Marine Le Pen—Islam Is an “Odious Ideology”

Originally posted January 16, 2015.

As Jacob Heilbrunn notes, Le Pen, leader Front National said in a post-Paris attack address, “The absolute rejection of Islamic fundamentalism must be proclaimed loudly and clearly.” Le Pen called on French president Francois Hollande to suspend the Schengen Accords that allow for visa-free movement inside Europe.

Heilbrunn writes, “Le Pen is at the forefront of a European-wide nationalist resurgence—one that wants to evict from their homelands people they view as Muslim subversives… And he notes that the new nationalist movement is that the individual countries of Europe must safeguard their traditional values by rejecting the liberal chimera of a single, united Europe with open borders.”

Heilbrunn continues:

Le Pen is at the forefront of a European-wide nationalist resurgence — one that wants to evict from their homelands people they view as Muslim subversives. She and other far-right nationalists are seizing on some legitimate worries about Islamic militancy — 10,000 soldiers are now deployed in France as a safety measure — in order to label all Muslims as hostile to traditional European cultural and religious values. Le Pen herself has likened their presence to the Nazi occupation of France.

Le Pen herself espouses an authoritarian program that calls for a moratorium on immigration, a restoration of the death penalty and a “French first” policy on welfare benefits and employment.