In France, Young Muslims Often Straddle Two Worlds : Parallels

Good profile on some of the divides in France, and some of the commonalities:

The bustling Gare du Nord train station marks the frontier between central Paris and the banlieues, says Andrew Hussey, a British historian who has written about the tensions between France and its black and Arab minorities.

It’s the place where the suburbs of northern Paris — which consist of mainly immigrant, minority populations, who are often very poor — come into contact with the relative affluence and comfort of the city center.

“The thing about the Gare du Nord is that that’s where you feel — the kids from the banlieue feel excluded,” he says, “They come here, and like it’s a frontier zone between Paris over there — which is very well-heeled and very rich and very beautiful, and over there [the suburbs] — where they’re sort of, you know, cast out into this world that’s not quite connected to the center of France.”

Ismael Medjdoub is one of these “kids from the banlieue” who straddles these two worlds. Medjdoub, 21, a third-generation Frenchman of Algerian descent, spends a lot of time on the subway getting to and from work and school — up to four hours every day, including Sunday.

Ismael Medjdoub grew up in one of Paris’ banlieues. He spends up to two hours a day commuting from his home in Tremblay en France to work and to school at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris.

Medjdoub is a student at the Sorbonne in Paris, and would like to get an apartment in the city, but he says his district number — it’s like an American ZIP code — is hurting his chances.

In France, Young Muslims Often Straddle Two Worlds : Parallels : NPR.