Ever since the killing of the French teacher Samuel Paty in a Paris suburb on October the 16th, France-and potentially Europe has entered another circle of violence and bloodshed. Samuel was targeted by a teenage muslim refugee of Chechen descent, for simply trying to teach people like him, freedom of speech and ultimately, that of thought.The 47 year old teacher, has repeatedly shown numerous Charlie Hebdo cartoon images of Muhammad in his class, in an effort to convince his students to accept and understand the French mentality and culture of satirical cartoons.
Paty was brutally beheaded outside the school he was teaching and his killer was shot dead by the French police. Consequently, France has found itself once again at the epicenter of an ongoing debate in Europe: immigration, integration, refugees and Islam. Following the teacher's death,the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin ordered that the Grande Mosque de Pantin,just our of Paris, was to be closed for six months. The mosque, has published videos inciting against Samuel Paty. Government buildings were projected with some of the Muhammad cartoon images, in defiance and tribute to Paty.
But as expected, this was only the beginning. Many muslim majority nations around the globe protested against France and its President, angered by the cartoons. Even more so, with their relations already strained after their Eastern Mediterranean fall-out, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has questioned Macron's mental health, calling for a boycott of french goods. Soon after another terrorist attack took place in the country almost two weeks since Paty's murder, this time in Nice. An additional three victims were killed in Notre-Dame de Nice, the city's Roman Catholic Basilica by a Tunisian migrant. Also, a security guard at a French consulate in Saudi Arabia was wounded by a man with a knife.
The French admitted that they are fighting a war against an enemy that is both inside and outside, as Minister Damarnin stated recently. Naturally, the country has already deported over 200 suspected islamists, most of them who were already in jail. As a response to Turkey's provocations, France has just announced that it will ban the Turkish nationalist group "Grey Wolves" from the country.
As I was writing this piece, another islamist terror attack has hit Europe, this time in Vienna; leaving another four people dead there and a city in fear as most of the attackers are still on the run. Obviously the this was not a "lone-wolf" act, but a coordinated and planned crime. It only remains to be seen if it is the last, or others will follow across our continent. Britain is on red alert however, according the latest news.
It is about time Europe decided how to act and crack down on islamists for good. For the past 14 years, over 300 Europeans have been killed by radicals and ISIS sympathisers and the increasing trend looks set becoming a commonality. If we count how many have also been killed by counter attacks by nationalists and far-right extremists, then we have a toxic, vengeful mix and circle of death. This needs to stop.
It is a very sensitive matter of course, when it comes to religion, ethnicity and race. We are feeling uncomfortable discussing such issues, in fear of offending our minorities or being branded as racists or communists. We should not. Our continent has become multicultural and it is not something new. In the affluent parts of Europe, this process has started since the '50s. In fact, avoiding an open discussing lead us to where we are right now.
For many years we allowed our capitals to grow migrant ghettos, unable to either point out the problem or make a serious effort integrating these communities. In addition, we failed to form a well coordinated immigration policy in the EU, with each member state trying to control its own laws on the matter. Due to old colonial ties, a complex of "what we have done to other countries" or pure negligence, we gave residence rights to more people than our changing economies could accomodate.
Once most of our industries left to relocate in Asia, we did not need as many workers any more for our factories. But for years we found it difficult to reform the laws that allowed and enticed migrants to enter Europe, or change the type of worker we needed to attract and match our working force needs. The result was a poor class of predominantly migrant background of low skilled individuals, that did not feel welcomed or wanted anymore in their adopted countries. Additionally, many of our native poorer social groups, felt left out and their needs not addressed, because of an increasing social gap and inequality in our continent.
The above groups became "the enemy from within". Angry and dissatisfied young people of migrant background, not sure where they belong and similarly another type of youth, that of native European ancestry with few opportunities to education and employment. Both easily radicalizedby either nationalist extremist groups, or islamists and ISIS supporters.
Although the majority of muslims in Europe are peaceful, one cannot ignore the growing threat of radical islam. To tackle the latter and make sure it does not harm the relations with the entire muslim community in our continent, governments and local authorities must be mobilized. We need finally a plan to integrate as many of our immigrants and establish a common immigration policy. We share outer borders and we have abolised our internal ones. Such matters should begin being tackled collectively. Why for example must we import more workers for a new factory in Austria, while we have many unemployed, homegrown, second generation migrants living in Brussels or Paris.
Many will argue that these people will refuse to move because they are here "to milk the generous European social security system". But have we given them the chance and even more importantly, the educational background and skills to do so? They are after all, EU citizens and they should be able to move around as freely within the block, as the rest of us.Instead of marginalize and institutionalize them, perhaps we could start teaching them languages and the mentality of belonging in this continent.
Secondly, the migrant communities themselves, must learn to not only isolate, but discourage and hand over to authorities all suspects for a potential terror attack, or radicals. Just condemning after the did is done, does not do much to solve the problem. Islamists hurt them as much as the rest of the European society and we should all unite against any form or terror, homegrown or imported.
As for the newly arrived extremists, such as the case of the Tunisian man who killed three people in Nice, we will have to impose tougher Europe wide immigration laws. Radicals can enter from any point in our continent and can easily be connected to other like-minded people from across the block. Trying to control who enters Europe and who stays out, has nothing to do with racism, but security.Not everyone has the best intentions and why should they be allowed in after all.Plus, we cannot offer employment or the dream-life to everyone on this planet. We should rather promote stability and wealth across the globe, so potential migrants can achieve their full potential at home.
But to reach this goal, we also need to tackle another impediment. That of our own complex of past actions during the Holocaust and WW2, or the colonial era. Many crimes were committed by Europeans, against others of their kin and people native to the lands they colonized alike, in those times. Trying to atone ourselves by adopting too flexible laws on immigration, lack of debate and avoiding to address our integration issues, plus failing to admit that some of our policies are not working, only causes further anger, frustration and divisions among the people who inhabit our continent.
We have to realize that if it wasn’t Europeans colonizing the globe, it would be someone else. We should of course acknowledge the mistakes and the atrocities but also take into account that not only Europe used slavery and not the whole of Europe either. And despite all, Europe shaped most of the modern world with its expansionism. Many nations from Oceania, Asia, the Americas and Africa owe a big part of who they are today to European colonialism. The wealth-not just the financial but the cultural, architectural, artistic etc, that Europe enjoys today would not be possible without colonialism.
Europe would be poorer without it and thus the rest of the world too. In addition, there are two sides in this coin. Those were different times, shaped by different cultures and mentality. Must we hold accountable the ancient Romans and Greeks for having slaves too, or the Arabs and Ottomans or Vikings who had European slaves? A practice of the past must not poison our current relations with the world. Time to rid off our guilt and complex and move on, with more awareness and knowledge. That does not imply forgetting.
Immigration should stop being a taboo. Deportation of those who fail or refuse to integrate too. Perhaps others are more deserving and suitable to be given a chance to contribute to our societies and are being left out. Issues of race, religion or ethnicity should also cease to be impermissible. Why our very nature, which is rich and diverse, should be something that we are ashamed of discussing?
I would like to offer my sincere condolences to all victims of the latest attrocities, especially to those close to Samuel Paty. A teacher's role is to challenge his pupil's minds, train them for free thinking; not just to provide them with "chewed" digestible knowledge which they will have to memorize. In that aspect, France and Europe lost a good teacher, someone that I would like to have in a class teaching my kids. Rest in Peace.
