Millions take to the streets to oppose French fascist
By G. Dunkel
Waves of anti-fascists of all nationalities flooded into the
streets of dozens of cities across France on May Day. Reports
of turnouts across the country had reached over 1.1 million by
mid-day, according to the Interior Ministry. And that number
did not include the massive Paris protest that had already
grown to 400,000 by early afternoon, according to Paris
police.
These powerful and huge demonstrations condemned the results
that gave Jean-Marie Le Pen--a racist, fascist bourgeois
politician--a ballot spot in the second round. The winner of
the round scheduled for May 5 will be president of France for
the next five years. The main political point of the protests
is that Le Pen's party, the National Front, is a fascist
organization and it is a disgrace that he is on the ballot.
By contrast, only a meager showing of some 10,000-to-12,000
turned out to support Le Pen in Paris on May 1.
The vast May Day outpouring of public sentiment against Le
Pen and his anti-immigrant poison followed on the heels of
protests by well over half a million demonstrators in the
streets across France in the week after the first round of the
country's presidential election. A hundred thousand marched in
Paris on April 29. Close to 100,000 people marched in Paris on
April 27. Another 100,000 marched in more than 40 cities, big
and small, throughout the country. Grenoble, a city in the
southeast, saw 30,000 to 40,000 people marching, its biggest
demonstration in 40 years.
High school students have been particularly active in
protests outside Paris, walking out and closing school for the
afternoon. They can't vote--the voting age is 18--but they are
proving that they can make their voices heard in the
streets.
So many students below high school age have been protesting
that the minister of education has sent around a circular
requesting teachers try to keep the youngest students in
school. University students have also been active, but took
longer to get mobilized.
The students have made a point, according to French
television, of making sure their demonstrations reflect the
character of French schools: "noire, blanc, beur"--"Black,
white, North African." Africans and North Africans are on the
lead banners, are often in the leadership and are chosen as
spokespeople.
In Paris on April 27, a 14-year-old French student who lives
with his father in the predominantly poor, North African
housing projects of the suburbs told the newspaper
Libération that he was afraid all his friends would be
sent away. Le Pen has proposed putting all immigrants into
"transit camps" and "loading them into special trains" to be
sent out of France.
Nassiva and Fériel, two teenaged daughters of North
African immigrants, said on April 27: "Our mother is not here
because she has to work. All three of us will be here on May
Day so that those who cast their vote for Le Pen will realize
what they did and regret their gesture."
Since the high schools in Paris return from their spring
break on April 29, a massive demonstration had been called for
that afternoon. This was a building action for the traditional
march on May 1, which has been endorsed by a whole gamut of
unions, political parties, student groups, associations and
community groups. Almost every city and large town in France
will also march May 1.
May 1 is also the day when the National Front marches,
although they call it St. Joan of Arc Day. In the past, their
security forces have attacked North Africans that came upon the
FN march.
In 1995, the date of the last presidential election, they
killed a young Algerian named Brahim Bouaram by throwing him
into the Seine. Ever since, anti-racist and progressive groups
have commemorated his death on the bridge where it occurred.
This year there is a significant chance of a confrontation with
the FN.
There is a huge public debate going on in France these days
over how Le Pen managed to come in second, what it means and
what to do about it. But the debate has not stopped
progressives and militants from taking to the streets and
protesting.
Reprinted from the May 9, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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