Military Repercussions of Terror Attacks
As a result of the growing unrest and tension between the French people and the Muslim community both at home and abroad, several military actions have taken place in response to these terror attacks. These actions are prompted by both an immediate need to respond to these events in order to satisfy the populace and to fight the assailants alongside the international community in a long term battle to counter international terrorism. While actions and military operations are constantly happening among the French armed forces, it is after a major attack that we see an increased amount of more radical military protocol in response to the tragedy.
One of the most major outpourings of French military action in response to an attack can easily be seen after the events of Friday, November 13th, 2015 in which 129 people were massacred in 5 different locations around Paris. In retaliation, the French dropped 20 bombs on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria the following Sunday. These airstrikes, carried out by 10 French fighter jets launched from Jordan and the Persian Gulf, effectively wiped out a key ISIS command center and a training facility during the raid. This was the largest airstrike carried out by France since the extension of their bombing campaign in Syria the previous September (Calderwood, 2016). In a show of support for the French people, the United States military scrawled “From Paris, with love” across several of their hellfire missiles bound for ISIS targets. Images of these missiles later went viral and fueled the “justified retaliation” mindset of people around the world.
These military operations are not solely confined outside the borders of Métropole. A series of internal raid took place following the November 13th attacks which uncovered caches of weapons held by ISIS supporters around the country in some of the nation’s largest cities; including Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse, Calais and two other suburbs of Paris. The largest of these raids, in Lyon, turned up a rocket launcher and an enormous cache of weapons assumed to be used in future attacks (Blundy, 2016).
U.S. hellfire missiles bound for Syria bear the phrase “From Paris, With Love” in a show of support from the American military to the people of France. (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missile-from-paris-love-message-6839753)
Anti-Muslim Legislation
Outside of military operations, the French government has also imposed several pieces of domestic legislation that some see as specifically targeting the Muslim community. The most prominent of these legislative acts in the media was the ban of “Burkinis” on public beaches in many municipalities around France, particularly along the French Riviera. It was in late July that the the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, placed a ban on burkinis on public beaches, calling them “the uniform of extremist Islam”. In the following weeks, more than 30 other French municipalities placed bans on the bathing suit, supposedly under the idea that they were oppressive to Muslim women (Micallef, 2016).
After this ban was put in place, there were immediately challenges of its legitimacy. On August 26, France’s highest court, the French Council of State, ruled that the ban should be overturned and burkinis should be allowed on beaches. While this was supposed to be enacted on a national level, many mayors vowed not to acknowledge the overturning of the ban.
While this ban was supposedly rooted in the idea that Muslim women should be able to wear whatever they want on the beach and that the burkini was suppressing their liberty, many Muslim women contend that that is a false belief. They believe that the burkini has allowed them access to aquatic activities for the first time while still being able to show modesty; a choice they claim is their own. Before the invention of the burkini, whose inventor Aheda Zanetti is in fact a Muslim woman, many women in the Islamic community were unable to swim in public spaces or fully enjoy the seaside experience (Zanetti, 2016). This is yet another example of cultural miscommunication between France and it’s Islamic community and has further deepened the divide between the two groups.
French Muslim Civilians
The intense anti-muslim sentiment in France has not excluded innocent Muslim French civilians throughout everyday life. France holds one of the largest populations of Muslims in Europe (Bulos, 2016, p.1). The Algerian War in 1950’s holds dark memories for past generations of Muslims in France as they were expected to easily convert to French culture (Power, 2015, p.1). This deemed difficult due to France’s emphasis on secularism and Islam’s guidelines regarding outright proclamation of faith. (Power, 2015, p.1). The effects of terrorist attacks in France are deeply harming the Muslim community as they are ostracised and estranged from society. On July 14th a man, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, ran a large freight into a crowd of people watching the national Bastille Day firework show in Nice. This attack has further divided the country and changed the public’s opinion on Muslims. The majority of the prison population in France is Muslim (Drew, 2016, p.1) The Muslim French community is not as radical as they are portrayed though. They believe in taking legal action against discrimination and not violence. It is difficult for an average Muslim civilian as they deal with the attacks on their country and as they are often blamed for the violence (Power, 2105, p.1). Marine Le Pen is the prominent leader of the right wing National Front has created her 2017 campaign focusing on anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim ideology (Drew, 2016, p.1) The terrorist attacks have done nothing but further promote her cause as she spreads hateful rhetoric. The innocent civilians are seen taking the fall for the violent crimes of the few radicalists (Power, 2015, p.1).
Immigration Tactics
Following the attack on Nice, France’s platform regarding anti-muslim/ anti-immigration has grown tremendously. The attack has served as evidence for political parties that express that Islam “poses a mortal danger to European societies” (Smale, Castle, 2016, p.1). The answer to this issue is taming immigration. Geert Wilders, a right wing Dutch politician has expressed, “This is a war and it will not stop until we close our borders for Islam and de-Islamize our societies. No more terror. No more Islam!” In a survey from the Pew Research Center, it found that in 80% of European countries more than half of people believed that refugees from Muslim countries would increase their chances of terrorist attacks. It has been found that perpetrators of the Paris terrorist attacks crossed the Belgian-French border during a rise in immigration. This has affected the outlook on Europe’s very open borders and immigration policy. The leader of the National Front Marine Le Pen has made comments involving an anti-immigration platform (Smale, Castle, 2016, p.1).
Conclusion
Overall, the terrorist attacks in France have shown to affect many aspects of life. Muslim communities are suffering because of the bias created by these violent attacks. As terrorism continues the civilians are the ones living with the consequences. France fails to distinguish violence from its associated religion. This itself is spreading hate and discrimination. Works Cited
Blundy, Rachel. (2015, November 16). Rocket Launcher Seized and Five People Arrested After
Anti-terror Raid in Lyon. The Evening Standard. Retrieved from http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/french-police-arrest-five-people-after-seizing-rocket-launcher-during-antiterror-raid-in-lyon-a3115136.html
Bulos, N. (2016, July 16). Why France has a more fraught relationship with its Muslim communities than the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-france-threat-history-20160716-snap-story.html
Calderwood, Imogen. (2015, November 16). ‘From Paris, With Love’: Emotive Message of
Revenge Scrawled Across the U.S. Bombs Destined for Syria. Daily Mail. Retrieved
Drew, K. (2015, July 15). In France, Anxiety Deepens After Attack | Best Countries ... Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-07-15/in-france-anxiety-deepens-after-attack
How the Paris terror attacks affect daily life. (2015, November 24). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.thelocal.fr/20151124/how-paris-terror-attacks-impact-on-daily-life
Smale, A., & Castle, S. (2016, July 16). Attack in France Fuels Anti-Immigrant Parties on Europe's Rights. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/world/europe/attack-in-france-fuels-anti-immigrant-parties-on-europes-right.html?_r=0
Micallef, Joseph V. (2016, 12 September). Is France Right to Ban the Burkini? The Huffington
Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-v-micallef/is-france-right-to-ban-th_b_11845732.html
Zanetti, Aheda. (2016, 24 August). I Created the Burkini to Give Women Freedom, Not Take it
Away. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/24/i-created-the-burkini-to-give-women-freedom-not-to-take-it-away
I really enjoyed reading your post. You all did a great job in incorporating the most recent events in France with the ban of the "Burkinis" in public beaches. It is a very controversial issue since muslim women actually benefit from having access to the Burkinis. Very insightful.
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