Tuesday 19 July 2016

How far are we from a civil war in France?

How far are we from a civil war in France?  



Another attack and another massacre to hit French soil last week, Nice, which must make France as number one target for ISIS at present in Europe.  This time, a white truck drove across The Promenade des Anglais at the height of celebration of Bastille Day and peak season at the French summer resort.  The result was a massacre in which at last 84 people, including several children, died. The evening started when people gathered to watch the fireworks display on France's national day that ended in a massacre. The driver, was later identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old French-Tunisian resident in Nice, was subsequently shot dead inside the vehicle.

President François Hollande’s, declaration immediately after the Nice massacre: “This is undoubtedly a terrorist attack; the whole of France is under the threat of an Islamic terrorist attack”. A statement such as this coming from a lame duck president can only feed the right wing element in France towards division and antagonism, fuel the Rightist party over the precipitous to racial confrontations. Additionally, these statements will be attempts to re-introducing religion and religious identification into secular societies making them more sympathetic to Islamic institutions.  I believe there is the truth that most young Muslims are not Muslim they are as secular in fact as their white schoolmates. “But because it is convenient for governments and administrators to classify them as Muslim, they often become so out of resentment.” Tony Judt.

"We are going to reinforce our actions in Syria and Iraq," the president said after the Nice attack. Such rhetoric is mere to shore up his failing presidency. Also, surely Syria and Iraq by now must be the wrong target when he should be looking nearer home.  On the other hand looking inwards might increase the dissonance and destroy the likely hood of reconciliation between a dividing and dislocating minority of 4.7 million Muslims or 7.5 percent of the population. 

With France facing a possible but imminent danger I can only assume that another two or three such atrocities would finally tip the balance to outright confrontation. 

A position had been reached to question how long is that fuse making it fair to ask How far are we from a civil war in France?  

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