nprfreshair:

Former New York Times Paris bureau chief Elaine Sciolino says the anti-Muslim, far right politicians in France are gaining power – and Friday’s attacks may fuel their sentiments: 

“The far right has won in local elections in some small but crucial cities in the south of France. There are some absurd manifestations of some of the things they want to do and have done. For example, some of these mayors have said there are too many kebab shops in France, because kebabs, which are Turkish not even North African Muslim, are not French, so we need to put back our boulangeries and our little French cafes and ban kebab shops from expanding.

Recently there’s been a controversy because some of the far right political leaders have called for forcible serving of pork in all public schools. Muslim and Jewish students cannot eat pork. So they’re being told, “If you don’t want to adhere to our secular republican ideal and what is part of the French cuisine, go to your own private schools.” …

These attacks were a gift to the far right, wrapped up in a bow before Christmas. This feeds perfectly into the French fear that there’s no security on our borders, that immigrants are the enemy, that there aren’t enough jobs for ‘normal’ French people so that we have to prevent the other, the alien, the foreigner, from invading our country.”

In Attack’s Wake, France Grapples With What It Means To Be French

People light candles in Marseille as they pay tribute to the victims of the attacks in Nov. 13 Paris. Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images