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Three people were killed in a knife attack on Thursday, 29 October, at a church in Nice, which French President Emmanuel Macron called an "Islamist terrorist attack". The attack came less than a month after Samuel Paty, a teacher in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, was beheaded days after showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students.
So, how did major news outlets across the world, analysed this attack?
Not enough attention has been paid to Islamic extremism recently, writes Jason Burke for The Guardian. He says that this change in thought is understandable since deaths in Europe from all forms of terrorism fell by 70 percent in 2019, and western Europe recorded its lowest number of incidents since 2012. But with these two attacks, Islamic Extremism is back in the spotlight.
The New York Times article said that the latest terror attack in Nice has “left France increasingly embattled at home and abroad”. The article by Norimitsu Onishi and Constant Méheut also pointed at the political implications of this attack. The reaction of the government had led to the criticism that President Macron is using the attack for "politicizing the attack and playing to voters who might otherwise defect to his challengers on the far right.”
But the anger and frustration across the country have been evident, according to the article.
The attack comes as France is suffering from a long-term social crisis that has been made worse by the failed policies of Macron’s government, writes Ali Saad in the column for Al Jazeera. He added that Macron’s ratings from approximately 60 percent when he was elected in May 2017 to 23 percent in December 2018. Before the pandemic mobilised French society earlier this year, the French president had the approval of about 33 percent of the people.
The terrorist threat level in France is as high now as it was in 2015-16 – the terrible days of Charlie Hebdo, Bataclan, the Nice lorry-killer and the murder of Father Hamel in his church in Rouen – writes BBC’s Paris Correspondent Hugh Schofield. According to him, the symbolism of the Samuel Paty beheading has left the country disoriented and frightened.
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