Commemoration of the Toulouse and Montauban attacks: a Sunday under high security
For the commemoration of the attacks in Toulouse and Montauban, Sunday March 20 in the Pink City, the districts of the Ohr Torah school and the Halle aux grains will be cordoned off.
Exceptional guests require exceptional security. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Islamist attacks in Toulouse and Montauban, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) in Toulouse, which had not organized an event in recent years, has launched numerous invitations which give, at this a time of tribute and reflection, the scale of an international event.
At the Halle aux grains, chosen in particular for security reasons, on Sunday, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, will be present and will deliver a speech. Alongside the families of the victims of the three attacks will take place: Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, former heads of state, former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, guest like all the mayors of towns hit by an attack, Gérard Larcher, the president of the Senate, Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie Region, Georges Méric, president of the departmental council, Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse, the ambassador of the States States, Denise Campbell Bauer, members of the national Jewish community and many other elected officials.
To these guests are added those who will intervene during the debate preceding the commemoration: the political scientist Gilles Kepel, the journalist Caroline Fourest, the lawyer for Charlie Richard Malka, the philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy… Regularly present in Toulouse on March 19, Marek Halter and Imam Chalghoumi, accompanied by other imams, will be in the room. In total, 2,000 people will take their places in the Halle aux grains from 2 p.m. Registrations have been closed since March 11, the time for the prefecture to have the identities checked.
As when Emmanuel Macron came to Toulouse in February, two districts will be cordoned off: around the Ohr Torah school, in Croix-Daurade, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the Halle aux grains, from 12 p.m. 8:30 p.m. In these areas: no parking, car traffic or pedestrians (except residents with proof of address, accredited persons and compelling reasons). In a second larger perimeter, police checks will be carried out.
At school, at the beginning of the afternoon, the French heads of state and received, accompanied by their wives, lay a wreath.
The Toulouse police services have received reinforcements from CRS and mobile gendarmes. That is a total of several hundred personnel. Minesweepers, BAC, intelligence, RAID… everyone is on deck. Like the police officers of the Security Group of the Presidency of the Republic and the rejected agents. Isaac Herzog, who travels by regular flights, will arrive in Toulouse on Emmanuel Macron’s plane. In front of the Halle aux grains, his descent from the car should be in an airlock, out of sight.
A minute of silence for Ukraine
In the early afternoon, only Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Isaac Herzog, accompanied by their wives, will go to the Ohr Torah middle school-high school for a wreath laying and a meeting with the school director, Yaacov Monsonego, and son wife. Meanwhile, at the Halle aux Grains, a debate will be held led by journalist Michaël Darmon on the defense of the values of the Republic, secularism and the need for unity in the face of the Islamist threat. The commemoration, when the presidents arrive, will begin with a tribute to the seven victims. These will be readings interspersed with pieces of music performed on the cello by Sarah Iancu and sung by Sarah Lugassy. Samuel Sandler, Jonathan Chetrit, former student who wrote a book, Ness, Nissim, Ava and Inès, friends of the children killed, will speak in turn. President of CRIF, Franck Touboul will deliver a speech and will be followed at the microphone by Isaac Herzog and Emmanuel Macron. On the initiative of the organizers, a minute of silence will be revealed for Ukraine. At 8:30 p.m., “Selecté” will be performed, a play on the fate of Toulouse swimmer Alfred Nakache directed by Steve Suissa.