Mohammad Merah, the 23-year-old French-Algerian accused of going on a spree of killings culminating in Monday’s deadly assault on a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, was killed trying to evade police after a 30+ hour stand off with law enforcement at his apartment. With Merah apprehended, France and Jewish communities everywhere can lick their wounds, recoup, and rebuild. But Monday’s shootings, as acts of terrorism always are, were a game changer. The question is, to what extent will the ramifications of this tragedy be felt, and in what ways will they manifest themselves?
In France, a nation already simmering with strife between its Christian and Muslim populations, perhaps Toulouse will lead to more stringent laws like the 2010 ban on women wearing veils in public, which, in turn, could lead to more outcries like the 2005 youth riots. Muslim leaders in France, as the Times reports, have risen to the occasion by condemning the violence and urging the events of this week not to alter cultural perceptions of the Muslim community at large. But will these efforts be enough? In times of tragedy, people are more apt to band together, however, it remains to be seen whether or not the feelings of solidarity manifested by the meeting of Jewish and Muslim leaders with French President Nicolas Sarkozy will persist into the healing process, or whether or not the attacks will lead to further tensions. It also remains to be seen what will happen in the United States and Israel as the Jewish and Muslim communities there respond to the attacks.
King Louis XV of France is attributed as having said: “après moi le déluge,” or “after me, the flood,” in reference to what he anticipated would happen to the state of affairs in France after his passing. Similarly, acts of terrorism create a flood, of sorts, in their wake. In the outpourings of grief and support, sometimes, there are voices of hatred, of irrationality, and of scapegoating, and it is the job of the affected communities and the world at large to stem these tides and make sure that the healing process is a positive one and does not further propagate the sentiments that may have led to the incident in the first place.
