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Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
This is apparently the new slogan of resistance in Paris. A collective of graffiti artists painted it on La République — one of my old neighborhoods; I don’t live there anymore. (And yes, I’ll for once call them artists; this was artistic. Usually I’m in favor of arresting them promptly on broken-windows policing principles, but there are exceptions.)
The cartoonist Joann Sfar published this version on Instagram:
This phrase is the motto of Paris. It means, roughly, “tossed by the waves, but not sunk.” You can see it in the city’s coat of arms. It derives from the
Seine boatsman’s corporation, the Marchands de l’eau. They were a Middle Ages hanse, an organization of merchants (as in the Hanseatic League), organized in 1170 to control all trade conducted on the Seine River. Its jurisdiction was — in principle — limited to commerce, but you know how these things go; they became powerful enough to organize a whole city government outside the reach of the French crown. An uprising in 1383 forced them to disband, and they never regrouped. But Paris has been well and truly fluctuat since then, nec mergitur.
I like the slogan for a few reasons, but among them is the message: We’ve been around since the Romans. You’ve been a caliphate since June 29, 2014, we believe?
It’s not all bravado around here, mind you. My friend Arun wrote a blog post that might interest you. I keep inviting him to join Ricochet, but he keeps insisting he doesn’t want to, because he’s a leftist. I’ve yet to be able to figure out how this genuinely matters to the cases in which we disagree. (We often do.) We agree about many things, too. I agree with most of what he wrote here:
In lieu of a lengthy analysis—which would be premature at this early point—a few comments. First, where the attacks took place. The 10th and 11th arrondissements were not chosen at random. This part of Paris—and the eastern part of the city more generally—was historically populaire (working class) but has been transformed over the past two decades. It’s become a hip area, with an active nightlife and cool bars and restaurants frequented mainly by young people (20s/early 30s): hipsters, students, and young professionals, and of all ethnic origins. The evening ambiance in that part of the city is great. And it’s more lively that what I’ve seen in London. The Islamic State terrorists targeted that area precisely because of what it is and symbolizes. …
I’m not sure of this. Doesn’t seem likely to me that the Islamic State has it out for hipsters, per se. We understand the part about targeting Jews and cartoonists perfectly; we certainly understand going after major economic targets like air travel; we understand the Year Zero fanaticism of destroying millennium’s worth of cultural heritage — yeah, got your point there, savages — and we maybe understand the Bataclan, knowing of your hatred of music and dancing and joy, but Le Petit Cambodge? Who knew you had a bug up your collective jihadi asses about family-run Cambodian restaurants? During the last days there will appear some young foolish people who will eat Lok Lak out of little cubes of perfumed, marinated beef in soy sauce accompanied by lemon juice and salt, along with a bowl of rice, so, wherever you find them, kill them, for whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection, verily, the mercy of God is nigh unto those who do well? Nope, that one’s not in the Quran or the hadiths. I looked. So I can’t figure out your thinking there, frankly. Except that you’re clearly savages.
Second, though only one of the eight dead terrorists has been formally identified as I write, there can be no doubt that the operation was conceived and led by Frenchmen—by persons who grew up in the Paris area, have an intimate knowledge of the city, and are no doubt French citizens from birth.
My instinct says so, too. You have to have a particularly local sensibility to shoot up La Belle Équippe. Tourists would have gone for the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. As I write, we now know that at least two of them were French. Brothers, in fact.
Non-French jihadists could have never hatched this plot. One may also safely assume that the terrorists were radicalized not in mosques or by jihadist imams but via the Internet …
Could be both. They weren’t radicalized by the imams who were singing the Marseillaise outside the Bataclan today. For those of you who want to hear local Muslims eager to string up terrorists from lampposts, here they are:
and that most, if not all of them, have been in Syria or some other MENA war zone.
Sounds highly plausible.
The sale and private possession of assault weapons are, as one knows, illegal in France, though they can be had via traffickers (mainly from the Balkans). But to learn to use them in the way the terrorists did last night involves training and practice that would be difficult to do in France without being detected, but that they would obviously get in Syria.
Sounds highly plausible to me.
So France and other European states, in protecting themselves from the Islamic State death cult, absolutely need to shut down, to the extent possible, the route to Syria via Turkey, by, entre autres, formally telling the Turks to stop admitting EU nationals with national ID cards only (and not passports), to issue visas at their borders, and to agree—in return for the substantial aid Turkey will be receiving from the EU to deal with the refugees there—to a discreet European police presence working with their Turkish counterparts on the Syrian border. This won’t entirely solve the problem but it will help a great deal.
Yes. It won’t entirely solve the problem, no — the problem being that we seem to have quite a large cohort of French citizens who are readily radicalized on the Internet, think it a good idea to fly to Syria to get the world’s best terrorism training and practice, then come home to use it on the local home-cooked Cambodian eatery — but every little bit helps, I guess.
Third—and something I was thinking last night—is the huge failure this represents on the part of the French intelligence services.
Ya think, Arun? You and the rest of Paris. We’re all wondering what they’ve been doing with themselves lately besides standing on the streets looking like they’re about to go on a safari.
For such a complex, coordinated sequence of terrorist attacks—and involving at least eight, and certainly more, persons—to happen in the heart of Paris, less than a year after Charlie Hebdo-Hyper Cacher and without the police or intelligence apparatus getting wind of it, is a debacle for the French state. And particularly in view of the reinforced Vigipirate deployment since the attacks in January, with ever more soldiers in jungle fatigues with their machine guns—that may or may not be loaded (which would be incredibly stupid either way)—on the streets and transportation hubs. Vigipirate, like the TSA in the US, is useless security theater almost exclusively designed to reassure the public. And it’s a huge waste of money and of the soldiers’ time and training; and, as we have seen, it can’t thwart a mega terrorist attack.
I couldn’t agree more.
But Vigipirate will, of course, only be reinforced. No president of the republic or prime minister will dare rethink it, let alone scrap.
Fourth, the reaction of the public to this attack is likely to be different from the ones in January. In the latter, there was a big rally the evening of the 7th at the Place de la République and with the banner reading “Not Afraid.” People are now afraid. And then there was the “Je suis Charlie” and that was countered by the “Je ne suis pas Charlie,” by those who did not like Charlie Hebdo or identify with the January 11th marches—and this included a sizable portion of France’s 4+ million-strong Muslim population. There is no such cleavage now. Viewing the comments threads of two virulent, high-profile “Je ne suis pas Charlie”-type Facebook pages I follow, Oumma.com and the Parti des Indigènes de la République, since last night has revealed a markedly different tone from what one normally gets from the fans—French Muslims and/or Maghrebis in their near totality—of those two pages—conspiracy theories, vitriol, and hate: toward France, America, and, bien évidemment, “Zionists”—and particularly after the attacks last January. Even the more alienated, resentful members of that population are genuinely horrified by what happened last night and know that they are eventual targets of terrorism along with everyone else. On this, a friend posted on social media this tract from the Islamic State, telling Muslims in the West that, in effect, they must either adhere to the IS and its conception of Islam or “apostatize” and adopt the “kufri” (infidel) religion of the West. In other words, Muslims in France must get off the fence and choose their camp. It goes without saying that, if presented with that choice, the huge majority will side with the “kuffars.” As they say, it’s a no brainer. …
I suspect you’re right.
The fear level in France is going to increase, no doubt about it, as will the repressive capacity of the state (which results axiomatically when a country is “at war” (en guerre), as President Hollande and everyone else is now saying France is. …
Yes, I expect it will.
Other observations: Sirens outside, helicopters overhead. Intermittently. I wish my brother would go back to Bamako, where it’s safe.
Everyone I saw today was red-eyed. But again, I spent most of the day in the cardiac wing of a hospital, where people have other reasons to be red-eyed. It was eerie to walk down the hall. Everyone was watching the same television station from their hospital beds. You heard the same broadcast from each room, and the same words about the mounting death toll, accompanied by the same beep-beep-beep from everyone’s cardiac monitors. Otherwise, silence.
Had I been feeling more in the mood to be a journalist, I’d have recorded the sound. But I wasn’t.
Published in Foreign Policy, General, Islamist Terrorism
They don’t need a Jewish connection. A sport stadium, a concert hall, and a posh restaurant(when has Khmer food become posh?) are symbols of western decadence.
I hope that attitude of fluctuat nec mergitur is strong with every French. Coming from a francophile family, I’m rather fond of France.
It’d be harder on him not to have the access, I bet.
Eric Hines
Europol reported that European police forces have averaged a little over 500 terrorism-related arrests per year, and around 200 attacks per year, but the 200 number includes a number that were halted, foiled, or prevented. The number of Jihadist attacks that was successful was only three per year or so. There were far more acts of terrorism by separatists (Basques, Bretons, Irish) or by leftists (including eco-terror sabotage) or by anarchists, or by animal-rights saboteurs/vandals. European domestic intelligence services have their hands full minding potential terror plots from way more than just the Islamicists. It is surprising to me that Europeans have managed to retain anything in the way of individual freedoms.
http://ricochet.com/europe-terrorism-report/
One could wish she were right.
Eric Hines
The Germans caught a carful of terrorists at a traffic stop in Bavaria who had a load of grenades and guns in their car. I speculate that these were inventory for an additional cell, in France? in Germany? in Belgium?
Eric Hines
Claire – you just described how it was here after 9/11 – everyone was sad, shocked, red-eyed – trying to function – you had to go to work, continue on – the sights, sounds, we are familiar – real life continues, like caring for your dad, there’s only so much a person can take – I equate it to post traumatic stress syndrome – people will be on edge – worried – looking for news and direction – but family and needs that were there before, take precedence. You have to be selective mentally and emotionally – I’m sure you know that anyway – but go watch those Mary Tyler Moore reruns, take a bubble bath, hug the cats, and know we love you and care.
Civ,
I agree that the training level is not high. I disagree that there isn’t something more to be done. I think Jihad is the connecting thread. People don’t commit to a coordinated suicide attack unless they are intensely indoctrinated. If the emphasis was on Jihad specifically then those who had the requisite profile would already be under constant surveillance with a high threat level assigned to them. The entire population would be looking for the Jihadists and would be an asset in their apprehension.
If you are going to fight an enemy it is well to know specifically who they are.
Regards,
Jim
I just heard on Fox News that Obama has released 5 Gitmo detainees to the UAE. Unbelievable.
Claire, will the French left go Christopher Hitchens on Political Islam? It seems that my leftist friends are beggining to realize that Political Islam is a serious threat. They are all militant atheists though so they complain about all religion. (Seriously, they are probably more bothered by Christians who dissapprove of gay marriage and abortion than headchopping science-hating Muslim fanatics) In America, than can afford to pretend that Christian fanatics are as problematic as Muslim fanatics.
But it’s different in France. Will the Leftists and socialists and atheists and libertine homosexuals realize that they are in a generational struggle against Political Islam.
People with no experience handling weapons tend to overestimate how much time it takes to achieve competence, and how much competence is required to perform a particular task. Shooting unarmed civilians isn’t the same as assaulting trained troops in a prepared position. Planning for this took more time than training for it.
Claire I’m a rather simple person. As a former police officer, I and officers I served with used to say that some people will not stop what they’re doing until you put the boots to them. I know it’s not very nice. Unfortunately or fortunately I believe it applies to the individual criminal as well as to those who band together to commit mayhem on a larger scale.
Susan,
Does it get anymore tone deaf than that. Obama is in his own twisted orbit. I think Michael Goodwin of the New York Post is asking the relevant question of Obama.
LEAD OR RESIGN
Regards,
Jim
Way too early to say how long the anger will last.
Re.: training
It depends. It does not take much training to learn how to shoot a gun and pull the detonator on a suicide belt.
It does take some training to make the suicide belt, or to convert a legal gun into an automatic-fire gun.
So, intelligence will be needed into who made the suicide belts. Was it one of the dead attackers, or is there an evil genius loose in Paris that may be working with another cell of attackers plotting the next strike? This is an urgent and difficult challenge to French intelligence agencies.
The particular explosive used seems to have been TATP. That stuff is very unstable – as in “your underpants went off before planned” unstable. You don’t want to have to transport this stuff very far, apparently and it requires careful handling. It takes a lot of training to construct the devices, and anyone with that much training is unlikely to have been one of the boomers.
“They weren’t radicalized by the imams who were singing the Marseillaise outside the Bataclan today. For those of you who want to hear local Muslims eager to string up terrorists from lampposts, here they are…”
I’m trying to think of another incidence, post 9/11, when any Muslims – moderate or otherwise – publicly stood up for their country following any act of terror – here or abroad. I’d be happy to learn I’m wrong. Here in the US the silence from the Muslim community at large is deafening.
Can’t remember who posted it, but the gist was that young Middle Eastern men who were fleeing their countries (Syria for the most part) and not banding together to repel the barbarians in order to protect their families and countries are not to be looked upon with much favor. I understand there is much to fear, but this is their and their country’s future and these must be weighed heavily in decisions individuals make.
I’m not sure what you’re getting in the US — I’m mostly following the French news — but the fact is that the terrorists thus far conclusively ID’ed were French. I wouldn’t be surprised if every one of them were French. This isn’t part of the liberal catechism, just a fact, and kind of an important one to grasp if you live here, as many of us do, and want this to stop.
It’s horsepucky in the sense that people who were raised as Muslims and are the second-generation children of immigrants from majority-Muslim countries are, in Europe, more likely to become terrorists than those raised Catholics in Poland. But it’s not horsepucky in the sense that Europe’s also had a considerable number of people who don’t meet this profile at all convert and rush off to join ISIS, too. Big, strapping, white Germans who from all visual appearance you’d assume were of Protestant background. Many native-born Americans convert to Islam despite having no obvious cultural or family connection to Muslim-majority countries. The reason it’s not horsepucky to note this is because if you assume terrorists=foreigners, depending on your country, you’re going to make intelligence mistakes that cost lives.
The argument for “importing” refugees from these conflicts is that they’re refugees from the same terror. It would be insane to assume none of them are terrorists (I’ve been consistent in saying this), but much more insane to assume the majority are anything but what they say they are — refugees from violence on a scale such that what we just experienced in Paris is called “any day that ends with a y.” I’m a minority opinion in this, on Ricochet, but I’m for admitting as many as we can in an orderly way, with extensive screening, because the victims of terrorism are, first, in desperate need; second, they’re apt to be the more ferocious fighters against these monsters: They’re not under any liberal illusions about what they are; and third, the odds of them being radicalized are much greater in fetid, under-funded refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon than here.
It seems a Syrian passport was found at the attack scene at the Bataclan, but the details of this aren’t clear yet. Investigators still need to verify the Syrian passport was carried by an attacker rather than a dead bystander (one Egyptian passport-holder initially believed to be an assailant turned out to be an injured victim). They will then need to be certain that the passport’s carrier was the same as the passport’s legitimate owner. It’s possible that it was stolen, because the possession of a Syrian passport makes it easier to claim asylum in Europe, so there’s a busy trade in stolen Syrian documents. Another anomaly is that the passport was found at all. Usually bombers wouldn’t bring their passport on a mission, given that they won’t have any use for it when they’re done — they’ll be dead.
But consider the number of people on Ricochet who hide their identities, and all the reports from conservatives who find it unsafe or unwise to speak up in the face of leftwing micro-aggression, and maybe it’s easier to understand. If some more moderate men from the Middle East would decide to speak out, who would have their backs? Surely not conservatives, who specializing in throwing their own under the bus when they aren’t sufficiently housebroken.
Another piece of evidence that Daniel Pipes is correct when he writes in the article you referenced @#8 that as the public moves to the right on Islamic terrorism, the establishment, including some on the right like Merkel, move to the left. Thus after an attack, more immigration is encouraged, more hate-speech codes are enacted, and, one might add, more Gitmo detainees are released. He does not explain why they “live in a bubble of public denial,” but I presume it is cowardice, that facing the truth, including the truth of their own failed policies, is too painful.
Facts, though, are not created equal – or should I say given equal weight to tell the truth. Nationality is, for the vast majority of people, an accident of birth. It means nothing to how people act.
There are many people who have done things where facts as these are irrelevant for the purpose of making a threat assessment. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were both American born and Jewish. Neither status make pegged them as traitors. Their activism in the CPUSA, however, spoke volumes.
If Obama or Merkel came out and said “We are going to arrange for the migration of victims of the prosecution against Christians” I would be out front cheering.
But that’s not what they’re doing. They import them wholesale and then paint us as racists, nativists and xenophobes for objecting.
This, as Mark Steyn points out, is a matter of cultural confidence. The Germans have been on this self-flagellation tour since 1945. (Although how importing thousands of anti-Semitic Muslims is supposed to bolster your bonafides, I have no idea.)
*Continued*
Christianity has become so watered down in America, so PC in the hierarchy of the Protestant organizations, that the certainty of Islam and submission to God has a very powerful appeal.
Y
I haven’t looked at that NYP article, but I don’t like the idea of Obama leading.
A more proper slogan of restistance: “Dieu le veut!”
Mike, you’re just not going to get any Jew who lives in France to feel excited about the First Crusade. It didn’t go well for the Jews here.
Claire, you’re just not going to get anyone of Spanish descent to feel excited about the current wave of migrants, considering the consequences of the last episode of mass Muslim immigration to Western Europe.
There are so many people all over the world who are vulnerable to the Internet-transmitted messages coming from the radical Islamic groups.
Some people have an inexplicable attraction to the perceived underdog or enemy. Like the pathetic people who write to imprisoned serial killers. It has been true since the dawn of recorded history. The more negative publicity the terrorists get, the more some people are attracted to them.
No one seems to have any good answers as to how to keep more people from joining the terrorists.
It is so similar to the spread of communism, which didn’t stop until 70 million people had been killed. And even today some people think it is a good idea.
If ISIS wants to terrorise the entire population then it is completely logical for them to randomly target places where the general population likes to hang out. (Football games, restaurants.)
Permission to clip and save this. You just precisely explained the current state of the GOP electorate and the Donald in a paragraph.
And this thread was all about Paris. You’re a treasure, Claire.
Mike,
Your point is well taken. However, one can always make improvements.
THE ABARBANEL
He played a key role in Ferdinand and Isabella’s rise to power. When they called in the Inquisition because of the extremity of the Islamist threat they asked Don Isaac Abravanel to convert and stay. He could not. Most Jews do not realize that the Spanish Jewish Expulsion was chiefly because of the threat from Islam. The Turkish Fleet controlled the Mediterranean. They were bringing Turkish troops directly onto the Iberian Penninsula to attack.
The Expulsion was very hard on the Jews. They were told to go in 1492 and they went or endured forced conversion. Meanwhile, the Jihadists continued to attack until they were driven from Spain over 100 years later. Most Spanish historians realize that the Inquisition overreacted with the Jews and made a great mistake.
Regards,
Jim