July 14th in France is like our July 4th; it’s the Republic’s birthday. There are fireworks, parades, and cook-outs just like we have, and almost every town has a firemen’s ball where the firefighters dress in blue and host huge dance parties. And once again this year, there will be a public reading of the Declaration of Human Rights to remind everyone of the great ideals of the French Republic, namely: Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité.
And French citizens aren’t just proud of the Republic’s famous motto; the French are serious about human rights, and often demand that their government’s policies reflect this. So as France celebrates its republic’s ideals again this July 14th , some are worried that President Nicolas Sarkozy isn’t doing enough to promote democracy and support human rights.
To his credit, Sarkozy did take a strong stand on human rights earlier this year; he said he might not attend the Olympic Games in Beijing if China didn’t change its policies in Tibet and Sudan. However, after a Chinese boycott of French products, Sarkozy backpedaled and has said he’ll go to the Olympics after all. French industrialists are glad he will; they want to keep Chinese contracts to buy airliners and nuclear reactors from France, orders which amounted to 20 billion euros last year alone.
The night of his election, Sarkozy said, "France will always be on the side of the oppressed people of the world, for that is her history." But many French weren’t happy when the President let Moammar Khadafi come to Paris for a state visit last year – even if it was part of a deal to free hostages in Libya. And many are upset that Sarkozy invited the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Bastille Day celebrations. Assad probably had the Lebanese Prime Minister assassinated two years ago, and many French are still angry at Syria for killing 58 French peacekeepers in 1983.
And the French are unhappy about some of Sarkozy’s other guests too. Paris is hosting a summit of the Union for the Mediterranean, with over 44 heads of state from the region. But some of their human rights records, like in Egypt or Algeria, for example, clash with the democratic ideals of the French Republic. And Amnesty International has criticized the Union for the Mediterranean for focusing on economic cooperation at the expense of human rights.
Of course the idea is that free trade and open markets will spread freedom and democracy throughout the Mediterranean countries. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the Mediterranean Summit is like a "wind of hope" for the region, and news reports say the summit may be helping peace negotiations between Syria, Israel, and the Palestinians.
If Sarkozy’s Bastille Day maneuvering produces a Mid-East peace deal, then maybe the French won’t have to worry about being at odds with their nation’s noble ideals. Maybe they’ll be able to relax and enjoy the fireworks, if they know that their leaders still care about the important things.
You know… Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood…