2024-07-17 05:16:52
Should we really organize the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine? Ten days before the start of the tests, France is more and more divided on the question, as the result shows from the Odoxa study * produced for Fiducial and Le Figaro published Tuesday. Half of the respondents (49%) want the river parade, which connects Austerlitz to the Trocadero, to be maintained. Others (49%) opt for plan B, which includes having representatives between the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro, because of the threats posed on the event that 326,000 people are expected to attend.
“In the beginning, this party was rather supportive, because 6 out of 10 French people thought it was better to keep this format than to change it for security reasons. As time goes on, they become less and less,” he explained 20 minutes Emile Leclerc, director of studies at the Odoxa institute. And the knife attack on a Sentinelle soldier on Monday evening in Paris, with no clear link to terrorism, will not help remove the feeling of insecurity.
“There is this idea that there is zero risk”
A significant proportion of the French people (49%) believe that the security system planned for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games – 45,000 policemen, gendarmes and security agents – is well measured. But there are still many dangers in their eyes. Therefore, 40% fear that a suicide bomber will act. While they do not control the movement of a person (31%), many fear an attack (26%), a shooter who will target everyone standing on the banks of the river (15%), a drone attack (11%) , a bomb a house (10%). Only 20% of our peers are not afraid of these threats.
“There is this idea that there is zero risk,” continued Emile Leclerc. There will always be a security question that will hang over the Olympic Games, especially this opening ceremony. But not only the French are worried, many experts think that it is too exciting and it is not necessary to organize this festival on the Seine. “The director of studies at Odoxa also noted that “7 out of 10 French people will approve the B system, even those who want to maintain the format”. “We can calculate that this beautiful view must take place; but this does not prevent us to accept the change process if we think that the security conditions are not met.
“Obviously a goal”
Are the French right to be afraid? Ask Tuesday about France Inter, Olivier Christen, anti-terrorism prosecutor, indicated that his case considered “the atmosphere of tensions” that arose from the end of 2023. The climate “which today leads to a general situation of serious terrorist threats”. “We opened three times more procedures related to the jihadist case in the first half of 2024 than in the first half of 2023,” he announced. The judge explained “the movement of the jihadist threat” through “the reorganization of certain terrorist organizations, in particular the Islamic State that has moved”.
“The Olympic Games are not the subject of a specific target by international organizations,” assures Olivier Christen. But an event with “such media resonance” makes it an “important target” for terrorists, “and this for any ideological part”. “Among the procedures we have opened, there are two locations where people are particularly focused this time, one in Saint-Étienne and the other in Paris,” added the anti-terrorism lawyer.
The effectiveness of jihadist propaganda
The head of the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, Jean-Charle Brisard also noted “that for many months, the Islamic State organization, especially its branch in Afghanistan, has been very active abroad”. The terrorist group also carried out attacks in Iran in January and in Russia in March. “There are also numerous attack plans that point to individuals linked to this organization,” this expert emphasized. And to note “the return of advertising from these groups which targets a smaller population than before and which targets European sporting events such as the Champions League, Euro 2024 and now the Olympic Games”. The plan, he said, should be increased “in the coming days, the coming weeks”.
Last March, a pro-ISIS media base published a message calling for the boycott of the event with this slogan: “The Lone Wolf Olympics begin with the will of Allah.” “It is a call to supporters to attack the event,” analyzed Jean-Charles Brisard. According to him, it is important not to exclude the risk of a cell of fighters from abroad being projected into the region, as was the case on November 13. “Everyone faces an infinite threat, but we must not make the mistake of thinking that the great threat has disappeared, on the contrary. »
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