Sometimes when I write something in this newspaper or on the internet connected to it that roughly formulates the idea that people of different backgrounds and different beliefs can live together in peace, I get very angry letters. Tell that to the people in the banlieues! Or: I hope your naïve Quark never has to be read by a terror victim!
Now it was the case that this week I wanted to buy quark again completely naively. So I went to the nearest supermarket. There I learned: It is Ramadan right now, next week is Easter. And the Passover festival will also start in a few days. I have a bad feeling this will get someone’s pulse racing again, but in our supermarket you can stock up for Muslim, Christian and Jewish holidays at the same time. I can’t spare you this shocking truth, but you only have to walk five meters into the supermarket and you’ll find the Ramadan stand right next to big Easter eggs. There you can buy, among other things, toothpick boxes that say “Eid Mubarak”, meaning blessed feast. A very strong beer was also parked between toothpicks and Easter chocolate because our supermarket is not very big.
On the next shelf, somewhere between vegan rice cakes and salami for some reason, boxes of unleavened bread are stacked with the words “special product for Passover.” Hebrew writing and “made in France”.
People in my neighborhood buy bread for Passover, chocolate bunnies and Ramadan toothpicks
So am I wrong if this supermarket makes me happy? And that despite the fact that I’ve spent hours and days in terror trials and France’s favorite oh-duh-banlieue Seine-Saint-Denis is a ten-minute walk from my front door? So am I unbearably naive when I think: Ici, tout va bien. Here, in our small supermarket, everything is fine.
If the French interior minister has his way, then maybe yes. Last year he said on a talk show that he was concerned about “communal food” in supermarkets. That it’s somehow okay if not everyone always eats pork ham, but that it’s somehow problematic when you look at supermarkets that French society has changed over the past 60 years.
And so people in my neighborhood buy bread for Passover and chocolate bunnies and Ramadan toothpicks, but if there’s an election in France this weekend, quite likely 30 percent will vote for parties that say this juxtaposition of cultures will bring civilization down . These are voter decisions that are considered radical, angry and desperate. Interestingly, but never as naive. But fine, I don’t want to argue. I just wanted to buy quark anyway. Although, isn’t there something between my teeth? You’ll find me on the Ramadan stout shelf.