FRENCH LAW TO TARGET ‘ISLAMIST SEPARATISM’

PARIS

President Emmanuel Macron of France on Friday outlined a series of measures designed to rein in the influence of radical Islam in the country and help develop what he called an “Islam of France” compatible with the nation’s republican values.

In a long-awaited speech on the subject, Macron said that the influence of Islamism must be eradicated from public institutions even as he acknowledged government failures in allowing it to spread.

The measures include placing stringent limits on home schooling and increasing scrutiny of religious schools, making associations that solicit public funds sign a “charter” on secularism. Under the measures, the widespread practice of bringing over foreign imams to work in France, where they are often accused of preaching an outdated or extreme version of Islam, would be ended.

The issue of the effects of Islamism has been a persistent one in France, amid fears of the kinds of terrorist attacks the country has faced in recent years.

“What we must attack is Islamist separatism,” Macron said. “Secularism is the cement of a united France,” he said, calling radical Islam both an “ideology” and a “project” that sought to indoctrinate children, undermine France’s values and create a “countersociety” that sometimes laid the groundwork for Islamist terrorism.

But Macron also recognized that France bore responsibility for letting that ideology spread uncontested.

“We built our own separatism ourselves,” he said. For too long, authorities had amassed largely immigrant populations in povertystricken neighborhoods, he said.

Macron said that to avoid “illegal schools” run by “religious extremists,” home schooling would be strictly limited to children with valid medical reasons. Macron also outlined a series of measures aimed at making the financing and management of mosques more transparent.