Arabs tour Bellville market in Paris

By Hadi Yahmed, IOL Paris Correspondent

PARIS , October 18 (IslamOnline.net) – When hawkers and peddlers raise their voices, calling to attract the attention of customers to buy Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian goods in this popular market place, you would think of it as a traditional market in North African Maghreb states. But it is the Bellville market in the heart of the French capital, Paris .

Neighborhoods and suburbs of Arab majority in Paris usually teem with a Ramadan environment similar to that of the Arab world.

The suburb of “5th Circle”, for instance, is a strictly European district with no Ramadan rituals. But the 11th Circle represents the heart of Ramadan atmosphere in Paris , particularly in Bellville district where a major Moroccan community lives.

As competition among hawkers intensifies, Tunisian, Moroccan and Algerian habits are only evident.

In this Parisian neighborhood, Tunisian "Bureik" and Algerian "Hayek", two kinds of food stuff well known in the Arab Moroccan region, compete. Also, rivalry among sellers of Moroccan hot soup (Al-Harira) and Tunisian soup so much intensifies that one forgets the whole scene is taking place in the heart of Paris .

Moroccans prefer Al-Harira, Tunisians and Algerians go for soup, but competition remains regarding dates of southern Algeria and those of Duz , Tunisia .

“Those fasting are at a loss in front the types of dates available; however, the cover of dates usually denotes the destination, as people usually prefer bright and shiny cover,” Abdel Qader Attiya, owner of spices shop in Bellville told IslamOnline.net.

“Of course, the ability of hawkers to market their products is very essential,” he added.

Jews, Chinese in Ramadan

Adjacent to the Arab Moroccan community in Bellville, there is a Jewish community of Tunisian origin and also a Chinese community that has started to take shape since 1990s.

Jews of Bellville usually make use of Ramadan to promote their Tunisian beverage commodities, the manufacture of which they excel in.

Muslims gather on daily basis in Ramadan in front of Amm Shishi shop to buy Tunisian soft drinks and sweets like Zalabia and Baqlawa; the recipes of which they learnt from the Tunisian capital where they lived during the 1950s.

On their turn, the Chinese, like Jews, seek to make use of Ramadan to promote their goods, as several Chinese shops display oriental spices and are keen to use olives and oriental oil that gives food delicious taste and good smell in order to attract clients.

A market place for fruits and vegetables also extends along Bellville Street, where hawkers shout to attract clients' attention to their products, hoping to sell all their goods before breakfast time.

A large number of fasting Muslims cross the street just to spend the last minutes of the day in a Ramadan environment similar to that they experience in their homelands.

Once it is breakfast time, traders leave their shops, heading towards the three mosques existing in the neighborhood.