Former minister to “Echourok”: The French problems lie in unemployment and integration not in the veil.

The former French minister for the equality of opportunities born to Algerian origins Azzouz Beggag, has declared that the French government is facing a lot of problems so far including an ailing economy and unemployment in addition to the failure of the integration policy that it advocated.

• Talking at “Echourok Forum”, he slammed the French president Sarkozy saying that instead of tackling these problems which undermine the future of the country, he diverted the public opinion’s interest by targeting the Arabs and sowed “Islam phobia”.
• “Echourok” guest mentioned the French colonial past which poisons the relationships between the two countries and considered that colonialism was a kind of  “ armed rape” tile doesn’t heal and hinted at the media blackout he’s facing in France because of his divergences with the present president.
• “I stepped down from the government because I refused segregation and oppression against the Arabs and Muslims”
• The former minister has declared that the real problems in France are linked to unemployment and economic difficulties and not those related to the “Burka”( the veil) which has become a national issue, though 350 women are wearing it nationwide.
• He went on saying that the French government is helpless in front of these difficulties as the gross domestic deficit reached 1600 billion Euros and an average of 2000 workers are laid off daily.
• Azouz Beggag has indicated that the French authorities will try to use the card of insecurity during the upcoming two years, which means that the French suburbs will be targeted as most of the Arabs and Muslims live there. This policy, he added, was similar to that advocated by the extreme right party “National Front” led by Jean Marie Le Pen which is followed by Nicholas Sarkozy when it deals with foreign communities.
• In this respect, the man has declared that the real cause behind his departure from the government was the unfair treatment and the various prejudices he noticed at that time when it came to the problem of Islam and migrants “ If I was indulgent with Sarkozy I could have kept my function within the cabinet following the example of Rachida Dati and Fadila Amara”, considering the fact that the anointing of ministers from Maghreban origins was limited to women obeys to a logic which says that “ integration had to pass through women not men… unfortunately the women ministers cannot denounce that, as I did myself”.
• Azouz Begag further added that what unites France to Algeria is bigger than what it separates them, but the problem lies in the way with which the French government deals with Islam and the African and Arab communities which live in that country.
• The former minister said “We are not expecting anything from the Sarkozy’s rightist policy but both the Algerian and French people s can bridge the gap and forge ahead to built sound bilateral relationships.
• Beggag is preparing a movie on May 8, 1945 uprising
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• On the sidelines of his visit to “Echourok” the writer Azzouz Beggag has revealed that he’s about prepare a movie on the circumstances that prevailed before the tragic events that occurred in SeTif, Guelma and kherrata (eastern Algeria) in May 1945, where French authorities killed scores of innocent civilians.