Young Muslims in France and the fight to defend the Republic
Unfortunately the disastrous prospect of seeing the Islamophobic far-right come to power the day after the legislative elections, the first round of which is scheduled for June 30, is no longer a mere fantasy. Many politicians have stepped up to denounce President Emanuel Macron's decision to dissolve the National Assembly, deeming it irresponsible and adventurist. But the decision was made without any possibility of reversal. Moreover, a republic reduced to defending itself solely through political calculations or administrative procedures will hardly be able to secure its future.
The republican momentum which followed the shock of the far-right's victory in the European elections and which saw the left unite within the New Popular Front bodes well. If the estimates of the polls which accredit this Front with nearly 30% of the votes are confirmed, it will be difficult for the far right, even if it is supported by Ciotti's supporters, to claim the majority which will allow it to run the government.
Certainly, the price to pay for such a barrier to the extreme right will be very high on all levels (political, economic and social to the extent that it is difficult to see how the New Popular Front will be able to govern without the support of the presidential camp and of the Republican right But it is worth it A victory for the extreme right would constitute a catastrophe for all popular forces and more particularly for the Muslims of France, the overwhelming majority of whom belong to the most affected social categories. by the liberal reforms of recent years.
Make no mistake. The nationalist and populist discourse of the French far-right should not make us forget either its variable geometry nationalism or its essentially adhesion to the liberal economic program defended both by the presidential camp and by the so-called republican right. Far-right nationalism is unique in that it is directed exclusively against “foreigners” (essentially North African Muslims or of North African origin and in particular Algerians). It is not directed against American capitalism and the European Commission which constitute the real masterminds of the destructuring of the French economy and society.
The populism of the French far-right hardly exceeds the threshold of electoral rhetoric insofar as it remains essentially prisoner of the liberal economic doctrine whose social consequences it seeks to temper by excluding “foreigners” of the social safety net. A simple glance at the general statistics proves that even by expelling a portion of unemployed “foreigners”, French society will not put an end to the harms of economic globalization. The CAC 40 giants generated more than 145 billion euros in profits in 2023 while the benefits enjoyed by all unemployed people in France (and not just “foreigners”) barely exceed 45 billion euros.
There is no doubt that the slogan of “national preference” brandished by the far right will do great harm to large sections of the population with an immigrant background, even if history has shown that when the rights of a person are violated, segment of society – occasionally transformed into a scapegoat – we must expect that the rights of all risk sooner or later being the target of apprentice sorcerers who believe they can solve serious problems with recipes primaries that they seek in the sewers of a history that we thought was forever gone.
The young Muslims of France, a significant portion of whom have so far chosen to abstain, wrongly believing that all politicians are alike, are called to a healthy burst of intelligence. Certainly, the New Popular Front is a sort of Spanish inn in which we find side by side respectable political men and women concerned with defending republican, democratic and social values that rise to the challenges posed but also representatives of currents which continue to adore the fetish values of a social democracy long acquired from the market economy, technocratic Europe and Atlanticism. The villainous positions of the PS and the PCF in relation to what is happening in Gaza will have shown that the republicanism mixed with secularism behind which these parties hide is at most only a soft version of the “clash of the civilizations” dear to American neo-conservatives.
But the young Muslims of France must find in these dark hours the patience and lucidity that their religion teaches them in such circumstances. Like in a boxing match, you must first dodge your opponent's blows. Blocking the way to the far right avoids taking additional blows which risk knocking you out. Voting for the lists of the New Popular Front does not mean being fooled by the true intentions and ideological and political orientations of the caviar left. Voting for the lists of the New Popular Front means above all voting for the safeguarding of republican and democratic achievements without which it will be difficult to fight tomorrow for the extension of these achievements to all, not only in France but everywhere in the world where injustice continues to make human beings suffer, as in occupied Palestine and Africa.
