France: Left enraged as Hollande proposes stripping jihad terrorists of their passports

DECEMBER 30, 2015 6:05 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

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“Patrick Weil, a political scientist who met Hollande and advised him against the decision, said France would become ‘the first democracy in the world’ to enshrine in its constitution the principle of unequal treatment of dual nationals. ‘It introduces the idea of a different penalty for the same act, just because of the random chance of their birth,’ said Weil, who teaches at Yale University in the United States.” Very well. Then strip all jihad terrorists of their passports, or find some other way to acknowledge the fact that by going to fight for the Islamic State or some other jihad group, they have effectively declared war against their homeland, and should be considered traitors, at very least. 

Hollande’s plan may be largely symbolic, but at least it has the advantage of being realistic about Western jihadis’ mindset and goals for their home country, which the Left is — true to form — ignoring as they try to make this into a racial issue. “The Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis in the 1940s, stripped thousands of Jews and foreigners of French citizenship during World War II.” This is actually no analogy: the Jews were not waging war against Vichy France or anyone else. They were not leaving French territory to train with groups that had declared their intention to destroy France and murder French civilians inside France, and then returning to do just those things.

“Fury as Hollande calls to strip terrorist passports,” The Local, December 30, 2015:

President Francois Hollande’s call for convicted terrorists to lose their French citizenship if they have a second nationality has triggered uproar among those who see him adopting right-wing ideas that recall dark moments in France’s history.

Ever since the French Revolution in the late 1700s, “le droit du sol” (“the right of the soil”) has been a fundamental principle, giving everyone born in the country the right to citizenship.

But in the aftermath of November’s jihadist attacks in Paris, Hollande announced to an extraordinary session of both houses of parliament that he would seek changes to the constitution so that dual-nationals could be stripped of their French passport.

Patrick Weil, a political scientist who met Hollande and advised him against the decision, said France would become “the first democracy in the world” to enshrine in its constitution the principle of unequal treatment of dual nationals.

“It introduces the idea of a different penalty for the same act, just because of the random chance of their birth,” said Weil, who teaches at Yale University in the United States.

“That people — who sometimes don’t even know they have a second nationality — can be banned is like the return of banishment as a penalty.”

For many in Hollande’s Socialist party, and others on the left of French politics, the move is little short of ideological treason.

“In wanting to steal the thunder of the far right, we risk implementing their programme,” said Cecile Duflot, a former minister in Hollande’s government.

Economist Thomas Piketty, author of the blockbuster book on inequality “Capital in the 21st Century”, wrote on his blog: “To its economic incompetence, the government has now added infamy.”

An ugly history 

As well as breaking a legal principle, the measure also touches a raw nerve from France’s history, say critics.

The Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis in the 1940s, stripped thousands of Jews and foreigners of French citizenship during World War II.

Dissenters say Hollande has borrowed from the playbook of the right wing, not least since the treatment of immigrants was one of the few areas where there was clear daylight between the two mainstream parties….