo does get it) I think they really are the reaction precisely of the culture you outline-- where so much that is basic is up for grabs and so much is being attacked, that people's defense of human rights has become almost unfeasible

8/9 in a normal political register. Hence the inability to step outside the so-called 'woke' frame. That is the trouble with polarisation -- it pushes everyone into the fog of overstatement. It worries me hugely that as progressives (or whatever) we are unable to have this

9/9 conversation. That the populist frame has trapped us into not even being able to see where we can agree. That is the destruction that has been unleashed.