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Former French prime minister Manuel Valls has insisted that not only do jihadists act in the name of Islam, but denying terrorists are true Muslims removes the responsibility of other Muslims to act. Mr. Valls, who served under Socialist President François Hollande, made his comments in a recent interview in which he stressed the importance of helping moderate Muslims combat radical Islamic extremism, L’Express reports. “To say that Islam and Islamism have nothing to do with it is to deny any responsibility to act to our fellow Muslims. We must help them, we must help them to fight within themselves...

The European Union must stop being nit-picky and intrusive, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Sunday as the bloc scrambled to handle the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave. The Brexit vote to leave the EU has deepened fears among mainstream politicians across Europe about the rise of eurosceptic, anti-establishment parties, particularly in France, where the far-right National Front is increasingly popular. That concern has also prompted mainstream French politicians on the left and right to call for an overhaul of Europe, in a country where surveys show disillusionment with Brussels is growing. "We must put an end to...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday he understands French Jews' fear amid heightened religious tension in the country after last year's terrorists attacks in Paris by Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists. Valls' comments came in a speech at the annual dinner of the French Jewish council CRIF. He was quoted by The Associated Press. In his remarks, the French Prime Minister expressed his "solidarity" toward French Jews and strongly condemned anti-Semitism whether it comes from the "far-left" or the "far-right". "Yes, Jews of France are afraid to wear the kippa , to go to the synagogue, to do shopping...

Merkel is battling for a deal that will see refugees more evenly spread around the European Union after Germany welcomed 1.1 million asylum seekers last year. But instead, eastern European countries are planning new razor wire fences, and even Paris -- traditionally Berlin's closest EU ally -- has shown little enthusiasm for Merkel's welcome policy. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Saturday that the mood in France was "not favourable" to Merkel's call for a permanent quota system. "Europe cannot take in all the migrants from Syria, Iraq or Africa," Valls told German media. "It has to regain control over...

France said Thursday that a British exit from the European Union would be a tragedy, but warned that Britain's demands for reform could not be met at any price. French President Francois Hollande said Thursday he would be "particularly vigilant" during talks with Britain while the PM Manuel Valls said the UK was unlikely to win over EU leaders in the next few weeks. [...] "France wants Great Britain to stay in the European Union - that's in the interests of Europe and the United Kingdom," he said. "But I will be particularly vigilant so that the eurozone can continue...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Saturday night urged the Jews of France to remain in the country, saying that France without Jews “would not be France”. Valls spoke at a memorial in Paris for four Jews who were murdered a year ago at the Hyper Cacher supermarket in the city as part of a spate of jihadist attacks that began with the deadly assault on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. The Prime Minister stressed the belated realization in his eyes of the rise of anti-Semitic crimes in France, and called to address the concerns of the Jewish...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls claimed on Monday that despite the overabundance of Islamist terror, there is no link between terrorist extremism and Islam, as he opened a conference aimed at improving ties with France’s large Muslim community. “We must say all of this is not Islam,” said Valls as quoted by AFP. “The hate speech, anti-Semitism that hides behind anti-Zionism and hate for Israel…the self-proclaimed imams in our neighborhoods and our prisons who are promoting violence and terrorism.” …

French lawmakers on Wednesday (1 April) discussed an intelligence bill that aims to give sweeping surveillance powers to internal security agencies and the prime minister’s office. Announced a day after the museum terrorist attacks in Tunis, the bill allows agencies attached to the economy, defense and interior ministries to spy on people by hacking their computers or mobile phones without the need for a warrant.Anyone suspected of terrorism or terrorism links, even incidentally, could be a target. Prime minister Manuel Valls has said the bill is needed to detect possible terrorist activities in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre...

Saverne (France) (AFP) - French prosecutors said Monday they had taken five teenagers into custody suspected of vandalising hundreds of Jewish graves, an act that prompted fresh pleas for Jews not to turn their back on France. The boys are aged between 15 and 17 and all come from Sarre-Union in Alsace, eastern France, where around 300 tombs were defaced and damaged on Thursday. The youngest came forward after seeing the scale of the reaction across the country to the vandalism, prosecutor Philippe Vannier said. "Apparently, he was very, very affected by the scale of the reaction to this affair,...

PARIS—French police detained five teenage boys for questioning in relation to the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in the eastern part of the country, an incident that has raised anxiety among French Jews about their security. Philippe Vannier, a French state prosecutor in Saverne in the Alsace region, told a news conference on Monday that one teen had turned himself in, which then led the police to four others who are suspected of knocking over and vandalizing about 250 out of the 400 tombstones at the cemetery. Mr. Vannier said the five youths “had no known ideological views that could...

~snip~ "We know there are doubts, questions across the community," French President Francois Hollande said Monday. "I will not just let what was said in Israel pass, leading people to believe that Jews no longer have a place in Europe and in France in particular." French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Monday the government would defend French Jews against what he described as "Islamo-fascism." "A Jew who leaves France is a piece of France that is gone," Valls told RTL radio ~snip~ German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that her government will do everything possible to make sure Jewish sites...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Monday slammed the attacks in Denmark by Islamist terrorist Omar Abdel Hamid Hussein on Saturday, in which two people were murdered, as being an act of "Islamo-fascism." Responding to the attacks in Copenhagen and the attacks on Paris last month, Valls said "to combat Islamo-fascism, for that is what it should be called, our strength must come from unity," reports AFP. Valls also responded to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's call for European Jews to come home to Israel in the face of widespread anti-Semitism and violence on the continent, noting Netanyahu is "in the...

Five adolescents aged 15 to 17 have been taken into custody in eastern France for questioning over a massive vandalism attack against Jewish graves, a local prosecutor said on Monday. All five are from the region of Sarre-Union in Alsace, where around 300 tombs were defaced over the weekend. The youngest came forward after being shocked by the massive reaction across the country to the vandalism, prosecutor Philippe Vannier said. "Apparently, he was very very affected by the scale of the reaction to this affair, including the statements from the highest state authorities," Vannier told reporters. The boy, who was...

France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve described act in Sarre-Union as “despicable” France’s interior minister said several hundreds of tombs had been defaced at a Jewish cemetery in the east of the country, in what he called “a despicable act”. “The country will not tolerate this new injury which goes against the values that all French people share,” said Bernard Cazeneuve, without giving further details of the incident in the town of Sarre-Union. “Every effort will be made to identify, question and bring to justice the person or persons responsible for this ignominious act,” he added. France’s prime minister Manuel Valls,...

While appearing on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said the Obama administration was correct in refusing to refer to Islamic terrorists as "Islamic extremists," the Washington Free Beacon reported Thursday. The reason, she explained, is that doing so would anger them and possibly cause them to engage in even more terrorism. "They’re responsible for ensuring our national security. We have to be careful in our language and how we — I don’t want to see any more anger and hostility or violence in the world," she said. "Our response to terrorism is a response that...

After radical jihadists murdered their way through Paris in a three-day rampage that left 17 dead, France has declared its own war on terror. Appearing on Saturday in Evry, a town just south of Paris, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the country is at war against radical Islam. “We are at war — not a war against a religion, not a war against a civilization, but to defend our values, which are universal,” he proclaimed. “It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity,” Valls continued. “We...

PARIS (AP) — It was supposed to force millionaires to pay tax rates of up to 75 percent: "Cuba without the sun," as described by a critic from the banking industry. Socialist President Francois Hollande's super tax was rejected by a court, rewritten and ultimately netted just a sliver of its projected proceeds. It ends on Wednesday and will not be renewed. And that critic of the tax? He's now Hollande's economy minister, trying mightily to undo the damage to France's image in international business circles. The tax of 75 percent on income earned above one million euros ($1.22 million)...

France's socialist prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault resigned yesterday. Joined by his entire government following meltdown in local elections .. Resignation is huge blow to France's social President Francois Hollande. Last night, Hollande admitted mistakes and said priority was to cut taxes ... last night socialist President Francois Hollande – whose rule has become synonymous with a 75 per cent top rate of income tax – admitted to mistakes and said his priority was now to cut taxes. The government’s resignation is a huge blow to the president, who was elected to a five-year term in 2012 but whose first two...