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France has the largest Muslim population in Europe at 4m. Despite its claims of "liberty, equality and brotherhood", it is considered the most racist country in Europe. French-Algerian communities still live on impoverished housing estates, go to bad schools, and have few opportunities for social advancement. Discrimination in everything from jobs to housing is routine. There are few French-Algerians in politics, the law, the media or any other profession, though the prisons are full. Hollande refuses to reverse measures like the burqa ban and has highlighted his opposition to halal meat and praying in the street because of a lack of mosques.
Populist rightwing politicians like Nicolas Sarkozy and the National Front's Marine Le Pen routinely portray alienated migrant communities as France's enemy within. Le Pen garnered 20% of the popular vote in the first round of May's presidential elections.
In their communique, the perpetrators of the recent attacks listed France's crimes as leading a "new crusade" in Syria, as well as defending the Charlie Hebdo magazine, and just because of general French decadence and racism. They claimed their targets were well chose"a footbal match between 'crusaders' France and Germany attended by Hollande, and the Bataclan exhibition where "hundreds of pagans gathered for a concert of prostitution and vice" (the California group Eagles of Death Metal).
"This is for Syria," were the last
words of one of the Paris attackers. But he could have said it was for
Mali, or Libya, or Iraq. France is very proactive against Islamists
worldwide, especially in the face of what is frequently seen as British
and American retreat. Over 10,000 French troops are currently deployed
abroad. In addition to Iraq, there are over 5,000 troops in western and
central Africa. Last week Hollande announced that France will deploy an
aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf to assist the fight against ISIS.
As with Osama Bin Laden's strategy of promoting dramatic terrorist attacks in the West to provoke a crackdown and to radicalize Muslims, the strategy behind the current attacks is to generate a French crackdown to encourage Muslims to follow ISIS's caliphate fantasy. It has worked all too well so far, and Hollande's vow to be "ruthless" in his response leads him and France in the wrong direction.
In his address on recent events, Iran's Leader Imam Khameini acknowledged that "there are voices of criticism in the West about its colonial past. But they only criticize the distant past. Why should the revision of collective conscience apply to the distant past and not to the current problems?"
http://english.khamenei.ir/news/2494/France-s-response-to-Paris-attacks-encourages-ISIS-s-caliphate
France has the largest Muslim population in Europe at 4m. Despite its claims of "liberty, equality and brotherhood", it is considered the most racist country in Europe. French-Algerian communities still live on impoverished housing estates, go to bad schools, and have few opportunities for social advancement. Discrimination in everything from jobs to housing is routine. There are few French-Algerians in politics, the law, the media or any other profession, though the prisons are full. Hollande refuses to reverse measures like the burqa ban and has highlighted his opposition to halal meat and praying in the street because of a lack of mosques.
Populist rightwing politicians like Nicolas Sarkozy and the National Front's Marine Le Pen routinely portray alienated migrant communities as France's enemy within. Le Pen garnered 20% of the popular vote in the first round of May's presidential elections.
In their communique, the perpetrators of the recent attacks listed France's crimes as leading a "new crusade" in Syria, as well as defending the Charlie Hebdo magazine, and just because of general French decadence and racism. They claimed their targets were well chose"a footbal match between 'crusaders' France and Germany attended by Hollande, and the Bataclan exhibition where "hundreds of pagans gathered for a concert of prostitution and vice" (the California group Eagles of Death Metal).
As with Osama Bin Laden's strategy of promoting dramatic terrorist attacks in the West to provoke a crackdown and to radicalize Muslims, the strategy behind the current attacks is to generate a French crackdown to encourage Muslims to follow ISIS's caliphate fantasy. It has worked all too well so far, and Hollande's vow to be "ruthless" in his response leads him and France in the wrong direction.
In his address on recent events, Iran's Leader Imam Khameini acknowledged that "there are voices of criticism in the West about its colonial past. But they only criticize the distant past. Why should the revision of collective conscience apply to the distant past and not to the current problems?"
http://english.khamenei.ir/news/2494/France-s-response-to-Paris-attacks-encourages-ISIS-s-caliphate
(Article changed on November 19, 2015 at 12:04)
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