“President Macron faces a tough dilemma: stand firm and implement the measures he outlined with respect to radical Islamism in France, or reassess that policy," - int'l affairs expert.
By JPOST EDITORIALFrench President Emmanuel Macron visits Lebanon, September 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/GONZALO FUENTES/POOL)
France has raised its security alert to the highest level following the horrific attack on October 29 in which a 21-year-old Tunisian shouting “Allahu Akbar” beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice before he was shot and arrested by police.The attack came 13 days after Samuel Paty, a middle-school teacher in a Paris suburb, Conflas-Sainte-Honorine, was beheaded by an 18-year-old Muslim who was apparently enraged by the teacher showing his students the controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad during a civics lesson about freedom of expression. Police are also investigating Saturday’s shooting in Lyon in which a Greek Orthodox priest was seriously wounded.These latest incidents can be traced back to the attack claimed by al-Qaeda on January 7, 2015, in which two Muslim brothers forced their way into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical weekly, shooting dead 12 people and wounding 11 others. This triggered further violence, including the “Hypercacher” kosher supermarket siege in which a terrorist murdered four Jews.President Emmanuel Macron came out strongly in favor of free speech and against what he called the “Islamic terrorist attack” in Nice, saying France had been targeted “over our values, for our taste for freedom, for the ability on our soil to have freedom of belief... And I say it with great clarity again today: We will not give in.” Macron added, “We will not give up caricatures and drawings, even if others back away.”Macron’s words incensed the Muslim world, and several countries – including Kuwait and Qatar – announced a boycott of French products in protest. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even questioned Macron’s mental health. “It becomes more and more difficult to be a Muslim and live an Islamic lifestyle in western countries,” Erdogan charged, leading France to recall its ambassador from Turkey.The ripples of the French attacks are even being felt in Israel. The French Embassy in Israel sent a notice to its citizens on Friday urging them not to enter Jerusalem’s Old City, warning that there might be Muslim protests against France after Friday prayers. Thousands of Palestinians rallied in a “day of rage” against Macron, with Sheikh Ekrima Sabri declaring that the French president should be held accountable “for the acts of violence and chaos in France because of his provocative statements against Islam.”Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect key French sites, such as places of worship, following the attack in Nice, and he delivered an important speech on October 2 in defense of secularism, unveiling a plan to defend French secular values against “Islamic radicalism,” while stressing that France would not be tyrannized by terrorism.According to Col. (Res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen, an expert in Middle Eastern and international affairs, Macron – who was became president in 2017 following two years of bloody terror attacks in France – is heading into a 2022 election campaign, and expects to succeed where his predecessors failed.“President Macron faces a tough dilemma: stand firm and implement the measures he outlined with respect to radical Islamism in France, or reassess that policy and put his chance of reelection at risk,” he wrote in a paper for the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA).His colleague, Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, argued that the next presidential election – which will likely pit Macron against Marine Le Pen, the leader of the populist right-wing National Rally party – is a major reason for the French president to take strong action now. Le Pen, he notes, has criticized Macron for “an inadequate and anachronistic containment strategy.”
“France is at the forefront of the challenge that radical Islam represents to liberal democracy,” Gerstenfeld warned. “The French government’s current superficial skirmishes against radical Islam will in the long run be seen as a footnote in a massive and lengthy battle.”The world must be prepared for the possible ramifications of the recent attacks in France. Macron’s tough position may unleash a new wave of Islamic terror that could require coordinated international action. While religious sensitivity is always important, a zero-tolerance stand needs to be taken against terrorism. Macron is right to stand for freedom of speech. Caving to terrorism will only lead to more attacks.
