A group of retired French generals have 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 also warns against cultural Marxism, runaway multi-culturalism and the expansion of no-go zones in France.
The letter also comes after widespread public indignation over a French justice system which accuses it of being compromised by political correctness. The indignation comes after the top French court refused 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 ruling sparked mass protests in Paris and other French cities. French President Emmanuel Macron subsequently called for a change in French law to address the issue.
The letter also expressed grave concern over the ignorance of the French intelligence services about these Jihadi assailants.
The open letter, published by the French magazine ‘Valeurs Actuelles’ 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, was published on Gatestone Institute website. Key excerpts from letter is as follows:
- “The hour is grave. France is in peril. She is threatened by several mortal dangers.”
- “Some speak of racialism, indigenism and decolonial theories, but by using these terms, hateful and fanatic partisans are trying to spark a racial war.”
- “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.”
- “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?”
- “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.”
- “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.”
Support for the Letter
While French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Defense Minister Florence Parly have strongly opposed the letter by the retired generals, many have supported the letter. Former French Justice Minister Rachida Dati agreed with the contents of the letter, but stressed that the military should not be involved in politics.
Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen endorsed the letter but also stressed that change must come by means of a democratic political process, not through military intervention.
Large sections of the French public seem to support the intent of the letter. A Harris Interactive survey carried out for LCI television on April 29 found that 58% of those questioned support the soldiers who signed the letter. Almost one in two (49%) said that the army should intervene to guarantee order, even without a request by the government.
Jihadi Attacks in France
France has been suffering a wave of Jihadist attacks on its citizens over the last few years. In the last one year itself, nearly a dozen attacks were carried out by Jihadists among which the beheading of a school teacher Samuel Paty by a Muslim immigrant in October 2020, caught the attention of the world.
In April 2020, two people were stabbed to death by a Sudanese immigrant in Romans-sur-Isère.
In September 2020, four people were stabbed by a Jihadi attacked them with a butcher knife outside of the old Charlie Hebdo magazine headquarters.
In October 2020, 3 French citizens were brutally stabbed in Nice when one of the victims was beheaded. The attacker was a Tunisian immigrant Brahim Aouissaoui.
In March 2021, an elderly man standing outside a Church had his throat slit by a knife wielding Jihadi.
In April this year, a Tunisian-born Jihadi stabbed a French policewoman to death outside a police station in Rambouillet. The attacker shouted ‘allahu akbar’ as he carried out the attack.
Rise of Islam in France
The Muslim population of France is currently estimated at around six million, or roughly nine percent of the total population, according to a recent survey by Pew Research. However, analysts opine that millions of Muslims in France are permanently hidden from the official statistics.
Pew estimates the Muslim population of France is set to increase to 12.7% by 2050 even without migration i.e with a “zero migration scenario”; with a “medium migration scenario,” the Muslim population of France is expected to rise to roughly 13 million people and comprise 17% of the French population. With a “high migration scenario,” the Muslim population of France is set to exceed one-fifth of the total population.
In October 2011, a landmark 2,200-page report, “Suburbs of the Republic” (“Banlieue de la République”) found that many French suburbs are becoming “separate Islamic societies” cut off from the French state, and where Islamic law is rapidly displacing French civil law.
The report concluded that Muslim immigrants are increasingly rejecting French values and instead are immersing themselves in radical Islam.
Balaji Subramanian 
Palak Dogra 
Sindhuri Sai