PARIS: Will French citizens, shaken by days of violence in cities several days after the murder of 17-year-old Nael Marzouk by a police officer at a traffic station in Nanterre, be able to celebrate July 14th in a spirit of national cohesion?

Like every year, the festivities planned for the occasion will take place on the 13th and 14th of July. There will be a military parade on the Champs Elysees in the presence of the President of the Republic, and this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of honor. There will also be balls, and a grand classical concert that will gather hundreds of thousands of people on the Champ-de-Mars, and fireworks.

After several days of riots, this time the National Day will be celebrated in a particularly tense social context. Within the French government, there are fears it could be disrupted by calls for protest on social media or by an outbreak of violence in the suburbs.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced, during a press briefing on July 12, exceptional measures to ensure the security of the celebration, including the mobilization of 130,000 police and gendarmes equipped with armored vehicles, helicopters and drones, in addition to the suspension. Public transportation from 10 p.m

Asked about the opportunity to use this national holiday as an occasion to establish a form of social cohesion, William Leday, historian and professor of international relations at the Institute of Sciences Po Aix, said: “The national holiday is a unique moment that evokes history and establishes the mythology of a nation. It is meant to be a moment Harmony, during which the Head of State has the opportunity to deliver powerful messages to the country.

“Given the current context of urban violence following Nael’s death, July 14 would be a good time to calm minds and announce strong measures targeting categories of French citizens who no longer feel part of the national narrative, which the president has not done so far. His remarks focused on assumed responsibility. to parents and social media, ignoring the social issue and discrimination, which are at the core of the current unrest.”

Do the recent riots indicate a split within French society, or do they reflect an endemic problem related to immigration? “Migrations are structural factors affecting contemporary societies. They are expected to increase. Building physical, bureaucratic or digital walls does not change that and contributes to hiding people who often had no choice but to leave their countries of origin due to conflict or disaster,” said Leday. climatic or endemic underdevelopment”.

He continued, “Immigrations, whether Italian, Polish, or Spanish at first, and then post-colonial migrations from African countries, have enriched a society that has become multicultural. Many politicians may bemoan the multicultural nature of French society, but it remains a tangible and immutable fact of social perspective”.

Laday added, “A large proportion of the population whose presence in the country has long since become (second or even third generation), and who are French by birth, do not feel part of the nation because of their skin colour, religion and ambiguity. Their experience in media and political representation.

“Other than the social question, which for many French men and women remains unresolved, this means that the national narrative is incomplete and can no longer take into account the large part of the citizens who only ask to participate.”

Fatima Bouvet de la Maisonneuve, psychiatrist, former member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council and author of “Une Arabe en France, une vie au-dela des prejuges” (“An Arab in France: a life without prejudice”), states that “social inequality and educational will lead to severe suffering or perversion.”

To address this, it calls for the implementation of a long-term policy focused on national unity. “To respond to inequalities, we have no other answer than national unity,” she said, noting that after “the tragedy of Nael’s death and other deaths that were ignored, residents of immigrant backgrounds feel wounded… and taking to the streets to express anger is a political act.”

She regrets that the response chosen was repression and stricter law.