“Rebuilding community means remembering that the law of the République applies to all!”
“The celebration of the national holiday is also an opportunity to honor the memory of all those who made our country great over the centuries…
Rebuilding community means remembering that the law of the République applies to everyone, across the entire territory, in all neighborhoods, and preventing real gangrenes from thriving there. France was not born yesterday; it was not born in 1789 or in 1790 on the occasion of the fête des Fédérés. The revolutionary era which saw our country's transition from monarchy to the République, not without tragedies, severed heads, and a period of terror, was preceded by a long, beautiful, and sometimes tumultuous history.
“Today, in 2024, the stakes remain the same. They are even more burning. 235 years separate us from this July 14, 1789, and we might think that these values are definitely acquired.
Yet, every day they must be reaffirmed and defended. More than ever, in a country plagued by doubts and a loss of values, by identity egoisms, we need to unite our strengths and talents, to speak with clarity, truth, and even firmness.
Celebrating our national holiday means recalling who we are, what France is in its most objective reality. France is equal rights and duties. France is freedom of conscience. France is freedom of expression,” the mayor said.
NATIONAL IDENTITY He added: “These values are at the heart of our national identity. In the same way as the tricolor flag, our motto “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” or our anthem, the Marseillaise, July 14 embodies, in the eyes of the entire world, the values that have made, make, and will make France.
Our history is not ordinary. France is not ordinary (...)
Let us rebuild a national community! There is an urgency... Rebuilding community, in a country plagued by incivility and delinquency, whether in public spaces, in relationships with others, with institutions, with the uniform...
means clearly affirming the rejection of any behavior that harms the collective through the selfishness of a few. Rebuilding community, in a country where communitarian demands that break with the very spirit of unity of the République are expressed with determination, means having the courage to be firm, to uphold rules that apply to everyone, without exception.
Rebuilding community is the exact opposite of the scenes we witness—scenes of violence, urban violence, scenes of shops being looted, public property damaged, confrontations with police services, and our firefighters. Rebuilding community, in a country where sharp disparities fracture the social fabric a little more each day, means ensuring that everyone feels they belong, finds their place, and has their place.
Rebuilding community means building the future of our young people to make them reasonable beings and giving them the optimal conditions for education. Rebuilding community means projecting ourselves together into the future, having a collective purpose for a common destiny.
I am thinking of a shared hope regarding ecology, a true global challenge in which we must all feel we have a role to play at the local level (...)
LOVING FRANCE “It means adhering together to the same République, to the only République, placing it above any other rules or dogmatic discourse. It means loving our country, being proud of its past, believing in its future. It means giving to it first without expecting anything in return, like our elders who were capable of sacrificing their lives so that we could live from this cultural and civilizational heritage.
We can be proud of our country, of what it has contributed to universal civilization, to the idea of humanity. We can be proud to be the children of a country of freedom and democracy.
Celebrating our national holiday must be a highlight of our unity. July 14 is the celebration of the nation gathered together. That is why it must be a celebration, a colorful celebration, a popular festival.
The République is beautiful when it is generous. It can only be generous if it is respected,” the mayor concluded (...)
.
Photos by Isabelle BENOIT.