Will François Hollande sacrifice the Republic?

Last month has shown us the fulfillment of what many have predicted: The Islamization of France has begun. With more than 6.5 Million Muslims in the region, making them 10 percent of the population, it seems like French officials have yet to understand and tackle the problem of Radical Islam. Six terror attacks only in the last month, all of them carried out by Muslim immigrants in the name of Islam and Jihad, yet the French president Hollande already stated that ‘Extremists have nothing to do with religion’. To understand the roots of this approach, we need to travel back in time, back to the days of Charles de Gaulle.

A war hero in the First World War, the leader of the ‘Résistance intérieure française’ in the second, De Gaulle has always dreamed of recreating the French colonial empire, yet he was not even invited to the Potsdam conference in 1945. Surrendering to the Nazis after one month, France was not considered to be one of the big forces in the world anymore.

Forced to go to the political dessert in 1946, De Gaulle waited until 1958 to be elected as the new French President. That was the opportunity he was waiting for. France needed a new future with new allies. Pursuing a new policy of national independence, De Gaulle decided to grant Algeria with independence, which he followed with a withdrawal from NATO. Now, destination for France was clear: De Gaulle had begun to renew the old French-Arab alliance. In 1967, right after the loss of the Arab countries in the six days war, De Gaulle condemned Israel, blaming her for starting the war. De Gaulle initiated a weapons Embargo on Israel and even blamed the Jews for being ”sure of themselves and domineering”. Now the lines of the new pro-Arabic policy have been laid out.

After the Yom Kippur War, France was the leading power in Europe behind the pro-Palestinian shift of the EEC (European Economic Community), surrendering to the threats coming out of the Arab states to raise the Oil prices. In exchange for the Oil, the ECC gathered in Brussels, declaring a new policy towards the Israeli-Arab conflict. In the declaration, the Europeans have stated for the first time that ‘In any peace agreement in the Middle East, the rights of the Palestinians must be included’. The ECC had also agreed to open a new European-Arabic Dialog group called the EAD and the Parliamentarian association for Euro-Arabic Cooperation (PAEAC). After 2 years of discussions, the PAEAC has called in Strasbourg for the European governments to ’embrace a new and more positive approach towards the Arab states’, while also calling for them to ‘create legal conditions regards the freedom of movement of the Arab immigrants’. The Strasbourg declaration has fulfilled the testimony of De Gaulle, not only for France but also for entire Europe:  Getting away from the U.S and reestablishing Europe’s relations with the Arab states.

Understanding the origins of the pro-Arabic stance of France might help us to understand why President Hollande refuses to identify Radical Islam as the cause of Terror in France. Hollande has brought De Gaulle’s ideas to perfection. Let us have a look at the 2012 elections in France. Having won with only a slim majority of 3.5 percent of the votes (1.1 Million people), Hollande had one main supporters, to whom he owes his election: the Muslim community in France. Before the elections, Hollande promised that if elected, he will grant amnesty for more than 400,000 illegal Muslim immigrants imprisoned in France.
That of course paid off. 93 percent of the Muslim population in France voted for him, giving him 1.7 million votes who eventually were crucial for essential for him. With 14 percent of public support in the last poll, Hollande needs the Muslim voters if he ever plans to get re-elected.

However, as we have already seen in history, the case of France and the pro-Arabic approach is an excellent example of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. In opening France to a huge wave of immigrants, it seems like Hollande forgot one main issue: These are no ordinary states, the ones the immigrants come from. These states are run by dictators, the schools and media are full of deep, anti-Semitic, anti-western, fundamentalistic propaganda. It is very important to say: the problem is not necessarily with the immigrants, but with their educational background, their religious background.

What we are seeing now in France is a very issue being almost entirely denied by the government. We have not seen yet any change in the French policy. The gates are still open, hatred is still being openly taught in the mosques. 50 years ago, De Gaulle has created a very dangerous gamble on the future of France: Will Hollande be willing to sacrifice France’s future as a free republic on the isle of his personal political interest? Only time will tell. His expressions and statements so far, prove that this is exactly what plans to do.