The
NPA must actively fight Islamophobia!
(Contribution
to the discussion bulletin of the NPA, November 2010)
Argenteuil,
April 2009 :
A young woman wearing a veil
is the victim of a physical attack by three individuals in Argenteuil.
Hauts
de Seine, July 2009:
A young woman wearing a veil is violently attacked by a stranger in a
large
shopping center in Hauts-de-Seine.
Bordeaux,
September 2009: A
women
wearing a veil is attacked with a knife by men shouting Islamophobic
insults.
Béziers,
January 2010 :
Swastikas
are spraypainted on the mosque.
Strasbourg,
January 2010 :
Racist graffiti on the car of an administrator of the Strasbourg Mosque
Paris,
February 2010 :
a
retired teacher attacks a Muslim woman wearing the niqab (full facial
veil),
and tears off her veil. “For me, wearing
the veil is an attack. You don’t wear
the niqab in my country,” she says in self-justification.
Everywhere
in France, February 2010 :
A media smear campaign against the NPA candidate in Vaucluse, who wears
a
headscarf. Martine Aubry (First
Secretary of the Socialist Party) denounces the choice of candidate, as
does
Jean-Luc Mélenchon (founder of the Left Party).
Paris,
March 2010 : The
parliament begins discussion of a law to prohibit women from wearing
the niqab
in public.
Marseille,
April 2010 :
A
Halal butcher’s shop in the 15th arrondissment (ward) is
shot at.
Istres,
April 2010. The
mosque is shot at—32 bullet
holes left.
Tarascon
(Bouches du Rhône) May 2010 :
7 Muslim graves are vandalized, bringing the total to fifteen cases of
vandalism of Muslim graves in France since the beginning of 2010.
Strasbourg,
June 2010 : 18
graves
are vandalized in a Muslim section of the Robertsau cemetary.
Paris,
June 2010 :
Islamophobic
organizations hold “pork sausage and red wine” parties in multicultural
neighborhoods during prayer hours.
Paris,
July 2010 : The
law
against women wearing the “full veil” is approved by the Assembly. Only one deputy votes against.
Rhône
Alpes, September
2010 : Two women wearing headscarves are refused access to
local
adult education courses when they try to enroll
Lyon, September
2010 :
Islamophobic and racist graffiti on a mosque.
Bron,
October
2010 :
Islamophobic
and racist graffiti on a mosque.
The
NPA Congress this year will debate a motion reaffirming that Muslims,
veiled or
not, are accepted into the Party and as candidates in elections on
Party lists
under the same conditions as all other members of the Party. If the motion is carried, it will an
important step forward. But it’s not
enough. Our party must take up an active
struggle against Islamophobia. The
importance of this struggle is highlighted by the information given
above. We leave it to the comrades to
judge the
importance that these incidents have been given by the party press.
We
are living through a period in which there is an increase of
Islamophobia and
practically the entire Left and the
Far Left are entirely indifferent at best.
That must change.
Marie Geaugey (NPA 78), John Mullen
(NPA Montreuil)