Mixed feelings for terror victims memorial

Yasmine Mazouk cried as she spoke of her three relatives killed in Nice: "We are a Muslim family. It's barbarians without belief and without religion who carry out such acts."

The memorial service took place in the garden of the Dome des Invalides in Paris, organized by victims' associations who care for survivors and their families. Given the unprecedented string of attacks in the last 12 months that have shaken the nation and claimed 230 lives in all, the event was attended by President Francois Hollande, cabinet members, and his conservative rival, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is currently under investigation for alleged election campaign abuses.

Terror's beginnings in France

The memorial day was first marked on September 19, 1989, when a commercial airliner en route from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo to Paris exploded. Among the 170 dead were 54 French nationals. Some historians, however, cite the gruesome fight for Algerian independence as the source of terrorism in France.

France is reeling from 12 months of terrorism, beginning at the Bataclan Theater and popular Parisian restaurants on November 13, 2015, when 130 people died. Four French citizens were killed in January in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, and five more in March in Ivory Coast. One French person was killed in the attacks in Brussels, also in March, and one more in May in Mali. In June, a police officer and his wife were stabbed to death in their home outside Paris. Then came the truck attack in Nice one month later, which claimed 86 lives. Finally, Father Jacques Hamel was killed in his church at the end of July.

The names of all victims were read aloud at the ceremony.

Controversy behind the scenes

About 1,000 people affected by the various attacks were invited, however only about 200 attended. The difference is largely due to a disagreement between the various victims' associations and those families not a part of them. "Our mother learned of this from the newspaper," said Anais, the sister of one of those killed at the Bataclan Theater. She was incensed that the associations claimed to speak for everyone. Others criticized the lack of state help for those who had to travel to Paris for the memorial.

"They were innocents who hated no one, but were murdered by hate," said Hollande in his emotional remarks at the ceremony. He promised to increase victim compensation, taking into account both physical and psychological trauma. Psychologists have spoken of the years of counseling children present during the Nice attack will need to process what happened to them.

No medals, please

There was resistance to the giving of medals to victims. Grandfathers may have received such honors for their service in the First World War, but "my brother died drinking with his friends, not while fighting in Afghanistan," Anais said.

Others were satisfied with the ceremony. Marc Moogalion was on the Amsterdam-Paris train that was attacked in August 2015. US soldiers who happened to be on board were able to subdue the attacker, but Moogalion was wounded by a stray bullet. "The memorial service was very moving for me, most of all the reading of names," he said. "I think it helps to remember everyone who died each year."