Last week, the National Assembly agreed to extend the state of emergency in France that has been in effect since the November 13th Paris terror attacks.
The state of emergency was originally scheduled to end on May 26th, however with the 2016 Euro football championships and the Tour de France taking place this summer in France, officials felt the need to extend it by two months.
Many question whether the French government has decided to extend the state of emergency to protect its people or to control them. France’s Socialist Party (PS) has used the state of emergency to restrict French citizens’ right to protest and arrest dozens of protestors.
One member of the PS has even began to put together legislation that would basically make the state of emergency permanent in France. This would allow the government the right to arrest and detain people without giving them access to a lawyer, impose house arrests, and expand the rights to search homes.
This shift in French policy shows that ultimately, the terrorists have won. Although the physical destruction of Paris was not significant as a result of the attacks, the psychological damages that have been inflicted upon the people of France still remain. The terrorists have successfully spread a feeling of fear and insecurity throughout the French people, leading them to distrust their government and despise their Muslim neighbors. Government officials have taken more power and restricted the rights of their citizens all out of fear that there will be further attacks.
When this kind of atmosphere is created in a country, it allows radical Islamists to do exactly what they had hoped: recruit Muslims who have shunned and harassed by their country and radicalize them. Letting the fear of future attacks take over our lives is exactly what the terrorists want.
There’s no need to worry about whether or not Paris will be attacked again. Paris is already under siege.