Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Paris attack: Far-right protesters who stormed silent vigil chased away by attendees shouting ’go away fascists’
After they had gone, the crowd broke its silence, singing the French national anthem La Marseilleise.
Far-right protesters wielding the French flag stormed a silent solidarity march for the Paris attack victims in Lille this afternoon – but got more than they bargained for when hundreds of those gathering to pay their respects chased them away shouting “Go away fascists”.
The silent vigil had begun at 3pm but was interrupted within 15 minutes by a group of around 15 people the march’s organisers said were Front National supporters.
They infuriated the crowd after spilling on to the square screaming “Expel Islamists”, throwing firecrackers and unveiling an Islamophobic banner.
They were angrily pushed back and then forced to retreat across the square where minutes before protestors had been silently holding up signs saying “I am not afraid” – and traffic was held up as they spilled out on to the road.
Security forces intervened to separate the two groups before tensions escalated further and the far-right protestors moved, still singing, to a street further away.
After they had gone, the crowd broke its silence, singing the French national anthem La Marseilleise.
Authorities had discouraged the public gathering but the League of the Right’s of Man, a human rights NGO that organised it, got the go-ahead from the local police station.
Amelia Jenne, Paris Saturday 14 November 2015
Massive French Crowd Forces Anti-Refugee Racists to Retreat
Even after a senseless massacre that left over 150 civilians dead, Parisians are choosing compassion over blind hatred, and are willing to go toe-to-toe with racists spouting anti-Islamic rhetoric.
At a silent vigil today for victims of the attacks in downtown Paris, a group of racists holding a banner calling for the expulsion of Muslims was forced to retreat by a much larger crowd of several hundred, chanting “Fascists go home!” Eventually, the Islamophobic protesters were forced across the street. After taking back the square, the large crowd of mourners began singing France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise. Watch a video of the confrontation here
The group holding the banner was largely made up of a dozen or so supporters of the French National Front (FN). The FN is France’s third-largest political party, and its members have been referred to as racists on multiple occasions. The FN was founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has been charged with inciting racial hatred at least six times throughout his career, specifically in reference to Muslims.
Marine Le Pen, who took over the front from Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011, has called for a moratorium on legal immigration, and bemoaned the fact that immigrant detention centers were largely empty in 2011. This past October, she went on trial on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims, comparing Islamic prayer in the streets to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.
In the wake of the attacks, French president Francois Hollande called for the immediate closure of international borders and declared a nationwide state of emergency. The last time France was under mandatory curfew was in 1944. This is especially significant, as just months ago, Hollande pledged to accept 24,000 Syrian refugees over a two-year period.
The influx of Syrian refugees into Europe is the largest refugee crisis the continent has seen since Jews were liberated from Nazi concentration camps and ghettos after World War II. An estimated 250,000 Syrians have been killed as a result of the civil war that has torn the country apart since 2011.
Amanda Girard, November 14, 2015
* http://usuncut.com/world/french-crowd-forces-racists-to-retreat/
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