Nine years to the day after the attack on “Charlie Hebdo”, journalist Riss, director of the publication, insists on the necessary defense of secularism and regrets the complacency of some for Islamist ideology.
Nine years after the January 7 attack, “it always remains there”explains Sunday January 7 to franceinfo Riss, director of Charlie Hebdo. The terrorist attack left twelve dead, including 8 members of the editorial staff, murdered by the Kouachi brothers. According to Riss, this attack “blew up dikes” on Islamist ideology. Denouncing the “complacency” of certain political groups on radical Islamism, the journalist calls for “reform each new generation” on secularism.
franceinfo: It has been nine years to the day since the Charlie Hebdo attack took place. Is it possible to heal in nine years? ?
Riss: I don’t think there’s any real cure. A few years ago, I tended to think that with time, things would fade a little, but in fact no, it always remains present and I think that’s how it is for all people who are victims of terrorism or even just violence.
Nine years later, you still live under protection, because the threat is still present, we saw it with the attack in Arras or that of Bir Hakeim in Paris. Even today, we kill in the name of religion…
Unfortunately, this is an observation that we make a bit like everyone else. This is what we could have feared since 2015. We have never been very optimistic. We always had the impression that what happened on January 7 ushered in something new. This broke down dikes and people felt disinhibited, believing they were authorized to also commit violence. It has almost become a reference attack for some.
Is the fight against Islamist ideology in decline today? ?
I would say it is still as difficult as ever. There is always this temptation to integrate this as legitimate. It is easier to say that it is legitimate than to say the opposite, because saying that it is illegitimate implies the fact that we will have to confront it, and confronting it is difficult.
“The fight against this ideology is a challenge, it requires determination, it takes time. It is almost out of laziness that some people tend to accept this. There is complacency.”
Riss, director of “Charlie Hebdo”at franceinfo
On the political spectrum, there are groups that are traditionally fascinated by radicalism, as if radicalism were a political program, when it is a word that means nothing. There is a fascination with disruptive violence in order to create new political conditions. It’s an old trick that exists on the far left. There is political calculation, and culturally, there is a fascination with political violence. I think of these political groups which have never really moved away from terrorist logic, even far-left terrorism in the 1970s.
The secular discourse is carried by a large part of the French, but is it audible to the younger generations? ?
It is audible provided you take the time to explain what it is. We realize that there is a lack of awareness among the younger generation, first of all a lack of knowledge of the history of secularism. Sometimes we say to ourselves that it wouldn’t be useless to remember where it comes from. We often think that abroad, people do not understand French secularism, but that is not true. You can meet Iranian men and women who understand very well what the separation of Church and State means. I even think that there is a demand for this separation in many countries. I think there may be a lack of education on this subject.
This fight for secularism is carried out in particular by teachers, who are sometimes afraid. Do you understand this fear ?
In the context of public schools, teachers can only do their work while being protected by secularism. But if they start to doubt, if they are assailed by communitarian demands, they cannot teach with peace of mind.
“Secularism is an essential prerequisite for teaching in a public school and a democracy. There are young people who are in a logic of rejection.”
Riss, director of “Charlie Hebdo”at franceinfo
It’s a bit like the behavior of these young people in the Samuel Paty affair, who accepted the idea that “Mr. Paty should not have done that”. Some young people adhere to this ideology. We must reform each generation. The new generation that is arriving, in my opinion, is ignorant of many things. After the attack of Charlie Hebdo, we could have the somewhat naive hope that everything would resolve itself. In fact, nothing resolves itself, it is human, political, militant action that ensures that ideas like secularism can be maintained. If we do nothing, yes, values like secularism will disintegrate because they must be defended all the time.