Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/France: Generals Warn of Civil War Due to Creeping Islamism/سورين كارن/معهد كايتستون: جنرالات فرنسا يحذرون من حرب أهلية بسبب الإسلاموية الزاحفة

France: Generals Warn of Civil War Due to Creeping Islamism
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/May 04/2021
سورين كارن/معهد كايتستون: جنرالات فرنسا يحذرون من حرب أهلية بسبب الإسلاموية الزاحفة

The warning comes amid a wave of jihadist attacks — including the beheading of a schoolteacher — committed by young men, none of whom were previously known to French intelligence services. The letter also comes after widespread public indignation over a French justice system compromised by political correctness — as evidenced by the refusal to prosecute an African immigrant from Mali who, while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the Greatest”), killed an elderly Jewish woman by breaking into her home and pushing her off her balcony.

“Every Frenchman, whatever his belief or non-belief, should everywhere be at home in continental France [l’Hexagone]; there cannot and must not exist any city or district where the laws of the Republic do not apply.” — From an open letter signed by 20 retired generals, a hundred senior officers more than a thousand other members of the French military, April 21, 2021.

“What is written in this letter is a reality. When you have a country plagued by urban guerrilla warfare, when you have a very regular and very high terrorist threat, when you have more and more glaring and flagrant inequalities, when you have a part of our patriots who are breaking up from society, we cannot say that the country is doing well.” — Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris and former Justice Minister .

“These harmful drifts do not result from a moment of distraction but from a political direction driven by fundamentally corrupting ideological considerations.” — Marine Le Pen, French presidential candidate.

The open letter and Le Pen’s response come amid a spate of at least nine consecutive jihadist attacks in France, all of which were carried out by individuals who were unknown to French intelligence services, and who therefore were not suspected of being radicalized and consequently were not on a jihadist watchlist. The attacks suggest that French authorities have lost control of monitoring Islamic radicals in the country.

A group of retired generals has warned in an open letter that France is sliding toward a civil war due to the government’s failure to control mass migration and creeping Islamism in the country. The letter, which has broad public support, according to polls, also warns against cultural Marxism, runaway multiculturalism and the expansion of no-go zones in France.

The warning comes amid a wave of jihadist attacks — including the beheading of a schoolteacher — committed by young men, none of whom were previously known to French intelligence services. The letter also comes after widespread public indignation over a French justice system compromised by political correctness — as evidenced by the refusal to prosecute an African immigrant from Mali who, while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the Greatest”), killed an elderly Jewish woman by breaking into her home and pushing her off her balcony.

The breakdown in security, and the government’s apparent inability or unwillingness to do anything about it, has catapulted the leader of the conservative National Rally [Rassemblement National] party, Marine Le Pen, to first place, ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron, in polls before presidential elections set for April 2022.

The open letter, published by the French magazine Valeurs Actuelles [Current Values] on April 21 and addressed to the French political establishment, was signed by 20 retired generals, a hundred senior officers more than a thousand other members of the military. A translation of the letter, which calls for a return to French patriotism, reads as follows:

“Mr. President,
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Government,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of Parliament,
“The hour is grave. France is in peril. She is threatened by several mortal dangers. We who, even in retirement, remain soldiers of France, cannot, under the present circumstances, remain indifferent to the fate of our beautiful country.

“Our tricolor flags are not just pieces of cloth. They symbolize the tradition of those who, throughout the ages, whatever their skin color or religion, served France and gave their lives for her. On these flags, we find, in golden letters, the words, ‘Honor and Fatherland.’ Today, our honor rests on denouncing the disintegration of our country.

“Disintegration which, through a certain type of anti-racism, has a single goal: to create division, even hatred, between communities on our soil. Today, some speak of racialism, indigenism and decolonial theories, but by using these terms, hateful and fanatic partisans are trying to spark a racial war. They despise our country, her traditions, and her culture, and, by attempting to erase her past and her history, want to see her relegated to the dustbin of history. With this objective, they destroy statues and twist centuries-old words and phrases, all to overturn our past military and civilian glories.

“Disintegration which, with Islamism and the suburban hordes [hordes de banlieue], leads to the detachment of large parts of our nation to transform them into territories that are subject to dogmas contrary to our Constitution. Every Frenchman, whatever his belief or non-belief, should everywhere be at home in continental France [l’Hexagone]; there cannot and must not exist any city or district where the laws of the Republic do not apply.

“Disintegration which, when hatred takes precedence over fraternity during the [anti-government] Yellow Vest [gilets jaunes] demonstrations, where the government uses the police as proxy agents and scapegoats against French citizens expressing their despair and hopelessness. All this while masked individuals infiltrate the protests and ransack businesses and threaten these same police. Yet, the police only follow the directives, often contradictory, established by you, the political ruling class.

“Perils are mounting, violence is increasing day by day. Who could have predicted, ten years ago, that a teacher would one day be beheaded as he was leaving his school? We, servants of the Nation, who have always been prepared to pay the ultimate price for our country, cannot be passive spectators in the face of such actions.

“It is imperative that the leaders of our country find the courage required to eradicate these dangers. To do this, it is often sufficient to enforce, with determination, existing laws. Do not forget that, like us, a large majority of our fellow citizens is exasperated by your cowardice and guilty silence.

“As Cardinal Mercier, Primate of Belgium, once said: ‘When prudence is everywhere, courage is nowhere.’ Ladies and gentlemen, stop equivocating. The situation is serious, the work ahead is daunting; do not waste time and know that we are ready to support policies to safeguard the nation.

“On the other hand, if nothing is done, laxity will continue to spread, inexorably, through our society. Ultimately, there will be an explosion, and our comrades on active duty will be forced to intervene and carry out a perilous mission of protecting our civilizational values ​​and safeguarding the lives of our fellow citizens.

“As we can see, the time for procrastination is over. Otherwise, tomorrow, civil war will put an end to this growing chaos, and there will be thousands of deaths, for which you will bear responsibility.”

Reactions in France
The letter — published on the 60th anniversary of a failed coup against the government of Charles de Gaulle — sparked an angry rebuke from the French government.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said that the letter by military figures was “contrary to all of our republican principles, to the honor and the duty of the army.”