sexta-feira, 8 de janeiro de 2016

What has changed in France after the attack on Charlie Hebdo.

What has changed in France after the attack on Charlie Hebdo.

It's been a year since two armed men, the brothers Kouachi, erupted through the facilities of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and opened fire. Two days later, Amedy Coulibaly at Jew killed four hostages in Paris. The violent deaths of two dozen people, including the attackers, left the unbelieving world. The manifestations of solidarity, under the motto "Je suis Charlie", followed in various parts of the world and mobilized the whole France. But what has changed exactly since the fateful day 7 January 2015?

Philippe Marlière, European policy expert and professor at University College London, stresses how the France triggered a series of limitations to civil liberties, as happened in the United States after September 11 in the United States or the United Kingdom after the attacks on the British capital in July 2005. "When events occur with a character is exceptionally located, is very easy for Governments to move forward with new laws â€" and that there is always, gathering support from all sectors to do so," says Marlière to Euronews. Given the degree of inherent emotionality, "people tend not to think of another type of response that does not pass by conditioning general freedoms, rather than focus on policies needed to identify potential terrorists. The French media spoke very little about the failures of the security services of his country ", points.

Special Edition of Charlie Hebdo to 1/6/2016

"Charlie, even not dead": tomorrow carte blanche to #CharlieHebdo on Inter â–º https://t.co/ml7v8wvVbm to pic.twitter.com/x6Dy5b1PAt teams

Paris introduced last July legal provisions that aroused strong criticism. Amnesty International, for example, stated that the new legislation that would bolster the mechanisms of surveillance was clearly disproportionate and constituted an attack on human rights.

But after the attacks of November 13 in Paris, was declared the State of emergency, allowing French authorities to conduct searches without a warrant and the arrest of suspects.



Matthew Moran, international security expert at King's College London, told Euronews that the new French law will produce "serious and deep implications" on the set of civil liberties. "These are policies that would be expected on the part of political movements, and they turn out to be the reflection of the cumulative effects of the attacks of 2015 and the current political landscape in France." According to Moran, "President Francois Hollande is to compete in the rival Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the security. The turning on the right serves the interests of the national front. "

The national front has raised markedly positive results in the first round of regional elections in December, putting himself at the front in two regions. Even though the second round have dismantled the immediate ambitions of power of the French extreme right, especially due to the lock commitment assumed between the rivals, the number of votes collected is clearer: more than 6.5 million. It is inevitable to mention the boost raised by Marine Le Pen on the way towards the presidential elections in 2017.

For Philippe Marlière, behind the advancement of Le Pen is not only the climate of insecurity and fear generated by the attacks. There are other factors that contribute heavily to the context of general dissatisfaction, especially due to the levels of unemployment and weak economic performance. "The reasons are economic, but there's a big amalgam. The environment is of uncertainty. People are afraid for their physical integrity because of the terrorist attacks. Racism is on the rise. Why? Because there is a part of the population that became the scapegoat: the Muslims. All this produces a very toxic cocktail. This is where we are, "believes. Marlière adds: "there is an insidious and xenophobic rhetoric that establishes a direct link between terrorism and Islam. It's not a new discourse, but the widespread shock that the attacks have caused caused have more impact with a broader audience. "

According to the collective against Islamophobia in France, the acts of nature islamofóbica in the country soared, giving as an example the occurrence of 120 incidents against Muslims in the space of just three weeks. This in a country that has one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe (around 5 million, 7.5% of the French population-2010 data). The French Council of the Muslim faith denounced 222 attacks in the first quarter of 2015 which, compared to the 37 of the same period of the previous year, an increase of more than 500%.

However, a sign of growing tensions between communities, there was also a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, with 508 incidents recorded between January and may 2015; in 2014, were 276, according to the Jewish community Protection service.



Matthew Moran, "there is a Division in French society that marginalize young people â€" often with origins in African countries that are part of the colonial past of France-to the periphery of the Republic. They are legitimate members of French society, but are not accepted as such. To feel that do not belong to this society, will find an identity elsewhere. In the most extreme cases adhere to radical forms of Islam, which are very distant from the faith practiced by most French Muslims. "

The January attacks horrified the world and, above all, the French society. However, underlines Philippe Marlière, as the central target was the Charlie Hebdo and their cartoonists, "the vast majority of the French-65 million people-felt didn't have directly to do with what happened." All that changed on Friday, 13 November 2015. A group of suicide attackers killed indiscriminately in the heart of Paris. Several victims were Muslim. In other words, the message was disseminated to anyone is a potential target. The randomness of violence spread a feeling of fear that left marks.

Second Marlière, the healing process "will depend on the quality of the response. Will the leaders â€" whether in politics, in Government, in the media-are failing to communicate with the common citizen? In politics, there is a need for the existence of a figure that bring tranquility. I don't think this is the case of Hollande or of Valls. There needs to be someone to comfort us, to protect us. (…) You can't be constantly talking about the ' threat ', because this creates a climate that encourages increasingly fears among people, which exacerbates racism. "

This week, Charlie Hebdo's publishing a million copies in a Special Edition. But, according to Eric Portheault, Chief Financial Officer of the newspaper, the current team of satirical publication feels he no longer has support. In an interview with AFP, Portheault reveals: "we feel extremely lonely. We expected there to be more people doing satire. But no one wants to join because they think it's dangerous. There is the risk of death. "



Michael Moynihan, American Daily Beast website, States that "no one wants to show cartoons. In January, 12 people were massacred. A month later, a psycho kind of illiterate tried to kill Lars Vilks, at an event in Denmark, because this had drawn a dog with the head of Muhammad. Two people are dead. I don't mean to be negative â€" and everyone denies and says it's a matter of respect-but the truth is that we're scared. "

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