A young French Muslim woman who lost three family members in the July 14 terror attack on Nice made an impassioned plea Monday not to confuse the Islamic faith with terrorism.
\nYasmine Bouzegan Marzouk, 21, told a national ceremony in tribute to the French victims of terror attacks that they were carried out by \u201cbarbarians who do not follow the law, faith or religion\u201d.
\n\u201cOn July 14th, this national holiday, our lives were changed forever,\u201d she added, her voice breaking with emotion as tears streamed down her face.
\n\u201cWe are from a Muslim family and no one should make the link [between Islam and the attacks],\u201d she said.
\nBouzegan Marzouk, who herself survived the attack, recalled how one of her relatives, 13-year-old Mehdi Hachadi, was crushed under the wheels of the truck that sped through the crowd on the Nice waterfront.
\n\u201cThe life of a child who had such a promising future was snatched away. He was brought up in the Muslim faith which says we should respect others and show tolerance,\u201d she said.
\nThe truck was driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian who the Islamic State group said was one of its followers.
\nMarzouk called on French President Francois Hollande \u201cand his successors\u201d to \u201cput a halt once and for all to these acts of savagery \u2026 so that the terror to which French citizens are subjected will end and hatred can no longer be stoked by different religions.\u201d
\nHollande listened grim-faced to the list of 230 French people killed in terror attacks at home and abroad in the past 12 months.
\nThey included the 130 cut down in Paris by Daesh gunmen and suicide bombers on November 13, 2015, and the 86 killed in Nice.
\nAddressing the rainswept ceremony at the Invalides, Hollande said France was at \u201cwar\u201d.
\nHe announced a reform of the 30-year-old system to compensate victims of terror attacks and their families, saying: \u201cThis war has produced so many victims that \u2026 the authorities\u2019 response and the rules for compensation cannot remain unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n
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