PARIS – France has commemorated a hero from its security forces, ArnaudBeltrame, who died at the hands of a 25-year-old Moroccan criminal whiletrying to save hostages lives at the recent supermarket siege.
Radouane Lakdim first hijacked a car, after injuring the driver and killinga passenger, then entered a supermarket in the town of Trebes nearCarcassonne and killed 4 people and injured 15 others. According toeyewitnesses, he committed this crime while screaming God is Greatest andpledging his allegiance to ISIS.
This terrorist was wanted by French security forces, but was never takeninto custody because they thought he was not capable of carrying out aterrorist attack.
These criminals who come to European countries that open their doors andborders to immigrants, eventually force these states to shut their doors onpeaceful migrants. The situation in French suburbs and other Europeancountries is worsened by problems like social discord and unemployment
*Randa Takieddine*
Terrorists who perpetrate crimes in the name of Islam and who use Quranicverses to murder innocent people in the cities of Europe — in Paris, Nice,Marseille, Carcassonne – are often of Moroccan origin. They frequentlyreside in the outskirts of major European capitals and pose the biggestthreat on moderate Muslims in Europe who contribute to building adeveloped, secular European society.
These criminals who come to European countries that open their doors andborders to immigrants, eventually force these states to shut their doors onpeaceful migrants. The situation in French suburbs and other Europeancountries is worsened by problems like social discord and unemployment.
In such localities, the environment for criminal activities and extremismflourishes. The security situation in the suburbs has become the primefocus for French governments since the country started witnessing majorterrorist attacks. This problem did not just start with the coming of ISIS,but has existed since the mid-nineties when the Paris metro terroristattacks happened and the Syrian war didn’t exist.
The problem worsened as ISIS recruited unemployed youth who claim that theyare Muslims and who live in democratic countries that respect human rightsthus allowing them to benefit from freedoms that they cannot enjoy in theirhomelands. These terrorists do not know the meaning of religion or Islam orhuman rights and they are the greatest enemies of Islam.
French Muslims must strongly denounce these crimes and should ensure thesecurity of their localities, particularly if they live in the suburbs.They must collaborate with local security officials in pursuing young menand women who intend to kill innocent people in the name of Islam.
After the killings in Carcassonne, one expected the Islamic world to raiseits voice of condemnation loudly against such a hideous crime and blindaction. The death of Beltrame, the hero that France and President Macroncommemorated, should have drawn the Council of Arab Ambassadors and theentire Muslim world at this critical moment to convey their condolences tothe French on behalf of the Muslim people.
Lieutenant Colonel Beltrame, the late hero, died because he wanted to savethe cashier of the supermarket where she was held hostage by the criminalLakdim. He negotiated to put himself in her place only to later be killedby the terrorist with a knife. Beltrame spent three and a half hours in thestore with his killer, according to the prosecutor’s statement. Accordingto his mother, this heroic soldier used to say that his country was moreimportant than anything else, and he ended up dying to protect the peopleof his country.
The doctrine of terrorists among the Moroccan migrants in Europe exploitsIslam, but is completely bereft of Islam’s teachings thus turning Islaminto a monster in the eyes of sophisticated Western societies which nowlook at the religion with caution and vigilance. Muslims and Muslimcountries should make immense efforts to show moderation and denounceextremism in all its forms. – Al Arabiya
____________By: Randa Takieddine is a Lebanese writer and the director of Al-Hayatnewspaper office in Paris.