A leading French politician has claimed that the teaching of Arabic in the country's schools leads to Islamist extremism and terrorism, setting the alight the country's fraught debate on the public place for the language.
The leader of Debut la France Nicolas Dupont-Aignan used a television interview to reopen the dispute, sparked by the publication of a think tank report written by a leading expert Hakim el Karoui, which made the case for offering Arabic lessons in public schools.
“When a country has an integration issue, when a country has generations who speak Arabic at home and who speak bad French, I say the priority in those quarters is to teach French,” Mr Dupont-Aignan said in the interview.
Asked whether teaching Arabic would lead to Islamism or terrorism, he responded: “This is the danger. I believe so.”
Mr Dupont-Aignan worked in several ministerial offices and founded his own party in 2008 following a row with the UMP, the party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The exchange drew an immediate wave of criticism from political figures, including Nathalie Goulet, a member of the country's senate, who mocked Mr Dupont-Aignan chauvanism. “Eating couscous [leads to terrorism] too… it is pathetic #racism, cretinism, illiteracy… we must stop this, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel,” she said.
There was contrasting support on the far-right, which seeks to capitalise on the issue. Plaza Pascal, a local representative of nationalist and hard Eurosceptic political party The Patriotes, tweeted Mr Dupont-Aignan’s words followed by the question: “The far-right family grows bigger?”
Franco-Algerian lawyer and founder of the League for the Legal Defence of Muslims (LDJM) Karim Achoui weighed in saying that “the media offensive against [the Muslim community] is daily and extremely violent” and that “this is no longer freedom of speech but hate speech.”
French citizens also took to Twitter with jokes on whether learning German leads to embracing Nazism or whether learning Italian makes one become a “pizzaiolo”.
The debate was sparked by a report by Institut Montaigne senior fellow Mr Karoui, who proposed a wholesale overhaul of the role of the French state in its relations with Islam, including offering Arabic in public schools as an alternative to classes offered by mosques and religious centres.
A nephew of the former Tunisian prime minister Hamad El Karoui, the author told The National that the tensions seen today are a product of bitter historic struggles between different communities. "For those Muslims who are caught in the middle, the best way to deal with it is to take action," he said.
Mr El Karoui believes that teaching Arabic in schools is one way to promote understanding of the Arabic language, culture, and history, as well as to unite against Islamism.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer last month said he was open to implementing the initiative proposed by Mr El Karoui. “We have to give prestige to these languages,” he said. “This is particularly true in the case of Arabic, which is a great literary language which must not only be learned by people of Arab origin.”
His comments caused uproar from a number of right-wing parties including Debut la France, with Mr Dupont-Aignan saying he would oppose the “Islamisation of France.”
“Under the pretext of combating fundamentalism they are preparing us for the Islamisation of France… I find this unhealthy. I am totally hostile to the Arabisation of France and the Islamisation of the country,” he said.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, said “it won’t take long before we’ll all be wallowing in political correctness. What we want from him [Mr Blanquer] is that our children master French, which has not been achieved yet.”
Former education minister Luc Ferry, of the centre-right UMP party, expressed scepticism and asked who would be holding these courses. “Public education has very little control over recruitment. Who is going to teach the classes? And how are they going to be monitored?”
President of The Republicans Laurent Wauquiez also weighed in, saying that “favouring the teaching of Arabic in schools means fracturing France and reinforcing [the divide between communities]. Integration in Frances is dependent on the respect of the law and cultural assimilation.”
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Dunki
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Race card
4pm Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m
5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections:
4pm Zabardast
4.35pm Ibn Malik
5.10pm Space Blues
5.45pm Kimbear
6.20pm Barney Roy
6.55pm Matterhorn
7.30pm Defoe
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
