Islam Times - France’s Muslims ignored by Hollande, scapegoated by Sarkozy

Islam Times - It seems unlikely that duelling presidential candidates would ignore a bloc of at least 5 million citizens, but that’s been the case for Muslims in France. The Muslim community expected Nicolas Sarkozy to continue his Islam-bashing, and older voters probably weren’t surprised to see the Socialists do nothing but look the other way.

The poll lead of Francois Hollande has never wavered, but his Achilles’ heel could be mass abstention by Muslims. Only fear of more Sarkozy seems to be motivating Muslim voters, because the Socialists have offered almost no proposals which target their needs.

When it comes to taking advantage of the democratic process, France’s Muslim community can be fairly described as poorly-organized, divided by nationality and too-often unwilling to voice their political opinions. When they do vote on Sunday, they are expected to overwhelmingly support Hollande.

Both candidates have courted Armenian Christians by pushing for a Turkish genocide bill, and Zionists have never had a better ally in France’s highest office than Sarkozy. But despite composing perhaps 10 percent of the total population, many here feel that the election campaign has shown that France’s promises of democracy and integration have failed, yet again.