The warning comes amid a wave of jihadist attacks — including the beheading of a schoolteacher — committed by young men, none of whom were previously known to French intelligence services. The letter also comes after widespread public indignation over a French justice system compromised by political correctness — as evidenced by the refusal to prosecute an African immigrant from Mali who, while shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is the Greatest"), killed an elderly Jewish woman by breaking into her home and pushing her off her balcony.
"Every Frenchman, whatever his belief or non-belief, should everywhere be at home in continental France [
l'Hexagone]; there cannot and must not exist any city or district where the laws of the Republic do not apply." — From an open letter signed by 20 retired generals, a hundred senior officers more than a thousand other members of the French military, April 21, 2021.