Under the azure sky and the pine trees of Castle Hill, we attended the first commemoration related to the national day in tribute to the victims of terrorism. This presidential initiative, dated November 2019, is a tribute from the national community that will take place in Paris and in all prefectures on March 11, the date of the first European jihadist attack at the Atocha station in Madrid (191 dead in 2004) and that of Mohamed Merah in Toulouse (2012).
In front of a silent crowd that included many relatives of victims, the Mayor and the Prefect (reading a text from the President of the Republic) emotionally explained that the Islamist attacks had missed their mark since the national community, instead of disintegrating, emerged from the ordeal more united and cohesive.
But both insisted that we should not be mistaken: the war continues. The defeat of Daech in Syria may have given false hopes quickly overshadowed by the many attacks carried out around the world. And unfortunately, everything is now in place in Afghanistan after the American withdrawal for the various radical Islam movements to regain both a territory, that is to say a rear base, and a “laboratory” state.
The European anthem and the Marseillaise sung by the children’s choir of Simone Veil School (Les Baumettes) nevertheless gave us reason to hope. But that hope is directly linked to the assertion of unwavering determination among us, the humanists.
