The "political game" behind the death of a French teenager

Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing Net reporter Wang Zi

"We march for young people to condemn violent law enforcement! They want to cover up! "On July 8, on the Place de la République in Paris, France, social activist Asa Traoré told a crowd of protesters." They approve neo-Nazi marches, but they do not allow us to march. The French police are racists and violent! ”

Seven years ago, Traore's brother, Adama, a 24-year-old young man of African descent, was arrested and killed, sparking riots that lasted for days. This is similar to the recent riots caused by the shooting death of police in Nahr, a 17-year-old African-American teenager. "The teenager's death reignited longstanding public allegations of systemic racism in the security forces." AFP wrote.

Due to the ongoing Nahel affair, unauthorized protests or gatherings have been banned in many French cities, including Paris. According to the French newspaper Opinion, about 90 trade unions, organizations and left-wing political parties in France called for marches across France on July 8 to condemn violent law enforcement and discriminatory policies in impoverished suburbs where immigrants live. On the 8th, about 30 demonstrations were held in many cities.

Nearly 2,000 people, including several lawmakers, attended the rally organized by Traoré despite the ban. Traoré said she wanted to tell the world that these deaths could not be erased. Those who attended the rally responded with chants: "Justice for Nahr!" ”

The rally "dissolved in peace." Police said charges had been filed against Traoré.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has challenged France's "excessive use of force by law enforcers" and urged France to adopt legislation defining and prohibiting "racial profiling." The French Foreign Ministry countered the commission's accusations of "excessive" and "baseless", stressing: "In France, any racial profiling in the law enforcement process is prohibited." ”

The aftermath of Nahel, and the wave of unrest it unleashed, continues to dominate political debate in France. U.S. News & World Report magazine said preliminary assessments showed that during the riots, about 200 shops were looted, about 300 bank branches and 250 tobacco shops were damaged, and the damage could exceed 1 billion euros. French Prime Minister Bornet argued in parliament that young people involved in riots and their parents should be held accountable, and that the criminal justice system "should ensure that misdemeanours committed during riots are also prosecuted." She said the attorney general "will issue a directive in this regard soon."

Far-right parties have linked the big riots in France since 2005 to mass immigration, demanding restrictions on new immigration. Left-wing lawmakers demanded that the government explicitly condemn violent law enforcement and called for changes in the law to curb violent law enforcement. On Twitter, Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing Indomitable France party, compared French President Emmanuel Macron to Philippe Pétain, the leader of the Vichy regime who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. "The leaders are bringing France to the regime we have seen. Dangerous. Dangerous. Mélenchon wrote.

In the chaos, two fundraising funds have sharpened French society.

After Nahr's death, two fundraising campaigns appeared on the Internet, one to support Nahr's mother and the other to support the police officer involved, Florian M. M's family. "The French news media focused on these two fundraising campaigns, and the reaction was fierce, exposing the deep polarization of French society." The British news agency Reuters noted.

Left-wing French politicians called it "shameful" to raise money for the police who shot Nahel. They questioned the motives of those who launched the campaign, asking the fundraising platform GoFundMe to shut it down. Far-right activists defend the police by saying that their efforts to maintain law and order in the impoverished suburbs around cities "are the target of violence every day" and that lashing at them is a "national shame."

The GoFundMe platform explicitly refused to shut down this fundraising channel. A spokesperson for the platform said the fundraising was in line with the terms of the platform and that the funds raised would be paid to Florian M. M's family.

The fundraising campaign was initiated by Jean Messija, a French journalist and former politician. According to CNN, Messiha ran as a candidate for Marine Le Pen's far-right party National Front. In the 2022 French elections, he was the spokesman of far-right candidate Eric Zemmour. CNN said, "Messiha's platform is more extreme than Le Pen's." ”

According to CNN, the staff was written for Florian M. The fundraising campaign launched by M had raised more than €1.6 million by the end of the day, while the campaign for Nahr had raised just over €400,000. More than 85,000 people donated to support Florian M, while the number of donors supporting Nahr is about 21,000. Messiha took to Twitter to urge supporters to maintain the "national momentum" created by the fundraiser.

"Everyone can express their feelings and donate." Attorney General Moretti said, "But I don't think it has served a reassuring effect in this case." ”

For Philippe Marière, a professor of political science at University College London, the death of an African-American teenager and the unrest it triggered provoked a reaction from France's "quintessentially traditional far-right." Far-right sympathizers argue that the riots prove that migrants "are thugs who don't want to integrate, who don't respect France, who have ill will towards France."

It is worth noting that while radical rhetoric about the incident has flooded the internet, the publicity of the fundraiser has always remained measured. "Support Police Officer Florian A. M's family. He did his job, and now he pays a high price for it. Great support for him and our police force! The fundraising interface reads.

Malier noted that this rational language hopes to appeal to a wider audience than typical far-right voters. "Such a statement can appeal to most French people. Most of them would never have considered voting for the National Front. Marière said this allows fundraising to help the far right go mainstream.

It also explains Le Pen's mild rhetoric when talking about the crisis. When Zemmour denounced the rioters as "scum" and called for their applications for French citizenship to be rejected, Le Pen showed more sympathy, refraining from using traditional far-right "rallying numbers" such as "riots, minorities, resistance to public power". She tweeted: "No one can remain indifferent to the death of a 17-year-old. ”

Malier believes that this is also to attract more middle-of-the-road voters. Ms. Le Pen's low-key response is part of a long-term strategy to gradually wean herself off the far-right label and get French voters to see her as a reliable replacement for Macron.

"You use a tragic political and social event as a tool to try to earn political points with it. That's politics. Malier told CNN.

Source: China Youth Daily client