François Fillon: Radical Islam is Contrary to the Values of the Republic

A few days ago François Fillon won the primary election for the French Republican Party (formerly the UMP), and will become his party’s candidate in next spring’s presidential election. Given the abysmal standing of the current president, François Hollande, the socialists are not expected to make it through the first round of voting. The final contest is likely to see Mr. Fillon facing off against Marine Le Pen of the Front National, and Mr. Fillon is currently favored to win.

The words about Islam spoken by François Fillon in the following speech are bracing, especially coming from a candidate who is likely to be the next president of France. However, as I recall, Mr. Fillon has changed his tune on Islam from what he said a few years ago. Our French readers can correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t he singing from a different hymnal when he was prime minister under Nicolas Sarkozy?

Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Transcript:

00:00   My friends, let’s call a spade a spade: radical Islam is
00:04   a gangrene that is destroying a portion of our Muslim fellow citizens.
00:08   This radical Islam is defying us. It defies our common values.
00:12   As the President of the Republic I won’t let it do so.
00:16   I want to —
00:20   I want strict…
00:24   strict administrative control over the Muslim faith, whenever
00:28   it is not truly and definitely anchored in the Republic. I want the immediate dissolution
00:32   of all the movements calling themselves “Salafist”, but also
00:36   those connected with the Muslim Brotherhood.
00:40   [applause]
00:44   I want —
00:48   I want…
00:52   I want the
00:56   clarification of our relations with Saudi Arabia and Qatar,
01:00   who are sheltering the ideologues of radical Islam.
01:04   I’m not talking…
01:08   I’m not talking about fighting communitarianism
01:12   in order to avoid identifying the problem we have with radical Islam.
01:16   Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism
01:20   do not denounce the values of the Republic. Let’s stop pretending that
01:24   we need to harden the rules of secularism
01:28   at the price of unacceptable infringement on the freedom of religion,
01:32   while only the extremist surge that is inflaming the Muslim world
01:36   is a real threat to our society.
01:40   [applause]
01:45   [applause]
01:49   You’ll agree that for a long time I’ve been saying that
01:53   we need to face the risk of a world war provoked by Islamic totalitarianism.
01:57   This totalitarianism can be compared to Nazism.
02:01   Its numbers span an increasingly large territory:
02:05   from Southeast Asia to West Africa.
02:09   Well, in order to win this war, we’ll need to expend a lot of
02:13   effort and we’ll need many allies. And among those allies
02:17   there is Russia, which is being continually sanctioned,
02:21   while it is the Islamic State that we should
02:25   be attacking together.
02:29   I hear, I hear the friends
02:33   of my competitor, who suspect me of planning to resume normal relations with Russia,
02:37   based on candor and cooperation.
02:41   Well, I let them carry on with their convolutions.
02:45   For my part, I’ll take all measures to protect the French people, and I’ll draw on
02:49   all the countries who would volunteer to destroy the Islamic State.
02:53   [applause]
02:57   [applause]
03:01   [applause]
03:05   [applause]
03:09   [applause]
03:13   The longer we wait, the more the war continues, with its massacres.
03:17   The more the Russians have to act alone, the more the metastasis
03:22   of Islamic totalitarianism is growing, the more refugees set sail,
03:26   and the more the Christians of the East are being decimated.
03:30   And…
03:34   and I’m taking advantage of being in Lyon to salute its inhabitants,
03:38   who frequently took part in the battle
03:42   To save the Christians of the East. And I’m thinking in particular
03:46   of Alain Mérieux and his foundation,
03:50   who offered me the possibility of going
03:54   to the refugee camps in the heart of Iraqi Kurdistan
03:58   to bring medication, which is the strict minimum necessary to improve
04:02   the chances of survival for all those men and women driven from their homes and their territory.
 

52 thoughts on “François Fillon: Radical Islam is Contrary to the Values of the Republic

  1. IMHO Fillon is more concerned about the 2017 french presidential election than anything, and certainly doesn’t deserve to win. Marine LePen has much more credibility about those issues. Her positions have been constant for years and she’s not part of the establishment that’s been in power for decades, contrary to Fillon.

    • Agreed, Rob. It’s a shame that (through no fault of her own) she carries the baggage of her father’s antisemitism, an old but not proud French tradition.

      • It’s hard to say if Marine LePen’s father actually really wanted to be elected and what he really thinks about those issues like antisemitism. He seems to enjoy being an agitator and very provocative, which has enabled the whole establishment to use him as a political scarecrow for decades. Marine LePen could probably do great things but will the French forget about her name, indeed. Interesting question really.

    • Agree! Fillon was once part of the problem that he and the rest of the government at the time were constantly being warned about. They of course chose to do nothing being part of the ‘establishment’ until Brexit and Trump’s win forced them to change tack in how they present themselves to the ‘deplorables’ which is what we are now witnessing.

      • That’s right, without Brexit and Trump, you wouldn’t hear a word from Fillon about radical Islam. He’s just trying to take advantage of the situation and will go wherever the wind blows next. I hope the French will get this right.

        • Exactly. Change happens when one or two brave people break away from the flock and then others suddenly ‘find their voices’ when they can see which way the wind is blowing. He is a typical, cynical politician. I hope LePen slaughters him at the polls. Can we be lucky a third time? Then we’ve got the appalling Merkel coming up over the horizon with her bags of Soros money, no doubt!

          • Fillon talks out of both sides of his mouth at once.I have seen a video where he opens the 1000th mosque in France and declares Islam part of French culture and society and celebrates the fact that from 100 mosques in the 1970’s the number had grown to 1000.He said he wished to see thousands more mosques in France.

            He’s only talking tough to seduce the voters away from Le Pen.

            I hope they are not taken in by this two faced lying hypocrite.

          • With a bit of luck LePen will get elected and Merkel will be voted out. Then Europe might start being a nice place again.

  2. The success of Marine LePen may have to be measured by the degree to which her own popularity forces conservatives to adopt her message and policies. I’m not saying I trust Mr Fillon, but I rather like:
    “Let’s stop pretending that we need to harden the rules of secularism at the price of unacceptable infringement on the freedom of religion, while only the extremist surge that is inflaming the Muslim world is a real threat to our society.”
    I have always found French secularism to be a tad too anti-religion for my taste–this quote suggests that it doesn’t need to be made any worse once the true enemy is identified.

  3. He certainly has changed his tune, he blocked Cope’s conference over the pain au chocolate Ramadan incident. But he was however a loyal Prime Minister of Sarkozy.

    It is a hard one because we have seen many people like him, but he is saying similar hard difficult things about the economy and the need to change social security and employment laws that are quite frankly scary for a large percentage of French, he seems to be setting up to be a man who tells the truth and sets solutions.

    He is known for being dour and honest and he went around France after Sarkozy lost and spoke to a lot of people about their concerns, he might be the real thing, but bear in mind the Republicans may well block him or water down his program.

    What I will tell you is that over the last two years there is a change, even the people who vote socialist that I know have admitted to me that I was right about Islam when before they treated me as sort of a racist. There is definitely a change in attitude because even a blind death and stupid man can see the issue and despite people thinking that the French are beyond hope they are not.

    And finally note his attitude and friendship with Putin and what he said about Qatar and Saudi Arabia and his approach to Syria, that says a lot about he direction.

    I may be wrong, I was wrong about that git Sarkozy, but I think he looks real to me and my wife thinks so too

  4. In common with virtually EVERYONE else, this man gets it wrong; for some unfathomable reason, people will yak on about “radical islam” when by now it should be understood the word is just—— islam. There being no ‘radical’ version.

    • And this is where many anti-Jihadists get it wrong, I agree with you the problem is Islam, however many Muslims do in fact have a personal Islam which is not like the real Islam. I sometimes think that people who say radical Islam like that are trying to recognise those people and try not to alienate them.

      The real concept is that any one who believes in the true Islam is a radical, semantics and word play perhaps but in fact there is some truth in what I just said.

      And you likely know as well as I do that the imams controlled the radicalism of Islam by use of the contradictory verses in Islam to suit their agenda, the issue is that Islam itself has now bypassed those imams and that in itself is actually a good thing because what Islam really is can no longer be ignored.

      I have a gut feel that Fillon gets this…

        • Crossware, aren’t you splitting hairs here? I think you, DaffersD and I are all in agreement, so why is Daffers wrong?

          As long as moslems follow the koran it just doesn’t matter that they may be seen as peaceful or ‘moderate’, as the fact is they can become screaming jihadis the next day, so there can NEVER be a trustworthy, moderate moslem–ever.

          • The problem with bringing up the issue “moderates” complicates issues and cause us problems. In a warfare the rules of engagement should be clear. One of the reason why US forces had large losses in Afghanistan because they had to assume everyone is “moderate” until they were not. This give the enemy employing guerrilla warfare a huge advantage.

          • You understood what I was getting at.

            Islam is not and never will be moderate, there is no debate in that, I do not focus on those people who say they are moderate Muslims and in fact are nothing of the sort.

            I look at some of those people who define themselves as Muslims and who say they follow the Quran, who in fact do not, those that reject Sharia are in fact not Muslims.

            The trick is getting them to see that.

            Crossware, I have been studying Islam in detail since 1997.

            France still has this ridiculous notion that they can have some sort of Islam de France, it is a total non-starter and I think that Fillon still believes that, however the key thing is that he is a step in the right direction and his position has moved a bit.

        • I agree with you CrossWare. There is really no division. One may say there are the good cops and bad cops, and the good cops depend on the bad cops.

          The good cops, moderate Moslems, are not innocent participants. If it wasn’t for the bad cops, the radicals and jihadists, there would be no good cops. There would be no moderates because Islam would be in the trash heap of other discarded and forgotten cults. There would be no 1.2 or whatever billion Moslems in the world. There are only so many because the bad cops ensure no one leaves and there is no dissent. And if the moderates have their way, Islam will dissolve away.

          The moderates would be without a religion called Islam. The mosques would be empty, if any would remain. Few if any would be bending over facing Mecca on a prayer rug. With gratitude, the moderates today can continue to feel proud and secure among their 1.2 billion coreligionists.

      • “however many Muslims do in fact have a personal Islam”

        I’ve been in conferences which were 1/3 rd “radical”, 1/3rd “moderate”, 1/3rd libtard.

        The “moderates” were left in tears; they had no answer as Muslims to the citations by the “radicals” that stoning, amputations, killing of gays, etc. must take place.

        As the % of Muslims in our society increases, so will the % of radicals within the Muslim enclaves increase, until eventually no “moderate” will dare speak his heretical view of Islam.

        When one attends such conferences, one sees the future. Islam does not bend.

    • exactly.Te radical is the poison snake in the grass;the grass is other muslims that protect the snake;they are all in it together.No difference.

  5. He is getting it wrong from the beginning: There is no such thing as “radical islam”, only islam!

  6. He sounds more Le Pen than Le Pen herself. No British, German or Swedish mainstream politician could, or would dare to, speak like that. And that comment equating extreme Islam with Nazism is going to come back to haunt him. Most of the six million plus Muslims in France are Maghrebians, and they are pretty easy-going and well-integrated. Wilders faces prosecution for saying less.

    • Yeah I have seen them “easy-going” down to Bataclan with their AK’s. They all seemed very well adjusted and integrated!

      • Crossware, I appreciate what you do, but the Muslims in France are among the best integrated in Europe. The older Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans grew up with French culture, are bilingual and are sometimes difficult to distinguish physically from southern French. They are fairly religious, but they generally do not demand special rules. Until recently there were no severe problems outside the banlieues. Overall, the French Arabs are still far better integrated than the Pakistanis/Bangladeshis/Indian Muslims in Britain and the Turks in Germany.

        Having said that, I pray for a Le Pen victory, because France, like Britain, simply has too many foreigners now and will cease to be France in our lifetimes if something is not done.

        • Anon,

          I respect, appreciate and, in part, agree with your conclusion: France will cease to be France in our lifetimes due to the huge influx of foreigners.

          It all depends, however, on who those “foreigners” are. If they were Dutch, Estonian or even, dare I suggest, a mixture of East Asian/South Asian/South-East Asian ethnicities such as Chinese, Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Indian (Hindu, Sikh or Jain) there wouldn’t be a problem. A smattering of Nigerians and Ghanaians (Christian only) into the mix wouldn’t be a problem either.

          However, let us look at your statement:

          “Until recently there were no severe problems outside the banlieues”

          1. So there were only serious problems INSIDE the banlieues? Incubators of problematic people that will inevitably spread their influence beyond the lines of their Sensitive Urban Zones. Still a hugely worrying problem.
          2. Until recently? If memory serves 2005 was the first big year of “carbeques” in France. Eleven years is quite a while.

    • David Cameron, 2005: Islamic extremists are Nazis
      David Cameron, 2015: Islam is the religion of peace.

      The beheading of a British soldier on the streets of London was apparently enough for Cameron to stop seeing Islam as a threat. Like Cameron, Fillon may change his tune as the threat becomes more apparent. At the very time the French people need their leader to get tough, he could just wimp out, like Cameron did.

  7. I just finished listening to a fantastic podcast, Joe Rogen in conversation with Professor Jordan Peterson (Wizard level wisdom). In the final hour of the conversation Professor Peterson lays out the value of Religion in society.
    The interesting part for me was the fact that Islam wasn’t mentioned once, I don’t know if that was intended or accidental, it is noteworthy though.

    • Yes you are correct! They promise or say anything to dupe the voters and redirect them from Le Pen.

      • Shelagh said

        “He’s only talking tough to seduce the voters away from Le Pen.”

        Exactly! Agreed.

  8. Regardless of this fellow’s past, in order to make the most of it, what we should all do, and anyone from France who is likeminded should do, is lift certain quotes from what he said, such as ‘Islamic totalitarianism is like Nazi-ism’ and repeat it, quoting him, time and time again.

    Quote him. Quote him. Quote him.

    Get that meme to flourish.

    And if anyone says ‘hate speech’ or ‘intolerance’ or ‘racism’ just point at the boy. Hey, I’m just quoting what he said.

    You’ll remember Paul Weston was going to be in trouble for saying unpleasant things about islam – until he pointed out that he was merely quoting Winston Churchill. (As Max Hastings had already done in the national press btw.)

  9. The question being not ‘is this guy worthy of my vote’ or ‘is he genuine’ but …

    how can we use his words for our own ends?

  10. Villiers about Fillon
    It’s all about marketing

    “- Martial Bild: You say that these men: Sarkozy, Juppé, Fillon, are not men of doctrine, but men of marketing. This is cruel.

    – Villiers: It’s not cruel. It’s true. I’ll tell you a story.

    – Bild: Go ahead.

    – Villiers: I remember there were preparations for a television program, 7 sur 7, there was Michel Noir, François Léotard, Juppé,… and François Fillon was there. And he was consulting with marketing specialists – the marketing of politicians, hear me out…”

    This link has a photo showing up and coming French Politicians, among them the – then young – Philippe de Villiers and Francois Fillon.

  11. His speech is virtually a copy of one given by Marine Le Pen in the European Parliament a short while ago – even down to advocating closer ties with Russia and questioning why Saudi Arabia and Qatar are regarded as France’s allies. I prefer the real thing.

    • Yeah, why drink ersatz coffee when one can have the real thing?

      Fillon has form as someone very happy to proclaim Islam is a proper and integral part of France. His words are no more than a transparent attempt to draw voters away from Marine le Pen. And he’ll probably be successful in doing so. Sadly.

  12. We’ve seen all this triangulation before and recently in our Leave/Remain Referendum five months ago.

    Boris Johnson is an example. He was pro EU for years, then suddenly did a U turn and campaigned for Vote Leave. Now he has been heard saying that he wants freedom of movement to continue after the UK leaves the EU.

    We did not vote Leave so that mass immigration could continue. We voted Leave to stop mass third world and Muslim immigration into our lands. We voted Leave to take back control of our borders and be able to punish traitors, and deal with the seditious and subversive minorities in the most harsh manner possible.

    If we leave the EU but continue with cultural Marxism and mass third world immigration we may as well have just voted Remain. The crux of the problem is what will he DO to solve the problems and what guarantees have we got if he is elected. For too long politicians so one thing one minute and do the diametric opposite the next.

    France don’t fall for him, he’s a fake like Boris Johnson.

    • What will he DO? Fillon?

      I think, the answer is pretty much in the below statement

      reply on December 1, 2016 at 1:33 am said:
      Villiers about Fillon
      It’s all about marketing

    • Many of us voted leave because we see our civilisation under threat throughout the Europe that our elders fought to save.

      We see it threatened by those unproductive and disloyal third-world settlers who despise us while using our own resources to in effect colonise us.

      And we know a bit about colonising 🙂

      But we never even tried to largely replace the indigenous populations and culture as Islam has successfully done over the centuries in the lands outside Arabia which it has colonised.

      Scarily it seems Islam is just much better at colonising than we were.

  13. Fillon is a filthy liaR, traitor, [intemperate imperative redacted]!
    French people, i appeal to you

    DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS THEIVING LiaR!!!

    Hes the estabilishment, an agent, a filthy provocatuer! A wolf in sheeps clothing!

    If i met fillon on a street corner in paris i would without hesitation attack him!!!

    And willingly [intemperate consequence redacted]

    I reccomend others to also become resistance heroes, and strike down people
    Traitors, like fillon.

    Hes of the vichy regime genetics,

    A Marshal petain in waiting.

    Peddaling so so so many lies to get the vote!

    Hes in bed with muslims, [intemperate imperative redacted] now.

    For the sake of france and us all.

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