A year after je suis charlie, a divided France struggles

1. A year after ‘Je suis Charlie’, a divided France struggles
Reuters, Paris – One year on, an anxious, fragmented France is paying tribute to the victims of
the killings at Charlie Hebdo magazine and Hyper Cacher supermarket, with old divisions
made worse by what President Francois Hollande has called “a terrible year”.
After the Islamist attacks that killed 17 in January of last year at the satirical weekly and at
the Jewish supermarket, the French rallied, marched and lit candles in emotional gatherings
celebrated as “the spirit of January 11″, the day four million took to the streets.
But cracks in that unity soon appeared and, a year later, after an even bloodier assault on
Paris by another set of home-grown Islamists in November, politicians are embroiled in a
bitter debate over homeland security, and the anti-immigrant National Front (FN) is
stronger than ever.
The slogan “Je suis Charlie,” a defiant cry of solidarity that appeared everywhere
immediately after the killings, is little seen a year on.
“Events such as the January or November attacks trigger moments of unity, in reaction. But
that is not enough to offset deep divisions,” said Brice Teinturier, head of the Ipsos polling
organization in France.
“The divisions are huge. There are several Frances and they are clashing,” he said, describing
a France of big cities turned towards the future, a rustbelt France that feels crushed by
globalization, and a France of housing estates that feels forgotten.
The recent regional election highlighted those divisions. In the first round, the National
Front came first, doing well in rural and small-town France. In the run-off, voters in big cities
helped to keep the Front out of power, exposing another deep split, this time between
those who look to the far-right for hope and those who reject it.
In a further sign of tension, a Muslim prayer hall was ransacked to cries of “Arabs out”
during a protest rally in Corsica after firemen were attacked last month on a housing estate
with a large migrant population.
DIVISIVE
While the “spirit of January” prompted politicians of all sides to paper over differences for a
while, the Nov. 13 killings of 130 people across Paris were quickly followed by criticism and
divisions.
The most divisive issue is the Socialist government’s plan to strip dual citizens of their
French nationality in terrorism cases, a proposal supported by the National Front and until
now opposed by left-wing politicians.

2. Opinion polls show the plan is overwhelmingly backed by voters, but it caused outcry within
the ruling Socialist party and its allies. Even Hollande’s justice minister and his former prime
minister criticized it. Opponents say the plan would further divide a fragmented society by
making distinctions among French citizens. Hollande urges critics to rally behind him in the
name of national unity.
About five percent of French people aged between 18 and 50 hold two passports. That is
the case for two-thirds of North Africans who have become French, but only a third of their
children. They form the majority of France’s Muslim population, the biggest in Europe.
“Instead of addressing the real issues to boost cohesion, (the government) pretends they
come from abroad and wants to push them abroad,” said Dominique Sopo, the head of anti-
racism group SOS Racisme.
“There is a lot of tension around everything that has to do with religion and secularism,”
said Nicolas Cadene, a senior official at France’s Observatory of Secularism, a government
body that promotes secular values.
“It’s linked to the social, political, economic and identity crisis that France is going through,
which leads some to withdraw into their shells, to turn to identity politics.”
While most French people rallied together after the Charlie Hebdo shootings, that unity
started to crack after a few days. Some high school children in poorer suburbs with large
immigrant populations rejected the “Je suis Charlie” slogan because they did not want to
support a publication that lampoons religion.
Social and economic fragmentation was already a major theme in Jacques Chirac’s 1995
presidential campaign. His pledge to tackle the “social fracture” that caused economic
inequality helped to get him elected.
Yet critics say neither he nor subsequent presidents have managed to bridge the gap
between France’s privileged insiders and its struggling outsiders.
It will be a big issue in the 2017 presidential elections.
“What does France stand for? This will be the question for 2017,” said Stephane Rozes, head
of the CAP political analysis group. Mainstream parties must look harder for credible
answers, he said. “If it’s just empty words, it will play into the hands of the FN and the
Islamists.”
Discussion questions:

3. 1. How do you think France has changed in the last year, i.e. since the Charlie Hebdo and 13
November attacks?
2. What, in your view, are the biggest problems facing France today?
3. “The divisions [in France] are huge. There are several Frances and they are clashing,” said
Mr. Teinturier. According to the article, what are those divisions? Please give specific
examples from the text.
4. What are ‘identity politics’? (Extra research required.) What do you think about this form
of politics?
5. Do you agree that France is going through a “social, political, economic and identity
crisis”? Why or why not? Please explain your point of view.
6. In your opinion, what do you think the French government can do to build solidarity
among the people, and, more generally, improve the situation in French society?