This is the tip of the iceberg of a growing scourge France And Europe. A. Frightening show of the far right Rivers of ink flowed in the French press on November 25. Hundreds of ultra-militants from different parts of the country gathered in the Monnaie neighborhood. Romains-sur-IsereA small town of approximately 30,000 inhabitants in the southeast of France. They did this under the pretext of protesting his death young thomasThe 15-year-old died in a tragic fight at the end of a party in the neighboring town of Crépol on November 19. But in reality, they wanted to eliminate xenophobia by beating the young people in that multicultural region.
The intervention of security forces prevented this protest from turning into a fight. Despite everything, four young people from la Monnaie they appeared was attacked by protesters and One of the ultras got beaten By the residents of the neighborhood. The demonstration in Romains-sur-Isère was not an isolated incident. Paris, Lyon, Nice… The list of cities where the far right has held rallies recently is long. As always in France, he took advantage of this tragic event to try to spread his idea. xenophobic ideology and turn it into a ghost instance racism against whites, something the police investigation excluded.
“The violence of the far right is increasing and is becoming more and more accepted by society,” sociologist Emmanuel Casajus, the book’s author, explains to El Periódico de Catalunya of the Ibérica Prensa Group. Style and violence at the extremes of radical drugs, about repeated actions last year. The expert on these small groups cites the extreme harassment suffered by the mayor of Saint-Brevin, Yannick Morez, as one of the most serious incidents. After acknowledging the existence of a refugee reception center in his town (in northwestern France), that councilor Two vehicles burned in May and a fire broke out in his house as a result of a molotov cocktail attack. He eventually resigned after receiving fairly lukewarm support from the Administration.
“There are groups in every region”
thirteen projects attacks It has been liquidated by small far-right groups in France since 2017. Although these figures are lower than jihadism figures – 41 attacks prevented –, Neighboring country concentrates most arrests in Europe related to dangerous far right militants: 16 in 2022 (35% across the Old Continent) and 29 in 2021 (45%). Undoubtedly the most serious incident was the murder in March last year. Former Argentine rugby player Federico Martín AramburuHis life ended after a fight with extremist sympathizers in a bar in the Latin Quarter of Paris.
“There is a new generation of young militants who think like those before them – a group of militants, for example. agitprop Generation Identitaria, which was outlawed in 2021, was too soft and They clearly prefer violent action“says Casajus. “The most worrying thing is the accumulation of weapons. Usually when arrests occur, the police seize significant quantities of weapons and ammunition,” warns political scientist Jean Yves-Camus, director of the Observatory on Political Radicalities of the Socialist Party’s Jean-Jaurès Foundation.
According to this expert on the far right, these small groups They’re not just found in big cities anymore Historically one of the fiefdoms of the radical far right, and in mid-November like Paris and Lyon a violent act against a support conference Palestine– or Nice, but “also in small towns like Bourges (center), Le Mans (west) or Thionville. There are groups in all regions.”
“There is a much more significant far-right presence on the streets than there was 20 years ago. Attacks are common in Lyon, and left-wing militants here are afraid to disperse alone when they gather to take part in demonstrations or public meetings,” explains Usul. This famous left-wing YouTuber experiences extreme harassment first-hand. “The worst thing is that I can’t have a normal life when they follow me on the street“ Complains about this content creator who was attacked on the street by French Action militants (a monarchist and reactionary group) with flour thrown at him after he published a video critical of Napoleon.
Is legalization an effective measure?
In addition to acts of violence on the streets, the forms of action of these small groups also vary. There are several Telegram groups, such as Affiche ton antifa (Show your antifascist)They spread the coordinates of left-wing politicians, activists or journalists. Even this correspondent of El Periódico de Catalunya of Prensa Ibérica Group was subjected to certain incidents of telephone harassment after being selected in one of them. Through their union, Cocarde, they are trying to censor colloquiums at universities. They also perform: review the bombing —intentionally giving bad reviews to films—causing films that were praised by expert critics to fail commercially, such as: Rodeo or more recently Before the flames go out.
“Our leaders have chosen to look the other way. Their priorities show their indifference to the danger,” Edwy Plenel, director of the left-wing digital newspaper ‘Mediapart’, wrote in an editorial this week. he complained. The Government has faced criticism that it is overly tolerant towards these groups and that it maintains an equal distance between the actions of far-right and “far-left” organisations. Emmanuel Macron It has been defending itself by providing this since 2017 banned many far-right groups -With nearly 37 closures of Islamist, far-right, left-wing or environmental associations, Macron is the president who has outlawed the most groups in the history of the Fifth Republic, such as the Identity Generation or, more recently, the Martel Division.
But, “These solutions are not very effective”Casajus complains. According to Camus, “they affect these groups’ economic resources by depriving them of their property” but do not prevent them from restructuring themselves under another name. Even these militants often reconvert themselves by working for political parties such as the Reconquista. Eric Zemmour or Marine Le Pen’s National Regrouping, which has many parliamentary assistants active in such small groups. In fact, they are taking advantage of the development of xenophobic and nationalist ideas in the French public. A situation that supports the trivialization of far-right violence.