Jack Lang Advocates for Arabic Language in France, Praises Morocco

"The Arabic language is universal, beautiful, widely spoken in the world. Moreover, our country, through history, is more linked than any other with the East, with the Arab world. This is emblematic. [...] For better or for worse, France has been very present in the Maghreb, the Levant, in Syria, in Lebanon.... Inevitably, there is an Eastern vocation of France," declares Jack Lang in an interview with Le Populaire du Centre.

Recalling that he had created positions of Arabic language aggregation that no longer existed when he was Minister of National Education in 2000, he explains that xenophobic remarks can intimidate some officials. "The Arabic language would be the Trojan horse of the Islamists. The truth is exactly the opposite. We cannot leave this teaching to private or religious offices which, under the guise of teaching, spread radical Islamist ideas," he insists.

For the head of the Arab World Institute, anti-obscurantists, anti-jihadists should plead for it to be the school of the Republic that provides this teaching and not the private offices because, he assures, the School of the Republic totally separates language from religion. Worse, "a poorly taught Arabic, linked to religion and, even worse, to extremist movements, is dangerous," adds Jack Lang.

The former minister has not only developed a love for the Arabic language, but he is also very attached to the Eastern countries, especially Morocco. "For a very long time, I have been linked to various countries. There is Algeria where I supported the defenders of independence, but also Morocco, a country that I love, very respectful of cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, under the influence of King Mohammed VI. Its constitution is an extraordinary model. The preamble is a tribute to cultural, Berber, African, Muslim, Hebrew... legacies. It is a kind of hymn to plurality."