Nathalie Goulet is a UDI senator from Orne. She chaired in the Senate a Commission of inquiry on the organization and the means of the fight against jihadist networks in France and in Europe.
While the President of the Republic should announce measures against communitarianism and radical Islam, some observations are necessary.
In no case do I want to be alarmist and I refuse to side with an exaggerated vision according to which the Muslim Brotherhood is at the gates of power. But those who follow my work on this subject know how much I care about staying faithful to the laws and founding principles of the Republic. It is imperative that religions adapt to the Republic and not vice versa. Recent events sound a strange feeling of "deja-vu". This incessant repetition of history can only provoke a (legitimate) wave of indignation, fatigue, anger and incomprehension among citizens.
A terrorist returned with a student visa? This scenario recalls the tragedy of the assassination of young Aurélie Châtelain.On 29 January in Marseille was arrested Majdi Mustapha Nameh, aka Islam Alloush, presumed guilty of serious crimes committed on behalf of Jaysh Al-Islam, "Army of Islam", a notorious Syrian Islamist group. This suspected terrorist entered our territory on an ERASMUS + visa. Unfortunately, this incident is not new, to the point that specialists have affirmed during various hearings by commissions of inquiry since 2015 knowingly letting this type of individual enter the territory to better control their arrest. Let me doubt it…
A terrorist returned with a student visa? This scenario recalls the tragedy of the assassination of young Aurélie Châtelain on April 19, 2015, by Sid Ahmed Ghlam, a 24-year-old Algerian pseudo-student. The latter had never attended the courses he was supposed to attend, and was planning an attack in a church in Villejuif, a project which was luckily foiled.
We are therefore entitled to wonder, today as yesterday, about the conditions for issuing these student visas. This terrorist wanted by all police received an Erasmus visa, like any good European student: it is hardly believable and yet it is a reality. The lack of coordination between the consular services, the absence of lists of undesirable individuals, of sharing files of wanted persons is unacceptable, whereas five years separate us from the drama of Charlie and the Hyper Cacher. We have to ask these questions over and over again.
We saw a similar lack of rigor when the authorities let take place in May 2019 a series of twelve conferences and fundraisers for a school of Oulema in Mauritania, while among the speakers was Mahfoudh Ould Brahim Vall, known French and Mauritanian services for belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, such as Hassan Iquioussen. I then wondered about the authority that issued a visa to this individual, it was not our consulate in Mauritania. It should then be a consular authority of one of our European partners, without consultation. We cannot tolerate such a lack of rigor in such a tense context of risk of attacks on our territory.
On September 28, 2019, a seminar was held at the town hall of Rouen held by Othmane Iquioussen, well known by the services for his adherence to the theses of the Muslim Brotherhood. In September, a meeting of the Arab center for research and political studies in Paris (Carep), a "think tank" known for its links with Qatar, offered its executive director a forum calling on French Muslims to form community lists. stating that: "all those who do not agree with this process (...) must know that they have 6 million votes at hand" , recommending "to go to the polls" . While the President of the Republic claims to want to fight against communitarianism, the authorities authorize this type of demonstration and remarks. It must be admitted that the logic seems far away in this situation.
This list is necessary to show the accumulation of flaws in our systems despite the regular warnings from experts and parliamentarians.On January 24, 2020, in Bordeaux, the Mollat Bookstore (it cannot be invented) hosted a conference entitled "Muslim Faith and Values of the Republic" . The mayor of Bordeaux, Nicolas Florian, candidate for his own succession, launched this conference, organized by the Muslim Federation of Gironde, local branch of the ex-UOIF (the Muslim Brotherhood in France). In addition to the local leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, this assembly welcomed a radical personality, the "Sheikh Al-Arabi Al-Bichri", the director of studies of the sulfurous IESH Institute in Château Chinon, and member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, antenna of the brother network.
This indigestible list is necessary to show the accumulation of flaws in our systems despite the regular warnings from experts and parliamentarians who multiply reports and proposals, which are rarely taken into account.
How to explain that the mayors, who always claim to be more associated in the fight against radicalization, and who ask to have the communication of S files residing on the territory of their commune, can they act with such lightness without soliciting referents of their prefecture? Thus, they leave the door open to preachers whose speeches are far from republican values. The Republic recognizes, and guarantees, the freedom of association and assembly, but these must comply with respect for public order. We are therefore entitled to question the functioning of territorial intelligence. In Rouen, the prefect however seemed to ignore the holding of this seminar.
To fight against the influence of this tendency of Islam, incompatible with our republican rules, we must take more concrete measures.
The establishment of a European list of non grata personalities in Europe would make it possible to standardize information.Clear and automatic communication with our posts abroad and those of our European colleagues to prudently authorize the granting of visas, with particular attention to student visas, is imperative.
In addition, it is necessary to keep the lists of holders of these documents up to date and to ensure that communication between the internal and external intelligence services takes place quickly. The establishment of a European list of non grata personalities in Europe would make it possible to standardize information. This measure will obviously have to take into account Brexit, which could cause other flaws in the PNR, the databases and Europol.
Beyond intelligence measures, there is an urgent need to better control associations, think-tanks and their funding channels.
The systems of our Republic are fallible, many of us denounce these flaws, and repeat until the renunciation the same recommendations. We must ensure the security of our fellow citizens, within a republican framework but with legitimate firmness. The breaches that we denounce exist. They make our Muslim compatriots hostage to a handful of radicals who make their law prevail over the laws of the Republic.
However, we do not lack either work or reports on the subject of gangrene of certain territories by a radical Islam, the work of parliamentarians on radicalization in public services or that of Hugo Micheron, are edifying and draw, to rightly so, a wake-up call to what I have long called the crime of naivety or denial of reality. The President must announce a plan as soon as possible, which must begin with the affirmation of zero tolerance in the face of the refusal of republican standards.