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=> French Far-right Warn of "Kebab Threat"

French Far-right Warn of "Kebab Threat"

Posted by Marcello (Guest) - Wednesday, October 29 2014, 0:55:43 (UTC) from 71.107.53.9 - pool-71-107-53-9.lsanca.dsl-w.verizon.net Network - Windows NT - Safari Website: http://www.us.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand Website title: Document Has Moved

French Far-right Warn of "Kebab Threat" OnIslam & News Agencies Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:00 http://onislam.net/english/news/europe/479047-french-far-right-warn-of-kebab-threat.html BLOIS, France – French far-right National Front party has launched a new campaign against the growing appetite for kebab, seeing it as a sign of cultural “Islamization” of the country whose food is used as a metaphor for identity. "The kebab is a bit of a reflection of all the problems with immigration and integration in France," Thibaut Le Pellec, founder of KebabFrites.com, a website that ranks kebab houses across the country and seeks to raise the reputation of the "kebabistes" who make and sell the food, told Reuters on Tuesday, October 28. Introduced by Turkish immigrants to Paris in the 1990s, the doner kebab quickly appealed to France's North African population. The dish adapted to the French palate, served in crusty bread, with the addition of a creamy white sauce and side of fries. After more than two decades, some 300 million kebabs at about 6 euros each are eaten in 10,200 outlets in France each year, putting the 1.5 billion euro ($1.9 billion) industry just behind burgers and pizza, according to Gira Conseil, a market research company. The popular food can be found everywhere, in cities and towns, in supermarket freezers and drive-throughs. One brand of potato chips is even kebab-flavored, and advertised by Yohan Cabaye, a white footballer who plays for France and Paris Saint-Germain. Last month, four kebab houses opened in Blois, bringing the total to over a dozen in the pretty Loire valley town where tourists come to see the castle. The far-right National Front party railed: "The historical centre of Blois, the jewel of French history, is turning into an Oriental city". Campaigning for local elections last March, National Front candidates across the country criticized the rise of kebab shops, with one coining the phrase that France was undergoing a "kebabization". With food often used as a metaphor for French identity, the National Front has made a similar campaign against the widespread supply of halal meat, something it sees as Islam impinging on French traditions. In November 2012, Jean-Francois Cope, the new leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) told one campaign rally that a group of Muslim "thugs" snatched a pain au chocolat pastry from the hands of a young boy. Criticizing Islam For kebab shop owners, the new FN campaign was another way of criticizing Islam and immigrants. Damien Schmitz, who runs a kebab shop in Paris, puts it more bluntly: by criticizing the kebab, he says, "you can speak ill of Muslims without speaking ill of Muslims." In Blois, kebab shop owner Oznur Puskulle acknowledged that for some "when you say kebab, you mean Arab", but said that attitude was changing and noted her clientele was "all French". "When I was young, kebabs were really for foreigners. Now I see the kebab is open to everyone. It's evolved," she said. The French phenomenon has not appeared in other European countries. In Germany, the ever-present doner kebab is viewed as a positive symbol of Turkish integration into German society. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been photographed slicing a doner on at least three occasions. Meanwhile British opposition leader Ed Miliband wrote to industry website British Kebab hailing the "hard work and dedication of businesses in this industry to bringing high quality food at affordable prices". The situation was much different in France. "We're not asking anyone to sing the praises of kebabs or to make kebabs a French dish, as we know that will never happen," said Ilhan Arslan, who in 2006 launched France's first chain of kebab restaurants, O'Kebap, now with 13 outlets and growing. "But it's just like the image France has today with its own immigrants ... they bring a richness to France and yet France doesn't embrace that," added Arslan, whose father was a kebab shop owner in Izmir, Turkey. "It's the same thing with kebabs." --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic: French Far-right Warn of "Kebab Threat" Marcello - Wednesday, October 29 2014, 0:55:43 (UTC) Re: French Far-right Warn of "Kebab Threat" Marcello - 10/29 01:20

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