In France, U.S. advocacy for Muslim rights raises more than a few hackles

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Minn Post

After two years of trying, human rights activist Abdelaziz Dahhassi realized his dream late last year of setting up a think tank to find new ways to fight ethnic and religious discrimination in France. But it was the US State Department, and not the French government, that helped Mr. Dahhassi’s Lyon-based Association for the Convergence of Respect and Diversity finally get off the ground.

“I’m not saying we couldn’t have done it without them, but their support is very important,” he says. “The Americans have a very interesting vision which can be very enriching for France.”

Dahhasi sees that vision as a pragmatic one that has done much to promote minorities and erase barriers between ethnic groups. He says he especially admires American affirmative-action programs and wants to study whether they would work in France.

But the project has also ignited controversy on French editorial pages and on political websites. Critics say that US diplomats are interfering in French domestic policy and trying to impose views on minorities and integration that are at odds with the French Constitution.



Read more: http://www.minnpost.com/worldcsm/2011/02/18/25926/in_france_us_advocacy_for_muslim_rights_raises_more_than_a_few_hackles

---

wonder if Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are good examples of human rights

[Pirate Smile]

1. The US does the right thing and, still, you complain.

[AlphaCentauri]

2. Aren't we bombing Muslim countries and asking for Muslim rights at the same time

[leftynyc]

3. Well, do you remember

the riots last summer and one before? Every night cars set on fire and thugs in the streets? The French sure do. Someone is going to have to give me a scorecard on which countries we're allowed to interfere with and those we are not. It's a French problem - let them figure it out.

[harmonicon]

4. Is it the right thing?

Should we be interfering with the internal workings of other countries in any way? France certainly has problems of it's own, but it's not as if people are worse off there than they are in the US. I think we should tend to our own problems before we go worrying about those of others.