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Charlie Hebdo attack



Fears of turning point for French politics after Charlie Hebdo attack









Shooting may have long-term implications for a society already witness to a rise in xenophobic and anti-Islam sentimentCharlie Hebdo attack: follow the latest developments
























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President François Hollande speaks to the French people in a televised address



Angelique Chrisafis in Paris


Wednesday 7 January 2015 14.56 EST







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François Hollande, ashen-faced and quick to the scene of France’s most violent attack in decades, appealed for national unity after what he called “an act of exceptional barbarism” when gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris offices of the country’s most famous satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
But as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across France to condemn the shooting, many feared for the long-term implications for a French society already witness to a steady rise in xenophobic and anti-Islam sentiment, and a political landscape increasingly polarised with the far-right Front National having steadily made large electoral gains.
The daylight assault on the magazine was described by the French president as a “terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it”. While the shooting remained unclaimed, with the perpetrators still on the loose and no certainty as to who they were, there was a rallying together of the political class.
But it seemed clear that when the identities of those behind the attack did emerge the already beleaguered Socialist government would be pressed to address security, policing and the political implications of an attack on a magazine that had long been under threat.
The political mood was tense. France is engaged in a new military operation in the Sahel region of north Africa in an effort to stop the emergence of jihadist groups. About 3,000 soldiers are deployed in a vast area from Mauritania to Niger and Chad, following an earlier French intervention in Mali in 2013 to counter an Islamist insurgency. That Mali intervention was such a priority for Hollande that he declared a visit to the capital, Bamako, “the most important day” of his political life.
Meanwhile, France has been deeply concerned about significant numbers of its own nationals going to fight as jihadis in Syria and Iraq, then returning. The government recently drew up tough counter-terrorism laws to try to deal with jihadis, prompting civil liberties groups to raise concerns.
Pollsters have described France as socially fragmented, more pessimistic than ever, economically under pressure and experiencing a rise in far-right voters and sympathisers.
Marine Le Pen’s Front National topped the European elections, and a series of steady electoral gains means it now has MPs, senators and several new mayors dotted around France, as well as strong polling before local and regional elections this year.
Le Pen has emerged as a key figure for the 2017 presidential election race. On Wednesday she said she was horrified by the “hateful attack” on the magazine. The former president Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the traditional right-wing UMP, spoke of a “national tragedy”.
Hollande, now halfway into his mandate and rated as the least popular French president in modern history, had recently seen his approval numbers rise slightly. With an eye on possibly re-running for president in 2017, he had swapped his trademark technical musings on the nation’s economic woes for a more tolerant discourse on immigration and the country’s diversity to bridge a growing divide.
For months the French media has been dominated by controversial polemics about Islam, its place in French society, and Islamophobia. This week came the publication of Soumission(Submission), a novel by Michel Houellebecq imagining France led by a Muslim party. Before that there was French Suicide, a bestselling book in which a conservative journalist questions the impact of Muslim immigration to France.
Hollande’s aim for this month had been to rise above the melee of daily political sparring. But the first big challenge for him – and, notably, for his prime minister, Manuel Valls, known as a tough cop who formerly ran the interior ministry – now will be to address questions about how the Charlie Hebdo attack was possible, and what effect it will have on security, the wider political discourse and strains on society.
One political analyst, Jérôme Sainte-Marie, at PollingVox, described the attack as an unprecedented moment for France. “With public opinion already prepared to have negative thoughts on Islam, coupled with the extremely fragile government and fragile social situation, it will be a turning point. It will crystallise and concentrate all sorts of things in public opinion. It will have very serious and lasting consequences on political life in France.”
He said the symbolism of the attack, including the deaths of two police officers, was terrible and would mark the spirit forever. While France had previously encountered terrorism alongside international events, particularly in Algeria, he said, the context now was new – namely “the rising preoccupation in France and Europe with Islam and its place in society”.
Sainte-Marie said the parties talking about Islam and immigration, notably the Front National, were more likely to profit politically, while those who stood to lose were the government and France’s large minority of well-integrated Muslims going about their daily lives.
Polling showed that since 2010 there has been a growth of xenophobic and anti-Islam sentiment, he said.
The political analyst and pollster Emmanuel Rivière, head of opinion at the marketing firm TNS Sofres, said it was too early to know what the political impact would be on this year’s local and regional elections. He said one theory was that the Front National would be get a boost. But he said the left, which had a problem of voters abstaining, might get more socialists, centrists or those on the traditional right, turning out to vote to limit far-right gains.
Rivière said the attack was “deeply symbolic”, and the public mood was already very different to that in 2012 after the gunman Mohamed Merah killed seven people in three separate shootings in Toulouse, including at a Jewish school.
“The context is worse than in 2012,” he said, adding that the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and the issue of young French jihadis joining the conflict had heightened tensions.
Charlie Hebdo attack: follow the latest developments



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Cherif Kouachi during 2008 terror trial: 'I've been set up' - video

File footage of one of the Paris gunmen, Cherif Kouachi, arriving at court in 2008 on charges of helping to funnel fighters to Iraq's insurgency



Published: 13 Jan 2015




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Analysis Charlie Hebdo attackers: born, raised and radicalised in Paris

The radicalisation of the Kouachi brothers began in a picturesque park in the capital while Amédy Coulibaly took the first steps towards terrorism in prison, but what the three had in common was growing up on the margins of French society



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo attackers: born, raised and radicalised in Paris












Paris shootings: investigation launched into where gunmen got GoPro cameras

Officials try to pinpoint when and where cameras found in possession of Kouachi brothers and Amédy Coulibaly were obtained



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Paris shootings: investigation launched into where gunmen got GoPro cameras












Paris attacks: 10,000 troops deployed as France hunts for accomplices

Mobilisation of 10,000 troops to guard potentially vulnerable locations comes as prime minister warns that ‘threat still present’



Published: 12 Jan 2015




Paris attacks: 10,000 troops deployed as France hunts for accomplices














Paris shootings: Jewish school ‘likely target’ of gunman Coulibaly




Published: 12 Jan 2015




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Analysis Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based




Published: 11 Jan 2015




Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based








Paris gunman Amedy Coulibaly declared allegiance to Isis




Published: 11 Jan 2015




Paris gunman Amedy Coulibaly declared allegiance to Isis








Charlie Hebdo: a letter to my British friends

Olivier Tonneau




Published: 13 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo: a letter to my British friends
















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