On July 26, 2016, Father Hamel died assassinated by terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State.
Five years later, the threat has changed dramatically, but the attacks continue to strike on the national territory, as in Rambouillet, on April 23, 2021, where a policewoman was killed inside a police station.
Read also: Islamist terrorism: the new typology of the threat
However, the perception of the terrorist threat is declining, according to an Ifop study for
Le Figaro
. Only 18% of those questioned consider that the terrorist threat is today "
very high
" - ie the level of January 2015, before the Charlie Hebdo attacks - whereas they were 65% five years ago. If the French do not consider that the threat has disappeared - they are 75% to consider it as "
high
" - it is now put into perspective.
Unsurprisingly, the terrorist threat is perceived more by the right-wing electorate, more sensitive to security issues: 90% of people who voted for François Fillon and 89% of those who voted for Marine Le Pen in 2017 consider the threat as "
high
" and "
very high
", against 57% for the voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
"
We have identified a downward trend from 2017, it is confirmed today
", explains to
Figaro
Jérôme Fourquet, director of the "opinion" department of Ifop.
Until then, France was still living in the trauma of the wave of attacks initiated in 2015.
A "
fact-diverization
" of terrorist attacks
"
It's terrible to say, but there is a form of habituation
," explains Jérôme Fourquet.
The attacks being less deadly, their modus operandi less elaborate, the French have become accustomed to them
”
.
The outlook on attacks changes as their nature evolves.
The attacks are no longer meticulously prepared operations, and piloted from abroad, as was the case for the attack on the Bataclan in 2015. The current threat is that of the stabbing, carried out unexpectedly, no matter what. or in France.
To read also: Terrorism: the executive wants a law "big ears"
“
We are witnessing a
'
fact-diverization
'
of the attacks, which we now consider in the same way as the murder committed by a madman, or an unbalanced,
judge Jérôme Fourquet.
The threat is still there, the French know it, but other threats to competition, such as the Covid or climate change.
"
However, the threat level is still very high. Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, sent a note to the prefects asking them for increased vigilance during the summer, as part of the economic and cultural recovery. In question, a new al-Qaida video, published on July 15, in which the terrorist organization once again threatens France because of the cartoons of Muhammad published in the columns of
Charlie Hebdo
.
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