A warm welcome wherever youre tuning in from today my names you know neal and this is r t international. We begin with the story dominating our Coverage Today a knife attack in which 3 people were killed in the sun thursday morning was perpetrated by an islamist terrorist according to french president. It happened inside a church. Or the footage youre seeing right now is the Moment Police entered the basilica after the assailant had struck earlier in the morning the suspect was arrested after being shot son wounded by officers of the terror prosecutors of launched an investigation after visiting the scene of the tragedy president said his country was under attack and ordered a more than doubling of the Army Presence nationwide. And for. Not look the 80 once again our country has been hit by an islamist terrorist attack once again this morning 3 of our compatriots fell in the basilica a nice and very clearly france is under attack i have decided that our soldiers will be more mobilized in the coming hours and we will up the mobilization within the framework of Operation Center no from 30027000 soldiers on our ground we will be in a position to protect all places of worship in particular of course churches we will also protect our schools for the coming school year. Well in light of todays events in france the countrys raised its Terror Threat system to the highest level with more on the killings here charlotte devinsky and parse. The attack level in france has been raised in the last few hours to attack a level meaning france thinks it could be subject to other attacks following whats happened in nice where 3 people were killed inside a Church Inside not. In the heart of the city of nice present mark warner has arrived on the site to see whats happening and to offer his condolences 3 people dead including one we understand who was beheaded in an attack that has shocking reminiscent of that attack on the history teacher several petty less than 2 weeks ago 2 others also killed in that attack we are not exactly sure of the details of what happened to them but they do understand that it was a mass stabbing that took place inside the church now the mayor of nice has been talking out about whats happened hes described this as a terror attack. In this new tragedy today we see victims of islamofascism which i repeatedly denounced while the antiterrorism prosecution has taken over the investigation into what unfolded in nice and we are waiting for further developments from them to see whether they are officially considering this to be a terror attack but all suggestions would show that that is exactly what it is it has the hallmarks of islamist attacks including when the perpetrator was apprehended by the police he apparently screamed out. Several times that is god is the greatest the french Prime Minister has been paying his own condolences this act which is barbarian as it is cowardly has plunged the entire nation into mourning the government has just raised its terror alert level throughout the country theres been reaction as well from opposition politicians who are questioning whats happened in nice some of the strongest came from the leader of the national. A rally in Marine Le Pen the dramatic acceleration of islamist acts a war against our fellow citizens in our country demands from our leaders a comprehensive response and at the ready cation of business and from our soil bullshitted of course offer her condolences to the families of the victims of that brutal attack in the heart of nice on thursday morning and thats also been the thoughts and condolences for many of the people now of course this attack happened in a Catholic Church and the vatican has been speaking out about this recently suggesting that they condemn this attack and also has said that terrorism and violence is Never Acceptable and this does come to you doesnt it charlotte its a very tense time for france yes france at the moment is on the edge of a knife with anger spilling out in muslim majority countries this comes after president mcentee friended the right to publish and choose controversial cartoons of the muslim prophet mohammed in civics lessons such as after the beheading of 7 patty and also to be published in french magazines and in its newspapers lets take a quick reminder now of whats unfolded in the last 2 weeks. One of our competitors was murdered because he taught our competitor it was the victim of an islamist terror attack. And this is the concern person of russian nationality and of chechen origin benefited from a Refugee Status and lived in fear he was not known to the Intelligence Services on a judicial level hes never be. Convicted but was known for cases of damaging public property and Gang Violence while still a minor. And youll he ask Muslim Children to raise their hands and leave the classroom she did it my son told me he didnt do it to discriminate or to hurt he did it to preserve the children to not shield them he explains id prefer if you left because im going to show a cartoon of the prophet of islam i dont want to shock you. Im even more shocked that this college is one i opened when i was the town mayor working there was nice and it was located in a neighborhood without any problems oh violence i dont think this act of terror is a crazy man city but a premeditated act. Well following comments by president matt calling that france would not step back from showing these controversial cartoons there has been this out spilling of anger in many muslim majority countries with protests in bangladesh in jordan libya and in other countries theres also been a call for a boycott of french products and weve heard the turkish president who is essentially led the charge saying that president michel needed to have his Mental Health check all of this comes as the director general of the National Police in france has been urging for the last few days for additional vigilance in the wake of whats happening this anti french sentiment he indeed said to people that they needed to be extra vigilant particularly around places such as religious sites which of course this church in nice is. Hope it will come live on to the Program Marks are brahms marks is assistant professor of Public Policy at Northeastern University in boston max good to see you president said france will never give in to terror and call for firmness and unity but some might argue his staunch tone recently fired up islamists into the necessary fury whats your take. Well it is true that mccrone has been defiant but mostly on sort of a rhetorical level where he has said that you know part of francis principles is a strict separation between church and state and hes not going to be cowed by the socalled islamists and he welcomes these caricature of the Prophet Muhammad because not because they denigrate islam but because in a way by being able to draw them in show them its an expression of the french principle of. Which is you know this this important separation between church and state which is an important part of sort of the french ideology however in doing so youre quite right that has angered parts of the muslim world its Gone International there have been boycotts against france nerves been a heightened state of alert for french asked Assets Overseas there have been riots event and the french Muslim Community is probably feeling. Because of those statements and so somehow metro needs to do a better job of balancing his pretty principles with Public Safety and fostering a sense of inclusion its been absolutely terrible 24 hours forefront not just what happened in nice there was a knife. Killed in. Another incident in leone it does appear max the front is standing on the edge of a precipice at the moment how dangerous do you see this situation. Theres no question that france is in the throes of an uptick in what we might call islamist terrorism this is the 3rd incident within the past month the 2nd within about 10 days. Theres sort of similar in the sense that they seem to be a response to this you know Charlie Hebdo in showing these photos and also just to worship being inside of the church and so its not just peoples impression empirically i think its fair to say that france is in the middle of an uptick and its not clear that it will and its quite possible unfortunately that ill be back on your program in in a week but theres no signs that its ending french authorities are ramping up their their Counterterrorism Forces i guess theyre doubling the personnel theyre going to try to protect these churches always talk about how strong is sure people are just worried the more that last aspect. Well im often asked this question especially with respect to synagogues because it can be scary having armed guards outside personally i do think that it can alleviate concerns i do think that it makes people who go to church or synagogue or earth even mosques safer i think that the show of force can be a deterrent however terrorists are strategic actors and so if you put more personnel in front of churches for example not all areas will be defended and terrorists will easily go around but the churches themselves will probably be safer but it is a big issue isnt it right. What you talk about the separation of of religion states president believes that the attacks happened because of its values the liberal secular values of france and hes not standing on it it looks as if its going to increase his language his rhetoric therefore do you see an uptick happening now or will there be a realignment of french. If you will something changing along the way because if the states not going to will the more extremist elements of Islamic Society do so. Thats a very sophisticated question i think its more the former i think that what were going to see is less convergence in more sort of a polarization where at the french government is going to move further to the right and more islamists in those sympathetic to it are going to become the anti. Were already seeing language by mark wrong which is offensive to muslims throughout the world but also were seeing in Marine Le Pen the Front National the right wing group im certain is going to make a big fuss about this and also gain a greater share of french supporters and so in that sense we may actually see the French Public also move to the right furthering these divisions between the rest of French Society in the islamists because theres we also of course have the initial be heading in front of some of the teacher who is teaching history and ethics and talking to his class. By the sharlee cartoons after the survey came out and said that a run to a 3rd of teachers had self censored themselves because of worries not just to them but to. Their pupils as well as some some thing could happen then so thats something that the president surely has to take in account its all very well being staunch and strong but if theres a fear in the classrooms that needs to be dealt with and im not sure at this stage how it can be. Yeah i mean the way you framed your question it sounds as if selfcensorship is always bad it its not necessarily always bad in the sense that professors do you want to appeal broadly in they want their students to feel comfortable but on the other hand that needs to be balanced with sort of free speech and in the pursuit of of truth but in fit i think that has always been such a strong issue. Yeah absolutely thats true i suspect that selfcensorship is going to rise especially in france and again i think that the conditions for this attack are not only still present but are going to be exacerbated in so i 1st see more islamist attacks in france probably in the near future if the past month is any indication. Always good to have you on the program always interesting and always say nuanced to get your take. On assistant professor of Public Policy at the Northeastern University in boston thank you thanks very much well it doesnt stop there the instance of today the french consulate in the. City of jeddah came under attack as well the guard was left at stop wounds after being targeted by an armed with a knife the attacker was arrested on the guard was not seriously injured french officials called in saudi authorities to ensure the safety or french people in the country earlier my colleagues discussed what lies behind the recent wave of attacks. This is been the pattern for the last several years of attacks and terror all over france and theyve been seeing 2015 the attack on sharlee abdul headquarters a dozen People Killed then the same year the attacks and in paris more than 100 People Killed 400 injured the next year the truck attack in nice 80 People Killed 20172018 more stabbing shootings ramming then 2000 the tackler police stations other shootings and stabbings this is this is been a horrific pattern horrific pattern leading up to this year and of course 2 weeks 3 attacks and many of these attacks can be traced back to these characters sharlee abdu and this is perhaps the reason the french patience is is running out there is there is this sense in the president s reaction to the murder of the french teacher 2 weeks ago that you know the french government is toughening up its position but samuel was murdered for the very reason that he embodied the values of the french republic he was killed because islamists want to destroy our future and what silent heroes like simultaneity they will not prevail samuel was a victim of lies a Conspiracy Theory of the hatred of others of what we are on friday he became the face of the republic and our desire to bring down terrorist networks islamic to live like a community of free citizens he was talking there about the beheading of the french teacher a couple of weeks ago i want to differentiate government do you in particular in response to that was a very strong reaction they went after Muslim Civil Society shutting down some thief d n jews and charities including the collective against the slobber phobia in france which is. Did somewhat mainstream nevertheless they have now gone after the more than 200 people are either awaiting deportation from france or have been arrested by authorities on suspicion of being radicalized in you know the interior minister has come out and called some of these in jews enemies of france enemies of france of that these are french and geos these are french organizations french charities what they hope to achieve with this. Is unclear at the moment but what we do know it has provoked a strong reaction from muslim countries well theres been a double reaction this was the 1st reaction has been condolences condolences with regards to the murder of the teacher condolences with regards to what has happened today even even turkey coming out and saying that you know this is completely unacceptable there is no justification for beheading people the other reaction has been not to what is happening in france but to what french authorities are saying and in the muslim world this is from north africa all the way to Southeast Asia them and malaysia the reaction has been very different because theyre seeing theyre hearing what the french are saying not as not as condemnation of terrorism but as islamophobia needs Mental Health treatment what else can be said to a head of state who does not understand freedom of belief and who behaves in this way to millions of People Living in his country who are members of a different faith muslims are the primary victims of the cult of hatred empowered by colonial regimes and exported by their own clients insulting 1100000000 muslims and their sanctities for the apparent crimes of such extremists is not you know stick abuse of freedom of speech it only fuels extremism the recent statements that the leadership level is the dence of this accretion of the holy quran a reflection of this increasing islamophobia that is spreading in European Countries we must explain. To the western world the value systems differ for different social and religious and ethnic groups in the world we also have muslims ordinary muslims all over the world people who have one of nothing to do with terrorism we want nothing to do with these beheadings in who condemn condemn violence theyre still coming out into the streets there waving banners across the muslim world even even here theres a small demonstration in moscow today. Before before this incident and what people want to know is where does free speech end and where does religious tolerance begin because by by the descriptions of these characters the point of them was was to insult they are insulting their crude theyre insulting and the point was to get a reaction this is what many muslims many analysts say that surely do which usually doesnt sell very many copies i believe the in the past was around 60000 that they feed they capitalize on huge amounts of huge amounts of attention that they get after after every publication after every Major Incident that theyre in the limelight and this is what ordinary people are saying that you know theres been a history of this now they keep doing it and doing it and it isnt it isnt for. The defense of freedom of speech is as an act of freedom of speech which is obviously very different to the position of many secular organizations journalists the french authorities that say religion is religion and it is it is subject to free speech you can say whatever you want about religion nevertheless th