March 9, 2016
Our parents and grandparents knew they had to fight for freedom and democracy. But with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and all it signified, we seem to have lost our bearings.
In this ideological void characterized by globalization and the Internet, those who wish to undermine our democratic values lure an ever-increasing number of lost souls, especially unstable young people who are vulnerable to persuasion.
Assisted by the relativistic rhetoric of a part of the right-wing and the far-left, Islamists are trying to find an opening in our secular Republic and elsewhere in Europe to push their agenda. They seek to undermine the principle of gender equality and to develop an anti-Western, antisemitic, sexist, and homophobic narrative.
Terrorist recruiters have enlisted dozens of our compatriots by offering them a ready-made way of life, an ideology that promises both combat experience and Paradise.
Too often, whether out of fear, laziness or the felt need for political compromise, our decision-makers have looked the other way or kept quiet, underestimating the threat facing our country.
They have given in, allowing Islamist preachers and dubious communitarian groups to voice their hatred towards women and Jews, last sentinel against radicalization in Europe.
They have implicitly accepted the dangerous idea that terrorism can be justified, excused, contextualized, compared to something else, or played down. In their blindness, they have enabled those who seek to destroy our values to prosper.
They have also left the door open to the far right. Across Europe, populist movements are gaining ground in the polls, as well as in people’s hearts and minds.
Faced with the bloodbath of previous terrorist attacks and the inability of the European Union to deal with the surge of refugees fleeing their countries, people are afraid, and these movements prey on those fears by attempting to divide society and stir up a clash of civilizations.
We must not allow them this golden opportunity. We must refuse to validate their tirades of separation, exclusion, and stigmatization. And we must turn our determination into action.
Faced with jihadist violence, on the one hand, and the right-wing populist backlash, on the other, we must not become trapped between two dialogues of hatred. Let us never resign ourselves to a victory of the blood-thirsty ideologies of terrorists, and never demean ourselves with the populist discourse of hatred. The two sides feed off each other. Let us show them that we will not be fooled and that we are ready for the fight.
The demonstrations of January 11, following the tragic attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Hypercacher, showed that the French people were ready to rise up and act as one for what they believed: rejection of terrorism, fundamentalism, and antisemitism, and affirmation of Republican values: freedom – particularly the freedom of expression—equality, and fraternity, but also secularism, the right to criticize, satirize, and even blaspheme.
In order to sustain this spirit of democratic solidarity, we, along with other likeminded groups from France and across Europe, are organizing “The Wake Up Call” on April 4 at the Théâtre Déjazet. This will be a large-scale public forum open to all, with the Prime Minister, the Vice-President of the European Commission, a number of political figures, intellectuals, researchers, artists, and, most importantly, representatives of civil society, including young people, present. This will be the occasion to reaffirm our dedication to the republic and to democratic values.
We will debate, share our experiences, feelings, and thoughts, and, together, try to find effective responses to the huge challenges of our times.
Because we are the majority and we no longer wish to remain silent,
because we know that nothing can be taken for granted,
because we reject apathy and resignation,
because it is together that we will be able to defeat those who wish to kill off our democracy, our republican principals and our way of life,
I hope that multitudes will be there to take part in “The Wake-Up Call”.
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen is Director of AJC Europe.
