Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Colleen Morgan
Mr.Phillips
English 3 H
08 May 2017
From Paris to Nice, in the past few years France has been plagued with terror
attacks. More than 115 people have been killed by these horrific acts of violence, and
who knows if it will happen again. After innocent citizens have been killed, it is only
necessary to implement laws and policies to stop, or try to prevent, these from happening
again, and thats exactly what France did. Not taking action would be surrendering to the
terrorists, which is exactly what terrorists want. If theres shoplifting, sensors are put in
place. If theres heavy speeding, a speed monitor is implemented. Same idea for the
recent terror attacks, France has proposed and implemented many policies for the safety
Of course everyone has an opinion on what should be done, but the most
influential opinions happen to be from the candidates running for election and the current
President. The most vocal about change is the far right candidate, Marine Le Pen. She
says that everyone stays and settles down, and that France should not be accepting
asylum seekers or terrorists when they need to focus on their own poverty and issues
(Smale). These politicians are trying to put France back in order, and their
campaigning shows it (Erlanger and Rubin). Mrs. Le Pen want to reinforce Frances
borders, not rely on all of Europe (Meichtry). Overall multiple candidates are using these
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recent attacks, especially Nice, as a fodder for their argument to propose stronger
background checks and tighter immigration control (Smale). Mrs.Le Pen stricter
immigration proposal and idea to focus on France is now more necessary than ever. To be
able to protect the citizens of France relying on the EU to combat terrorism isn't enough,
laws specific to France will help to control the terrorism in the country.
President Hollande caught some fire for not doing enough to combat terrorism,
when he actually proposed some policies that were too radical to be passed. He proposed
to strip French dual citizenship from convicted terrorists. While this wouldnt be a
permanent, it would be for the time being (Birnbaum). While this did fail, it was a strong
reply to his displeased critics. President Hollande is between a rock and a hard place, he
needs to appease two sides. French lawmakers denying his proposal also proved that
France won't go too far on infringing citizens rights, while still trying to protect them.
Other policies have been proposed not directly from Mrs.Le Pen or the President.
Lawmakers proposed to survey known radicalist, a direct telephone hotline for people
reporting radicalist, and a system to record airline passenger names (Schweitzer). All of
these are to make it easier to catch radicalists and stop terrorism before it happens. French
lawmakers have also debated a bill that would make it easier for the President to enact a
state of emergency (Toor). This was in response to President Hollande enacting a state of
emergency after the Paris terror attack, and the extension of it. While all these failed,
these proposals showed Frances push to go to certain measures to end the threat. Even
though these have not been passed, it's good that people are trying to do something about
the threat.
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While there hasnt been much opposition to the proposal of policies, mostly due
to fear, some people dont find it necessary, or would rather go at it differently. Mrs. Le
Pen strongest opposition is Mr.Macton. He is more moderate/left then Mrs.Le Pen, and
would rather unite Europe to help end terrorism, them focusing on just France. He touts
the single market as the key to prosperity (Meichtry). However, there has not been a
direct threat to all of Europe, there has been many direct threats to France. It would not
be time effective, or effective for the safety of France alone, to rely on the EU to create
policies to protect such a large region. The French PM has also come out and said that
France should learn to live with terrorism due to the changing times (The Wrong Answer
to Nice). This is not a solution to the problem, its the exact opposite. Giving into
terrorism will ultimately get people killed and giving terrorists the green light to attack
again. No matter the time, terrorism should not be accepted by anyone, especially
Not only has a multitude of policies been proposed, a variety have also been
implemented. After the Paris terror attack President Hollande put France in a state of
emergency, which was extended after the Nice attack. This wasnt the first time France
has gone into a state of emergency, in 1955 they went into one during the Algerian War of
Independence (Zertesky). 7,000 soldiers were sent out to guard sensitive areas such as
temples, churches, important religious sites, etc (McPartland). These soldiers watch for
suspicious activity and terrorist like activities, while keeping the public feel more safe
(Zertesky). This state of emergency also said that police could carry out home searches
and place subjects under arrest without having court approval (Birnbaum). The state of
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emergency is to protect people in a state of disarray. This wasnt to punish citizens, it was
consider it pointless and the government overstepping its boundary. A French military
official said it's like a sieve and it was going to fail. Critics have also said the state of
emergency will turn France into a dictatorship and it went from fighting terrorism to
maintaining public order (Zertesky). However, it has been proven throughout history that
to maintain the peace and calm of the country. The home invasions and arrests are for
terrorist purposes ONLY and not for random laws. If the government doesnt respond to
an immediate threat, what is the point of having a government for security reasons? The
government is overbearing when necessary, and multiple terrorist attacks in a year or two
is definitely necessary.
Legislation has also passed due to the terror attacks. The Ministry of Defense
created a national land command to better prepare the army to battle terrorism at home
(Daguzan). This was in addition to police being sent out to certain sites. The government
is really putting time into defensive forces learning to identify and prevent terrorism. The
(Dalton), and the media is now censoring reporting about terrorist attacks (Dalton). The
government views this as such a great threat they are censoring the public from getting
certain details, and kids are now being warned of the danger. This is all extremely
necessary because the media doesn't want to inspire terrorists, and kids need to also be
The policies have also impacted the economy and sporting events. The
government cut social welfare from French citizens who joined Jihadist groups
(Hjeimgaard). This sent a direct message to the terrorists, that France is not condoning
any activity that will put its citizens at risk and if it decide to join a radical group, then the
government will not support them. Also for the Euro 2016 soccer tournament the
audience is eligible to be screened at any point, meetings can be forbidden, and transport
can be cancelled (Daguzan). This extra security may not be welcomed by guests, but isnt
the safety of the country more important than that? While these both may seem extreme,
France has done a good job, and should continue to, protect the rights of their
citizens. Focusing on the safety of France and the safety of their citizens, while trying to
prevent and find terrorists, have all been implemented or proposed. As Zertesky said,
Each attack strengthens countries will to defeat the attack, and cannot be defeated by
shrugging a shoulder, and that's exactly what Frances mindset should be.
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Work Cited
Birnbaum, Michael. "Terror may be New Normal in Europe." Washington Post, 25 Dec,
Daguzan, Jean-Francois. "Euro 2016: France Counterterrorism Strategies." Euro 2016: France
Dalton, Matthew. "French Schools Launch Terrorism Drills." Wall Street Journal, 22 Sep, 2016,
Dalton, Matthew. "French Media Rethink Publication of Images of Terror Suspects." Wall Street
Erlanger, Steven, and J. R. Alyssa. "Attack Echoes, Faintly, in a Europe Anxious but Inured."
Hjelmgaard, Kim. "European Welfare Funds ISIS Fighters." USA TODAY, 24 Feb, 2017, pp. A.1,
Meichtry, Stacy, and Anton Troianovski. "EU Loyalists Find their Voice." Wall Street Journal, 20
Smale, Alison. "Immigrants Face Walls, Deportations and Tighter Rules in Europe, Too." New
York Times, 24 Feb, 2017, pp. A. 9., SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.
Smale, Alison, and Stephen Castle. "Attack Builds Political Power of Anti-Immigrant
Movements in Europe." New York Times, 17 Jul, 2016, pp. A.12, SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://sks.sirs.com.
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"The Wrong Answer to Nice." New York Post, 16 Jul, 2016, pp. 18, SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://sks.sirs.com.
Zaretsky, Robert. "Frances Perpetual State of Emergency." Foreign Policy. N.p., 16 July 2016.