In France and Europe the far right kills

BENJAMIN ABTAN

Astonishment but no surprise: the far right has killed in France as it kills elsewhere in Europe. The young Clement Méric died under the blows of skinheads in the center of Paris. Who can pretend to be stunned?

The murder of Clement is the symbol of the rise in far-right violence in Europe. From skinhead groups to the Front National (FN) party, the whole French far right has gone along with, legitimized and organized this violence, thus is largely responsible for this assassination. Today like yesterday, this political family is the camp of murder.

We know well that Alexandre Gabriac, the leader of the “Jeunesses Nationalistes,” went to Greece last December to get inspiration from Golden Dawn. With antisemitism, symbols inspired by the swastika, racism, genocide denial, nostalgia for the Third Reich, they combine legal and illegal action, running for elections and violently assaulting migrants on a daily basis.

As soon as they entered the Parliament in May last year, we have constantly supported the democrats in Greece. In France, after a so-called exclusion, Alexandre Gabriac has been maintaining close relationships with the FN.

We also know that the Hungarian Guard, which is the paramilitary militia of Jobbik, terrorizes Roma people, often forces them to flee Hungary, and even regularly murders some of them. Jobbik is the cornerstone of the European strategy of the FN. Together, they founded in 2009 in Budapest the “Alliance of European National Movements.”

We all remember the massacre of the young social democrats on Utoya, in Norway, in 2011. Jean-Marie Le Pen then declared that migration, not the killer, was to blame for the massacre, and Marine Le Pen supported him. They kill in Paris. Who can believe in the innocence of the FN regarding these political crimes?

In France, during the mobilization against gay marriage, all forms of hatred have been expressed: against homosexuals, women, migrants, secularity.This mobilization has allowed the violence which is spreading all over Europe to get the legitimacy and social support to spread in France.

Hate speeches in the Parliament, rallies where leaders of democratic and antidemocratic parties walked side by side, too-weak condemnations of the violent acts which took place at the end of the protests, which were political attacks against democracy, the acceptance of all the enemies of democracy, all the racists and all the far-right thugs at these rallies have paved the way to, made possible the murder of Clément.

Now, along with the shock, the renewal of involvement must come – with that of public authorities to come first. It is fundamental that they resume their support for the fight against racism and for democracy. It is high time to give life to two of the main thematics of the electoral campaign of François Hollande: youth, who have been hit in the heart today, and equality, which has been assaulted by months of a gruesome reactionary mobilization. Last, it is of course a democratic necessity to ban far-right groups which bear responsibility for the murder of Clément.

It is also time for the renewal of the involvement of civil society, which has been too passive when opposing the rise of the far right in France like elsewhere on our continent. We must tolerate no hate speech and no illegal act, since none of them are innocent. We must not let ourselves be impressed by the feeling of might and permissiveness which the enemies of democracy feel because we, the democrats, are the many, in France like elsewhere in Europe.

What is at stake with this involvement is clear: liberty, democracy and life. Let us ensure that Clément is the last one to fall under the blows of the far right.