Reflecting on the Bataclan massacres in Paris 10 years later | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast on. YouTube, where we go behind the. headlines to look at a story and why it. matters. In this episode, we look at how. France is commemorating the victims of. the deadliest attack in its recent. history. The night when 10 years ago. Islamist gunmen wearing suicide belts. killed 130 people across Paris in. restaurants in bars in the Stata France. football stadium and the Battleclong.

concert hall. I'm Janat Jalil and. joining me from Paris is our. correspondent Hugh Scoffield. And Hugh, I remember that night 10 years ago. because I was there and when the reports. first started to emerge of these. shootings in various parts of the city, there was just this huge sense of. disbelief, of panic and confusion as. people struggled to comprehend how. something like this could happen in. Paris.

>> Well, it's as exactly as you say. I. remember it very well. Um, I was in a. bar on the other side of town with some. friends and the first rumors started. coming through um on phones and on the. rolling TV news in the bar of of. something very very strange happening. And at first we were minded to just push. it to one side and say it was probably a. scare. But then it gradually began to. become clear that this was something. big. How big? We had no idea. Um when I.

came immediately over to this side of. town, there was talk of a massacre, you. know, of many dead, but many at that. point was 20 maybe 25. So a huge story, but not as huge as it became. And uh and. it was only then in in the subsequent. hours midnight 1:00 in the morning and. as as news filtered out from Batclan. here behind me the concert hall where. where the three had burst in and held so. many hostage for for three hours. It's.

only when that day knew more happened. with the the men blowing themselves up. and we could get a clear picture of what. had happened inside that we realized. that this was a night like no other. night and a terrorism attack like no. other terrorism attack that uh that. France had ever seen. 130 people killed. overall and it was it was truly shocking. and the scenes in in the streets of this. part of Paris were apocalyptic. People. wandering around in a days police not. knowing what was going up streets sealed. off. No. No one understanding what was.

happening. Just wild rumors. abounding of of gunmen on the loose. Um, no, it was a absolutely unforgettable. night as you'll know and certainly no. one here has forgotten it. >> Absolutely. Because it was started out. as an ordinary Friday night. Lots of. people out having fun and then it. descended into this unbelievable scene. of chaos and fear. Let's hear from one. survivor of the batter where 90 people. were killed, Sebastian Lascu.

>> At first, I thought the shots were. firecrackers. Everything happened very, very quickly. At the same time, the. lights came back on. People were. screaming and from the sound, I started. to understand that it wasn't. firecrackers, but that someone was. shooting. And today France is commemorating. those who died or were injured that. night in. >> indeed and it's the 10th anniversary. It's a big anniversary. Significantly,

one of the two associations which. represents victims and their families. has decided that after today they're. they're folding up for them. Their work. is done. It's it's a it's a big moment. this I mean every anniversary since has. been a big one, but this particularly is. a big one. And it's a a reminder for. people like me and you if you were here. of quite the how how deep the feelings. attached to this night are. I've been up. at the uh Pla Republic just up the road. here where there's a a memorial uh. flowers. People have been encouraged to.

bring uh tributes uh and lay wreaths and. so on. And up there we've met people who. were in the batclan and they are. incredibly moved by this display of. public spiritedness and um concern and. solidarity which the city has has put on. and the country has put on. Um and that. that is you know very much the purpose. of these moments of course but it's also. genuine. I mean the one positive thing. that came out of all of this, if. anything positive can come out of.

something as horrific, is this feeling. of togetherness, of um pride in. overcoming adversity. This sense that. the terrorists tried to divide us and um. destroy and ruin our system and our. values, but they haven't done it. And. that feeling is expressed by on days. like today by the coming together, the. unity that you see here. President. Mackaran who's a most unpopular figure. in the country is not being booed or you. know whistled at he's there representing. the nation because that is also part of.

his job as a head of state to be the. nation to be the the figurehead who. which can be the focus of all this. feeling. So yeah, a big day as as as. President Mron and his wife Prajit have. led commemorations and moments of. silence and uh the readings of names at. at each successive place associated with. that night of massacres. >> And Manuel Diaz was the first victim to. die. He was killed at the Stata France.

and his daughter Sophie spoke today in. an emotional tribute which I think sums. up that mood of defiance but also. expresses a deep sorrow that they her. family still feel today. >> Since November 13th, 2015, there's been. a void that never closes, an absence. that weighs heavily every morning and. every evening for the past 10 years. There are also the memories that nothing. can erase. My father loved life. He.

believed in freedom, in the simple joy. of being together, of sharing precious. moments with his family. And he. instilled in us the values of the. republic. That's what hatred sought to. destroy. But that's precisely what we. carry with us today. Stronger than. anything, despite the pain, despite the. absence and this gaping hole, we remain. standing together. So I remember the the morning after the.

the attacks, there was this real mood of. defiance in Paris. As I was reporting on. the aftermath, there were people just. going about their ordinary business. There was a woman pushing her baby in a. a push chair near me. So that was the. Parisians telling these Islamists that. they weren't going to win. Yeah, but I mean, you know, Paris is an. ancient city. Paris has been through. turmoil and grief and strive for the. commune, the Second World War. You know,

it's been through a lot. Uh, and. Parisians are not the kind of people who. are going to let this um knock them off. their determination to lead their lives. the way they want to lead their lives. So, yes, of course, life went on, but. behind that was this feeling that it was. important to go out and lead your. ordinary life to show that the. terrorists had had not had not won. The. the other great moment of the last few. years related to this to the battle. massacres was of course the trial a. couple of years know three years ago now. of Salah Dlam that the only survivor of.

of of the jihadists and there again. there was this sense of triumph but of. self satisfaction in a way and. assuredness that our system was. winning uh that that that the de. democratic processes were. proceeding as they should do in bringing. him to justice rather than an arbitrary. bullet in the head which is what um. would have been his end in a. non-democratic system. There was that.

sense that you know our system matters. and counts and that is good and we're. all behind it. So yes, that that is the. the positive story that the French have. been telling themselves about all this. ever since. And there is some truth in. it. The France is a country that you. know values its its its sense of. identity and its history and the values. that have been brought to it from the. revolutions or takes these very. seriously indeed that they're inculcated. in school children from an early age. And so when there's a chance to. demonstrate that by coming together.

after a tragedy like this, then they. they do it and they mean it. And in. recent years they there haven't been. such large-scale attacks. That's partly. because the intelligence services have. been able to thwart many threats. But. that threat has not gone away. >> No. And I mean no one has suggested for. a second that that it has. Well, the the. threat has changed of course and uh I. mean it it's obvious and uh been.

repeated many times that this kind of. highly sophisticated organized attack. requiring huge logistics uh and and a. foreign power essentially in the form of. Islamic State to organize it all and pay. for it all and get people smuggled in. and all the rest of it doesn't exist. anymore. So that kind of threat, a. repeat of the Batclan massacres is not. what people fear most, not what the. intelligence services fear most. At the. same time, you know, there's been a big. increase in intelligence work and. sophistication on the part of the.

authorities who feel that in a lot of. cases they are on top of uh. radicalization of individuals. They can. they're following people there. There. are this last year there have been a. number of um uh plots uh discovered just. recently this week. the the the former. girlfriend of Salah Abdlam, the survivor. from the jihadist who's imprisoned, his. former girlfriend has been jailed or. arrested anyway, facing possible trial. for a plot of hers. So, this does go on. Um, the threat now has changed though. I.

mean, the threat everyone is telling us. is uh of self-radicalization. Young, very, very young profiles now are coming. up uh on the intelligence services. radars. people who just follow the. propaganda that is all out there on the. various social media networks, people. who are prepared in some cases to to to. move ahead and and act. It's it's a it's. a changing world and one which uh. creates all the more nervousness on the. part of the authorities because of the.

fluid uncertain nature of of the. political international system at the. moment with Gaza in particular serving. as a real radicalizer of Musl young. Muslims here in France as elsewhere. So. of course the threat has changed but of. course no one for a second believes that. it's gone away. Thanks very much, Hugh. And you can hear. more of that interview and many more. stories on the Global News podcast. Just. listen wherever you normally download.

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