France confronts radical Islamism

"I wasn't there on the day of the caricatures". With these words, the student who accused the murdered history teacher, Samuel Paty, of Islamophobia, admitted that she had lied. The 13-year-old girl admitted that she did not go to school on the day the teacher spoke about freedom of expression in class and showed the cartoons of Mohammed, according to the daily Le Parisien. The newspaper adds that the girl's father also rectified his initial statement.

The accusation led to the atrocious murder of the teacher, who was beheaded just 10 days later by a Chechen refugee. That same day, Paty chose to discuss the limits of freedom of expression in class, using as an example the illustrations of the Muslim prophet by the magazine Charlie Hebdo. According to the investigation, the teacher had previously suggested to those who might feel uncomfortable to close their eyes.

However, the pupil gave a completely different version that contradicted her classmates. In her version of events, she claimed that Paty asked her Muslim students to leave the classroom before showing them a picture of "a naked man and telling them he was the Muslim prophet". The story prompted the girl's father, Brahim Chnina, to share a video on Facebook denouncing the teacher's behaviour. In the video, the girl's father provided relevant information about the school. 

Mbeko Tabula, the young girl's lawyer, rejects "placing the responsibility for this tragedy on the lie of a 13-year-old girl", but does point to the guilt of the father. While the lawyer for the teacher's family, Virginie Le Roy, said that the explanations "seem too light, especially considering the dramatic consequences of this lie", in a statement reported by Le Parisien.

"This thug should no longer be in the national education system, he should not be educating children, he should be educating himself," Brahim Chnina said in the video. After the teacher's murder, he was imprisoned after being accused of being an "accomplice to a terrorist murder". His testimony sparked a campaign of persecution against Paty, who was eventually killed by a highly radicalised Chechen refugee, aged just 18.

The murder of Samuel Paty is not an isolated incident, but part of a dynamic that has been dragging on in France for more than a decade. This action took place on 16 October, just three weeks after the knife attack on two people in the vicinity of Charlie Hebdo by an individual. The weekly's headquarters, located in a secret location to prevent possible attacks, was the target of the first major terrorist attack in France, which was to be the beginning of the proliferation of attacks over the last five years.

Earlier, in January 2015, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi killed 12 members of the same publication in an action claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. On 13 November of the same year, the bloodiest attack in the history of France also took place. A chain of terrorist attacks killed 137 French citizens in the vicinity of Saint Denis, and in different areas of the capital, as well as in the Bataclan hall. Daesh claimed responsibility.

The latest register carried out by the EFE Agency counts a total of 264 victims since 2012. As many as 250 have lost their lives since 2015 at the hands of Islamic radicalism in France. Moreover, socio-economic conditions in the suburbs of Paris and elsewhere in the country are conducive to radicalisation, especially among the young. Structural unemployment has risen to 9 per cent in the capital, and youth unemployment remains at 19 per cent. Salafism, the radical current of Sunni Islam, is gaining ground in the slums and the situation in certain urban areas is becoming increasingly complicated for the authorities. In 2005, France was home to a total of 5,000 Salafists. Sixteen years later, the authorities register close to 40,000.

In this context, Emmanuel Macron declared after the murder of Samuel Paty that the "enemy" of France is "Islamist separatism", which seeks to create "a parallel order" to that of the Republic. The president then announced that he would launch a campaign to confront this movement. The "crusade" against radical Islam began with the approval of a controversial law against separatism. The measure was adopted with 347 votes in favour, 151 against and 65 abstentions after more than 55 hours of debate in the House during the two weeks leading up to the vote. A priori, senators will examine the Bill to Strengthen Republican Principles on 30 March, after having approved up to 144 amendments to the 70 articles of the legislation.
 

The main objective is the prosecution of hate speech on the internet, one of the main means in the process of radicalisation. It envisages a drastic reduction of home-based education. The government claims that it is merely an excuse for some families to send their children to religious associations. It will make it an offence to disseminate information about private, family, or professional life, with penalties of up to three years in prison or a fine of more than 45,000 euros.

The draft law will also strengthen surveillance of religious groups. Foreign donations, hitherto anonymous, have allowed the proliferation of mosques on the outskirts of the capital. Funding of more than 10,000 euros will be prohibited, and the authorities will be given the right to close any place of worship that disseminates ideas or theories that could lead to discrimination against other groups. Even other types of associations that do not respect republican values could be closed, among other measures. 

Macron has since the start of his presidency included a 3.3-billion-euro investment programme and promoted new legislation against discrimination on racial or ethnic grounds. Although he could have gone further with these initiatives, according to experts, there have been a number of efforts by the executive to combat inequality.

The effectiveness of the legislation implemented in the past seems to have been insufficient. Macron has therefore been forced to act in the face of what he has described as "an attack on the values of the Fifth Republic". The situation is delicate, as France is the EU country with the most Muslim citizens, ahead of countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The country is home to some 5 million believers, and Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity.

The Elysée's plans include the fight against radical Islamism, but a new and diffuse target has been included in the government's action: Islamo-leftism, that is, a tendency of Islam conceived from ideologically left-wing positions. The controversy was sparked off by statements made by the French education minister, Frédérique Vidal, who spoke out against this movement on the set of CNews: "Islamo-leftism corrodes our society as a whole. And universities are not immune, as they are part of our society".

The concept of Islamo-leftism is originally intended to catalogue the alliance between far-left anti-capitalist and sometimes anti-Semitic positions and the extremist and potentially violent positions of Islamist ideology. It is a label often used by the French far right to caricature and attack their political rivals. However, part of the Macron-led government seems to have appropriated the term.

Minister Vidal, far from rectifying her statements after the Elysée's reprobation, announced the launch of an investigation into the influence of Islamo-leftism in French universities. The announcement has brought with it a series of accusations that Macron is moving closer to extreme right-wing positions. However, the president had declared months earlier that a need to "free Islam in France from foreign influences". "It is necessary to build an Islam des lumières", he sentenced.

"The government has lost control of its message on Islam and Islamism, and its reputation is suffering a huge blow abroad. But its approach - not without its mistakes and missteps - is much more balanced than critics say," says former European Commission member Mujtaba Rahman. "Before Vidal entered the fray, much of the controversy over the French government's approach to Islam revolved around Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin," adds Rahman.

In early February, Minister Darmanin held a debate with the president of Rassemblement Nationale, Marine Le Pen. During the conversation, Le Pen said she detested the bill because it applies to all religions and demanded a tougher law that would include a total ban on the hijab on French streets. In other words, a direct attack on Islamist ideology without establishing new boundaries between church and state. As a result, some French media interpreted Darmanin as having accused Le Pen of being "soft" on radical Islam for rejecting a large part of the government's postulates.

The Harris Interactive poll for the daily L'Opinion earlier this week indicates that, if the election were to start today, Le Pen would come out on top with 27% of the vote to Macron's 24% in the first round. Subsequently Le Parisien revealed that, according to the same poll, Macron would eventually beat Le Pen by 52 to 48%.

Macron's electoral base seems to have shifted to the right since he came to power in 2017. The president's approach to radical Islam is also intended to reassure and appeal to moderate and conservative right-wing opinion ahead of the 2022 presidential election. Some analysts have noted a certain rapprochement with the positions of the French far right, but this analysis seems wrong, as Le Pen's voters now see Macron as a product of the European establishment, and a soft profile against crime and radical Islamism.

The actions promoted by the French executive, as well as Macron's statements following the murder of Samuel Paty, sparked criticism from Turkey's president, Recep Tayipp Erdogan. In the rebuke, seconded by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn, Erdogan went so far as to question the president's mental health. Both leaders called for a boycott of French products, criticising what they interpreted as "an attack on Islam". Protests were held in these countries, where the French flag and images of Macron himself were set on fire. Even in France, demonstrations were called against the law, which was accused of "reinforcing discrimination against Muslims".

Erdogan nevertheless held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart on 3 March with the aim of building bridges. "There are no more insults, and the language is reassuring", said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The Turkish president's change of position responds to the policy of appeasement of the fronts opened by Turkey. Mainly because of the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, where France has joined Greece in the conflict over resources. Moreover, Biden's rise to power has shaped the Turkish leader's aspirations.

Macron has faced rivalry with Muslim leaders in recent months but has taken the advice of religious moderates into account when calibrating his domestic policies. The French president is seeking to shore up his performance in the midst of a turbulent situation. For the time being, however, the main concern of the French is the pandemic and its economic consequences. Both will be the two key issues at the centre of the political debate that will determine France's future.