Far-right groups in France are carrying out more and more attacks against migrants, people of North African origin and Muslims, writes Mediapart publishing editor Edwy Plenel in this op-ed article. Yet, he argues, this racist and Islamophobic violence has not prompted the kind of political and media reaction warranted by such a dangerous situation.
“Worse“Worse than the sound of jackboots is the silence of slippers.” This warning, often attributed to the German-speaking Swiss writer Max Frisch in the 1950s, seems an apt description of today's France. For there is, indeed, a massive political and media silence greeting the assertiveness of a violent far-right that is determined to confront the diversity of our people, an assertiveness that follows on from the far-right Rassemblement National party's strong electoral standing. It is a far right that is moving from words to deeds in order to make clear to Muslims, people of North African origins, to immigrants and their descendants that they have no rightful place in this country even though it is their country, even though they were born here, even though they have French nationality.
