While the bill “reinforcing republican principles” was to be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, December 9, Jean Castex defends a hard line. While ensuring that he wants to avoid amalgamation and stigmatization, the Prime Minister assumes that this text aims mainly to fight against radical Islamism, a “Enemy who attacks our values”.
Article 24, violent demonstrations… Doesn’t this bill happen in the worst of contexts?
That there are tensions in society is undeniable. This text is absolutely not intended to sharpen them, but to respond to them, by fighting against a certain number of abuses and attacks against the values of the Republic which are not acceptable.
How to accept that in a northern city, for example, a homework support structure influences children so that they refuse to play with non-Muslims, or sing suras while covering their ears during music ? How to accept that in Seine-Saint-Denis, a cultural association which, under the pretext of taking care of drop-out children, preaches hatred of the Republic? How to accept, again, that in the Bouches-du-Rhône a sports club is gangrened by the separatists, to the point that we refuse to bow to the opponent during a judo fight because the can we only bow to Allah?
It is simply intolerable. We are faced with an enemy who attacks our values, who even attacks our fellow citizens through terrorist acts – we still all have in mind the terrible attack against Samuel Paty or the killing of Nice. We must strengthen ourselves to be able to face it better.
The examples you cite only target Islamism: why is the bill named “Reinforcing the republican principles” and does it not explicitly target the “Islamist separatism” pointed out by Emmanuel Macron in his speech at Les Mureaux?
It’s not just that in this text. But the enemy of the Republic is a political ideology called radical Islamism, which aims to divide the French among themselves. This text aims to ensure the defense of republican values and the integrity of our fellow citizens, in complete consistency with the speech of the President of the Republic.
Who else is targeted by this text?
The law is by nature general and long-term. Any political ideology that would stand against the values of the Republic would be concerned, even if it is today radical Islamism that we seek by all means to fight. By strengthening the principle of secularism in public services; by creating an offense to suppress intimidation against public officials; by allowing the dissolution of associations which serve as a screen for separatist activities; by fighting, finally, against actions that would undermine the dignity of the human person, in particular equality between women and men, through forced marriages or certificates of virginity. By ensuring, in short, that everyone can believe and think what he wants.
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