National Cabinet: France
Yale Model Government Europe || November 26-29
Topic History
as a direct result of the “Dreyfus Affair.” Anti-Semitism
had been practiced before this trial, but with Dreyfus’
conviction, anti-Semitism became institutionalized.
Candidates for legislative elections used anti-Semitism
as a part of their platforms. France eventually made
official its growing focus on secularization. In 1905,
the country passed a law separating church and state,
which implicitly reinforced the existing trend of antiSemitism. The state defined its official policy of and
guaranteed freedom of worship in the spirit of the
1789 revolution. The new law represented the end of
the religious and political conflict between the French
Republic and the Catholic Church. Most importantly,
however, the 1905 law entrenched the secular principle
of laicité, which would define France and its attitude
toward religion for the next century.
Since the Revolution of 1789, the French government
has always had a tense relationship with religion. The
country is a historic center of Catholicism, typically
regarded as the “oldest daughter” of the Catholic
Church. France’s population of 28 million in the late
18th century was almost entirely Catholic; being
French effectively meant being Catholic. With the
Revolution however, France underwent a dramatic
shift in its government policy toward the Church with
the launch of a rapid de-Christianization campaign.
Enlightenment thinkers had promoted reason as the
basis for progress. Although they appreciated the
value of religion in promoting moral and social order,
the Church itself was condemned for its power and
influence. France’s churches were consequently closed
Laicité is generally understood as a strict form of
down and religious worship was suppressed.
secularism designed to keep religion out of public
As the Revolution continued, France’s National life. Resulting laws and policies consequently seek to
Assembly reconsidered the role of religion in its new guarantee religious freedom and a vibrant public sphere
country. As it struggled to create a constitution in 1789 in which all citizens can participate on equal terms. In
and provide immediate economic relief for its starving Europe, France is the country most attached to this form
citizens, the Assembly suddenly nationalized all Church of secularity; its official policy holds that the position of
lands, which had constituted nearly ten percent of religion in public life ought to be significantly limited,
France’s available land. The Assembly claimed it was especially in comparison to the role religion plays in the
retrieving land that already belonged to them – the United States or Britain. Religion in France, then, is
considered entirely part of the private domain. It would
Church had been simply holding it in trust.
be ridiculous in France, to swear in government officials
France went even further in targeting religion. In on a Bible.
1801, France signed the Concordat, which brought the
Catholic Church under the authority of the state. All The French Constitution, adopted in 1958, upholds
clergy had to swear an oath of loyalty to the government, the principle of laicité by making little mention of
and their wages were now paid by the state. The removal religion. Religion is only mentioned in Article 1, which
of Catholic institutions foreshadowed an emerging shift declares France a secular state, emphasizes the state’s
toward secularization. This government-controlled “respect for all beliefs”, and guarantees the “equality
form of religion signaled an emerging divide between of all citizens regardless of religion.” The Constitution
church and state. The marginalization of Catholic protects religious freedom and acknowledges all
authority gradually moved religious worship away from religious beliefs, provided they respect the laws of the
the public sphere to the private; the decline in Catholic Republic. At the same time, however, the Constitution
institutions consequently increased the involvement of institutionalizes a degree of intolerance toward certain
religious groups, which it identifies as “sectes.” These
the secular laity.
movements, according to the French government, do
The development of France’s national secularism, not respect the liberty of their followers and therefore
however, was accompanied by an emerging anti- present a danger to the general public.
Semitism, which is not new in the country. In 1894,
Alfred Dreyfus, a French Jew in the army, was falsely France has developed an entire regulatory system to
accused of passing military secrets to the Germans. He protect citizens against “sectes.” A law passed in 2001
was jailed four years and eventually cleared, but not includes provisions to dissolve movements found guilty
before anti-Semitism rapidly spread through Europe of “sectarian misconduct;” it also criminalizes the act of
“mental manipulation.” The government has published
a list of 172 sectarian movements, including the Church
of Scientology and Jehovah Witnesses. The French
government does not recognize these movements as
“religions” but rather as commercial enterprises. Such
policies in France’s history characterize the precarious
and controversial conditions governing the country’s
practices of religious tolerance todays, especially
towards the nation’s minority groups.
Current Situation
culturally acceptable to doubt whether French Muslims
ought to be considered French. Many of those Muslims
are the children of immigrants from former French
colonies in North Africa; these North Africans pose the
greatest challenge to France’s tradition of assimilation.
France’s difficulties derive from its history of colonialism
in North Africa, during which Muslims at the time
were not made citizens without first renouncing their
Islamic faith. Their religion attaches to them a harmful
perception as the “other,” and introduces the potential
for religious intolerance.
Scholars have identified changes in Islamic identity
recently occurring among French Muslims – these
are “new Muslims” who worship Islam albeit in quite
modern terms. They represent a secular Islam; for
them, Islam provides a moral framework rather than
a set of ritual practices. Unfortunately, there exists
a widespread misconception of Islam in France,
which in turn inflames non-Muslim citizens’ hostility
toward Islam. Failing to recognize cultural differences
amongst Muslims themselves, many French people
Charlie Hebdo, well known for its satire of religion and misunderstand local increases in Islamic visibility and
Islam especially, had an important political function the rise of political Islam within the Muslim world. In
in France, where secularism takes precedence over their confusion, they wrongly mistake peaceful French
religion. But the Charlie Hebdo killing highlighted the Islam for Islamic fundamentalism in general.
tension that comes with such secularism, as the country
struggles to reconcile Islam with its political values and Recent years have seen a concerted French government
culture. As hostile as Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons often effort – albeit not without debate – to reconcile these
were against religion, though, they upheld the French religious and secular needs. But France’s central
institution of laicité. “We’re a newspaper against principle of secularism has led to political and social
religions as soon as they enter into the political and discrimination against France’s religious communities
public realm,” Charlie Hebdo editor Gerard Biard told and its large Muslim minority. Instances of radicalism
The New York Times in a 2012 interview. “You’re not like the Charlie Hebdo massacre have therefore
meant to identify yourself through a religion, in any fueled French extremism – along with Islamophobia,
xenophobia, and other forms of alienation that further
case not in a secular state.”
polarize French society.
Charlie Hebdo consequently highlights the difficulties
French Muslims have faced balancing their religious Instead of addressing politically sensitive issues of race
obligations with secular standards. France has the and religion directly, the French government has opted
largest population per capita of Muslims in Europe – to skirt around them. Its national census, for example,
consisting of nearly 10 percent of its population. Islam does not ask about people’s religion or ethnicity – this
is now widely considered the second largest religion type of information would be considered inappropriate
in the country behind Christianity. But accepting this for the state to have. Therefore, the estimated number
demographic reality has never been easy for many French of immigrants and their descendants living in the
citizens, according to a prominent French religious country are educated guesses at best, ranging from 6
scholar; France today has had trouble integrating its to 8 million. Without knowing how many immigrants
Muslim population. Third-generation Muslim families there are, radical parties like the Front National cannot
continue to face discrimination in education, housing, back their claims that Muslims and Jews are at the
and other social services. Moreover, it is considered root of French problems without any evidence of the
Today, France’s emphasis on laicité takes place in the
midst of a national conflict about the role of religion,
race, and cultural identity in public life. It is a conflict
that most recently received renewed international
attention after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Twelve
staff members of the French satirical weekly Charlie
Hebdo were killed in January 2015 by gunmen who
said the attack was in retribution for the newspaper’s
depiction of Muhammad.
demographics behind French society.
In February 2004, after a decade of legal uncertainty, the
French National Assembly voted almost unanimously to
ban students in public schools from wearing ‘’ostensibly’’
religious signs, including Muslim headscarves, large
Christian crosses, and Jewish yarmulkes. Such recent
legislation has been heavily criticized in and outside of
France as a violation of religious freedom.
has prohibited Muslim women from wearing the burqa
or niqab. An attempt by police officers to “verify the
identity” of a woman wearing a veil led to two days of
rioting in July 2013 in Trappes, a Paris suburb. The
woman’s husband was arrested for allegedly attacking
the officer doing the identity check. Around 400 people
demonstrated near the police station, where they set fire
to garbage bins, destroyed bus stops, and threw objects
at the police. The woman was charged with violating
the ban. Her trial was postponed so the court could
consider whether a constitutional review of the veil ban
was necessary. The Trappes riot, although because of
the 2010 law, signals a larger, more dangerous unrest
with the current religious climate. It will be up to this
Cabinet to explore a variety of government and social
policies that will address these religious, social, and
economic triggers.
That law was followed by another in 2010, which
prohibited prohibits covering one’s face in all public
places (e.g. restaurants, movie theaters, and public
transportation). If the police encountered someone
in a public space wearing a covering such as a burqa,
said officials at the time, they would ask the individual
to remove it to verify their identity. Although police
officers could not remove the burqa themselves, they
could take those who refused to the local police station But in July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights
where they would remove the garment or be issued a upheld France’s 2010 ban of the face veil, arguing that
fine.
France felt the veil encroached on “the right of others to
live in a space of socialization which made living together
Critics labeled this law the “burqa ban.” They accused easier.” Several human rights organizations noted their
France of attacking Muslims’ freedom of religious alarm following the controversial decision, which they
expression and establishing a Western view of female said constituted a great step backward for religious
liberation. Indeed, as a direct attack against conservative freedom and women’s rights. Amnesty International,
Muslim women, this ban seems to have driven a wedge for example, called the ruling “a profound retreat for
dividing society apart. In 2010, when the law went the right to freedom of expression and religion.”
into effect, polls found that nearly 80 percent of French
citizens supported the ban. These trends went hand France has become increasingly susceptible to religious
in hand with the increase in anti-Semitic incidents, intolerance because all the ingredients for a perfect
which grew from 459 in 2008, to 815 in 2009. The storm have come together in the course of the past
government had estimated only two thousand French five years or so. Beginning in 2008 with the economic
women wear a veil; the act consequently marginalized a meltdown that occurred worldwide, frustrated voters
religious minority to unite the majority.
began to turn to radical parties with extreme political
agendas.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy then had
insisted that the ban was not meant to target Muslims The inability for the incumbents to fix many of the
but rather to protect women’s rights and preserve issues France faced at the time led to impatience and
national values. Other officials advocated the bill would frustration that led to the rise of radical parties, which
discourage fundamentalism from taking root in the include the Front National, Ordre Neauveau, and the
country. The ban, they argued, was part of a national National Youth Party. Described as “far-right” political
effort to contain religion within the domestic sphere groups, these groups have historically adopted fascist,
and preserve the country’s secular identity.
racist stances on many of France’s most pressing
issues including immigration and crime. Though their
From April 2011 – when the ban went into effect – to numbers have declined since reaching their climax,
April 2013, police stopped and questioned more than the economic meltdown propelled these parties to the
700 women and convicted more than 660 of them. national stage where they remained.
The government said it had enacted the 2010 law to
address security concerns. In practice, however, the law Religious intolerance reveals itself in France among
extreme xenophobia and fascist sentiment. After
four French Muslim soldiers and three Jewish school
children were killed in March 2012 from two separate
terrorist attacks carried out by the extremist Mohammed
Merah, the French government voiced its concern
about extremism in the country. In the aftermath of
the terrorist attack, France banned many international
Muslim clerics from entering France. Although they
themselves were targeted in the attack, many French
Muslims feared a rise in Islamophobia in its aftermath.
tide of a new, more dangerous anti-Semitism in the
country. In turn, thousands are leaving for Israel and
other countries. In an effort to reassure Jewish people
in France that they are safe, the government has taken
strict measures against anti-Semitic demonstrations.
Anti-Israeli sentiment has morphed into a wider,
more dangerous anti-Semitism. Such anti-Semitism
in France, which derives from both Jewish hatred and
anti-Israel racism, has become violent, systematic,
and more assertive. But if the increase of what is now
commonly called “the new anti-Semitism” has been
Indeed, discriminatory acts against French Muslims expanded to include almost all European countries, the
and Jews are on the rise today. French religious groups violent dimension of anti-Semitism remains unique to
increasingly report societal abuse based on religious France.
belief. In 2012, the Jewish community recorded a
nearly 60 percent increase in the incidence of anti- According to 2013 statistics released by the Jewish
Semitic acts. Muslim representatives also reported Agency, more than two thousand French Jews had
an 11 percent increase in discriminatory acts in immigrated to Israel in the first nine months of 2013,
2013, according to the National Observatory against a near 50 percent increase compared to the same period
Islamophobia’s annual report. These incidents included in 2012. At the Jewish Agency in Paris, there has been
verbal harassment, violent assaults, vandalism, and a surge in applications for assistance to leave France for
social media hate speech. However, as Observatory Israel. The agency estimates more than 5,000 will leave
president Abdullah Zekri noted, those statistics did this year — the highest ever.
not take into account that “many Muslims do not want
to file a complaint after they have been subjected to Several leaders in the Jewish community have linked
Islamophobic acts.”
the increase in “aliyah” to the rise in violent anti-Semitic
acts. More than half of racist acts committed in France
The number of discriminatory acts demonstrates the this year targeted Jews, who represent less than one
persistence of religious intolerance among French percent of the French population. And since last year,
citizens despite a set of tougher laws in place than the number of anti-Semitics acts in France has nearly
ever. A joint poll conducted by Le Monde, the Center doubled. Moreover, such acts have become increasingly
of Political Research of the Institute of Political violent. Today, threats made against French Jews
Studies, and the Jean- Jaures Foundation released in include bias, racial stereotypes, deep hatred, and even
January 2014 indicated that 74 percent of individuals anti-Semitic acts of terror. Men, women, and children
questioned believed Islam is an “intolerant” religion are killed solely because they are Jewish.
and “not compatible with the values of French society.” Anti-Semitism remains a hugely pressing problem
But religious intolerance is not limited to Muslims; even as French legislation to combat these acts is
anti-Semitism manifests itself perhaps even more some of the toughest worldwide. The “Lellouche Act”
urgently against Jews. Countless articles published in of 2003 imposes harsh penalties for anti-Semitic
the French and foreign media discuss Jewish fear and or xenophobic offenses. Certain offenses now carry
anxiety of living in France. They express their doubt tougher punishments with more severe charges.
that the situation will ever improve. Although they are Another law passed in 2004 expanded the list of
reassured to see government authorities rallying in their offenses to which the aggravating circumstance of
support against anti-Semitism, French Jews also voice racism or anti-Semitism can be added; it also extends
their surprise and disappointment when society fails the deadline for filing a complaint from three months
to mobilize in critical times, like following the 2006 to one year. In spite of such legislation, the issue of
murder of Ilan Halimi and the 2012 attack against the religious intolerance remains. The 2014 Report on
Jewish school in Toulouse.
Anti-Semitism in France lists dozens of instances of
anti-Semitism in its appendix; it describes with vivid
Some Jewish citizens in France say there is a rising detail examples of violence, threats, vandalism, and
hate mail.
Religious intolerance is not just an issue in France.
Countries across the world have seen an increase
in tensions among different ethnic, religious, and
immigrant group in the aftermath of 9/11. As a way
to combat these difficulties, France has tried to use
multiple approaches to try and control hostilities.
A task force against racism and anti-Semitism
(DILCRA) is responsible for implementing France’s
national action plan against racism and anti-Semitism.
The Observatory for Secularism also advises the
government on how to best apply the principle of laicite
in compliance with freedom of religion and belief. The
observatory is composed of fifteen senior civil servants,
parliamentarians, legal experts, and intellectuals.
There is no doubt that this is a difficult issue to
address. But despite its immense complexity, it is of
vital importance to devise government strategies – and
find ways to enforce their effectiveness – in ways that
can improve conditions in France. Policies enacted
should help dismantle terrorist networks, or far-right
conservative ideologies, and prevent the number of
far-right parties in the electorate from increasing in
popularity. France also needs tailored programs that
will employ adequate measures and specific tools to
fight religious intolerance effectively, unlike many
programs currently in place.
Religious intolerance is a problem fueled by many
sources, but solutions to address each facet individually
are how this cabinet can slowly tackle this issue until it
no longer exists and no longer poses a threat to either
France, or the European Union.
Questions to Consider
For the purpose of discussion, delegates should consider the topics proposed above, but should feel free to explore other realms of the topic not included in this guide. Feel free to contact the cabinet director with questions
about any specifics.
• What role should the government play in protecting different religious groups while maintaining its commitment to lacite and secularism?
• Should France compromise on its rigid enforcement of secularism in order to better accommodate racial and
ethnic minorities?
• How should France protect itself from religious fundamentalism and attacks like the Charlie Hebdo massacre without inciting xenophobic, extremist fears?
• What social, political, and economic criteria are necessary for create a truly unified and equal French society?
• How can the government work to be inclusive to marginalize communities yet appeal to the common French
person who feels as though their national identity is threatened?
• What can be done to better integrate religious and racial minority groups into French society?
• Is it possible to both protect the security of the state and also guarantee the freedom of religious expression
as are enshrined in the constitution?
• Should France provide incentives or make direct promises to French Jews to keep them from immigrating to
Israel or elsewhere?
• How can France work with other nations to address similar problems other nations in the European Union
and elsewhere are currently facing?
• Should France adopt the practice of counting individuals by race or ethnicity in its annual census?
• What role should community members play in combating religious intolerance?
• How should France’s efforts to promote religious tolerance differ for Muslims, Jews, and other religious
minorities?
Suggestions for Further Research
Delegates are encouraged to conduct their own research independently of the topic guide provided here. Sources listed here are merely suggested; delegates should feel free to explore other reputable sources for research.
If delegates have a working knowledge of French, it might be useful to explore French news sources such as
http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/ or http://www.ndf.fr/
• Constitution of the Fifth Republic - http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/index.asp
• “The Islamization of France in 2012” - http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3523/islamization-offrance
• Timeline of Major Events in French Political History
• http://faculty.unlv.edu/gbrown/hist362/chrono.htm
• France’s Fight Against Anti-Semitism (2007) –
• http://ambafrance-us.org/IMG/pdf/Anti-Semitism_mars2007.pdf
• Anti-Semitism in France - http://www.brookings.edu/fp/cusf/analysis/dreyfus.pdf
• “French National Identity and Integration: Who Belongs to the National Community?” • http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/frenchidentity.pdf
• France 2013 International Religious Freedom Report - http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2013/
eur/222215.htm
• EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief –
• http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/fiji/press_corner/all_news/news/2013/eu_guidelines_on_the_promotion_and_protection_of_freedom_of_religion_or_belief_(june_24_2013_fac).pdf
• Islam in France: The Shaping of a Religious Minority
• http://www.social-sciences-and-humanities.com/PDF/islam_in_france.pdf