France's run-down city suburbs are becoming separate Islamic societies cut off from the state, a report has warned

Arab communities are increasingly rejecting French values and identity to immerse themselves in Muslim culture and lifestyle, it was found. Muslim pupils often boycott school dinners if the food is not halal and most Arabs oppose marriages to white French citizens, the study by respected political scientist Gilles Kepel revealed. As a result, France – whose five million Muslims make up Europe’s largest Islamic population – was turning into a divided nation, the study called Suburbs of the Republic found.