Faced with weeks of rebellion in the suburbs and poor neighbourhoods, the
government is trying to cover up the fact that this situation is the result
of growing inequality and discrimination caused by several decades of disastrous
policies.
Far from putting an end to the intolerable and devalorizing discourse that
stigmatizes those who live in these neighbourhoods, over the past few days
we have witnessed populist appeals on the part of several political authorities,
who have been spreading lies and misinformation in an attempt to make scapegoats
of foreigners.
Following the Minister of the Interior’s statement that most of those responsible
for the past several weeks’ violence were foreigners, and his call for the
deportation of all foreigners arrested for participating in the events, now
we have the Minister of Employment Gérard Larcher and the UMP president
of the National Assembly Bernard Accoyer, who are claiming that polygamy and
family reunification policies lead to urban violence.
And yet the official figures are available to show that all but 6 to 8%
of those who have been arrested over the past weeks are French. As for polygamy,
which victimizes women first and foremost, and the right of every person,
regardless of their nationality, to their family life (an inalienable right
according to Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention), these are
in no way related to this social crisis.
Such statements are intended to cover up the social issues that have been
raised over the past few weeks, switching the focus to the question of immigration.
The multiplication of these statements is a clear sign that immigration
is now being exploited as demagogically as is possible, as an important part
of the strategy of the current parliamentary majority - which hopes to win
votes from the racist and xenophobic far right - in view of the 2007 elections.
Such an attitude is scandalous and irresponsible: it makes life harder and
harder every day for entire sections of the population (whether or not of
regularized status); it gives rise to abuse; it encourages the rise of xenophobia,
racism, exclusion and, in return, communalism* within our country.
The Solidaires Trade Union refuses to see entire populations sacrificed
on the alter of nauseating political ambitions, simply because of where they
were born. We refuse to blame the victims of discrimination and exclusion
for their misfortune.
French citizens, foreigners living in France who have regularized status,
as well as the undocumented, all deserve better than to be afraid of each
other, than these attempts to divide, and in the end this xenophobia is directed
against the very people who already suffer more daily discrimination, poverty
and unemployment than the rest of society.
For the Solidaires Trade Union, the answer to the crisis in the popular
neighbourhoods should involve neither repression nor provocation nor demagogical
and electoral exploitation of these social problems. What our country needs
more than ever is the elaboration of a national policy to eradicate discrimination
and establish equal rights.
Paris, November 21st 2005
* translators note: i have translated “communautairisme”
as “communalism”; this term is akin to “multiculturalism”, but is almost universally
understood to have a negative connotation (more similar to how North Americans
now view “identity politics”). An interesting and (i think) useful point
was made in In The Fray (an online magazine): "To really understand
why the Islamic headscarf has become so controversial in France, one must
try to understand two words that are often bandied about in this debate and
are not easy to translate into English: laïcité and communautarisme.
The first term is often translated in the American press as ‘secularism,’
as if it simply designated the separation of church and state, a familiar
issue to Americans. In reality, laïcité implies a set of political
and cultural values, that, in a way, have become a pseudo-religion of the
state... Communautarisme, on the other hand, roughly means ‘multiculturalism,’
although its connotations are almost entirely negative. Communautarisme, to
the French, is what happens when you let immigrants form their own communities,
speak their own languages, and practice their own religions. Consequently,
France becomes less ‘French’ and more open to foreign values and cultural
practices. "
(i would like to thank the smart folk at Infinite Thought blog for pointing me towards this text)
In other words, “secularism” in France is similar to “freedom” in the United
States – it is both a value (which we can all agree with) and a kind of nationalistic
slogan, with potentially racist overtones (like “freedom fries”).
Please note that the above text comes from the Solidaires Trade Union
– and was translated by yours truly. I translated it because it is one of
the few pieces i have seen over the past week or so about the rebellion in
France, and ongoing clampdown. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy,
meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology
i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original
document can be seen in French here.
Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find
any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them
in English… i do not necessarily agree with the author’s point of view, nor
do they necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à
suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!
This originally came from my blog - Sketchy Thoughts
- and is one of a number of pieces i wrote or translated regarding the riots
that rocked France in October and November 2005. To see the a complete list
of such posts, i suggest you check out the 2005 Riots In France page on the Kersplebedeb
site.