February 10, 2016
The Islamic State has set its sights on its latest European target, threatening France’s far-right National Front party.
The terrorist group’s French propaganda magazine Dar al-Islam says in its latest issue that the party and everyone associated with it are “apostates,” citing them as “prime targets” for attack.
The magazine published its threats together with a photo of a National Front demonstration, suggesting that the right-wing party’s rallies may be a target. National Front leader Marine Le Pen has positioned herself as France’s most outspoken critic of Islam and has frequently made headlines for her controversial statements about migrants and Muslims.
Last October, Le Pen went on trial in France, charged with inciting hatred after she compared Muslim street prayers to the Nazi occupation.
Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, headed the National Front before his daughter took over, and was himself summoned to court last summer for saying that the gas chambers were a “detail” of World War Two.
Following last November’s terror attacks, Marine Le Pen called to “destroy Islamist extremism … and deport foreigners who preach hatred in our country, as well as illegal immigrants who have nothing to do here.”
In response to the threats, French police have upped security for the party. IS also issued a more general threat to the rest of France, saying that “it’s not a question of if we attack the French, but how and when.” On Monday, the lower house of the French parliament voted in favor of enshrining in the constitution the process of declaring a state of national emergency, one of a series of controversial amendments the government proposed after November’s Paris attacks.
President Francois Hollande imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the deadly events, giving police and security forces sweeping powers to raid houses and hold people under house arrest without judicial oversight.
As is the case now, parliament would still need to give its approval for a state of emergency lasting more than 12 days.
A state of emergency would last for a maximum of four months under the new rules, after which it would need to be renewed by parliament.
