France premier urges fight on 'hatred', 'social apartheid'
The French prime minister has called for fight against “hatred” in the country, saying the recent terrorist attacks in Paris reflect “social apartheid” in a deeply divided nation.
Manuel Valls said on Tuesday that the fight against hatred and racism is “absolutely urgent."
He drew a parallel between the ongoing circumstances in France and violent protests which hit France in 2005 following the killing of two French youths of Malian and Tunisian descent by French police.
"And yet, the stigmas remain ... a territorial, social and ethnic apartheid that has imposed itself on our country," he said, adding, "The social misery is compounded by the daily discriminations, because someone does not have the right name, the right color of skin, or because she is a woman."
Valls said he does not intend to justify acts of terrorism in France, adding, "but we also have to look at the reality of our country."
The French premier's remarks come nearly two weeks after an attack in the capital on the office of French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, left 12 people dead. The shooting assault was carried out by al-Qaeda affiliates.
On January 9, police ended a hostage-taking at a supermarket in the eastern Porte de Vincennes area of Paris, killing armed hostage-taker, Amedy Coulibaly, who was also a suspect in killing a policewoman in southern Paris a day earlier. Coulibaly killed four hostages before his death.
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