Marine Le Pen on Charlie Hebdo Attack

The Telegraph quotes Marine Le Pen as saying, “We must not be scared of saying the words: this is a terrorist attack carried out in the name of radical Islam.”

“It is my responsibility to make sure that the fear is overcome… “This attack must instead free our speech about Islamic fundamentalism. We must not be silenced.”

Marine Le Pen is the feisty leader of France’s hard right, anti-immigration Front National (FN) party. FN has been rapidly gaining strength in France and will be a player in the 2017 French elections.

The attack on the Charlie Hebdo journalists in Paris is likely to play into the hands of Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right Front National.

Her success has been the most visible sign of the rising tide of Islamophobia in France, which increased again in the wake of several attacks in December.

In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack, Miss Le Pen made a passionate speech about a “murderous ideology” leading to an “odious attack”.

“It is my responsibility to make sure that the fear is overcome,” she said. “This attack must instead free our speech about Islamic fundamentalism. We must not be silenced”.