France: Racism and fascism
01 January 1991
France: Racism and fascism
artdoc July=1994
FN wain as Gaullists gain approval
An opinion poll in Le Monde suggests that support for the
National Front has fallen sharply since the election of the
Gaullist administration last year. Nineteen per cent of the
French population now agree with the FN's anti-immigrant ideas
compared with some 32 per cent at its peak in October 1991.
However, in the first round of local council elections in March
the FN won 9.78 per cent of the poll, which is seen as a
consolidation of last year's parliamentary poll (Guardian 4.2.94,
Financial Times 21.3.94).
Anti-racists criticise appointment of new Communist leader
Anti-racists in France are critical of the appointment of Robert
Hue as the new leader of the French Communist party. Mr. Hue is
the mayor of Montigny-Les-Cormeilles in the Val d'Oise department
on the northern edge of Paris. In 1981, Hue organised a
demonstration outside the flat of a Moroccan family accused by
Algerian neighbours of being drug-traffickers. It turned out that
the Algerian informers were in possession of drugs, while the
Moroccan family were innocent. Mr. Hue never apologised to the
family who were forced to barricade themselves into their flat
while a hostile crowd shouted slogans from below (Independent
31.1.94).
IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 8, May 1994. Contact:Liz
Fekete, Insitute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X
9HS. Tel: 071 837 0041