15 things worth reading in aftermath of Paris attacks

Last weekend I collated '12 illuminating contributions to debate in wake of Paris killings'. Since then there has been more and more commentary and analysis about the various contentious issues arising from the recent events. So, here is a further selection of writings on Islamophobia, secularism, free speech and the contexts shaping the terror attacks in Paris, all of which I strongly recommend reading.

 

A letter to liberals - Mehdi Hasan responds to the hypocrisy of the 'free speech fundamentalists'

 

What a perfect tribute to satire the Paris march turned out to be - Mark Steel exposes political leaders' double standards

 

The limits of secularism - Giles Fraser on the bullying of France's stigmatised and disenfranchised Muslims  

 

Who are they laughing at? A former employee of Charlie Hebdo lambasts the magazine's racist trajectory  

 

There's no insulation from the West's wars - Seumas Milne explains how the 'war on terror' bred more terror

 

Palestinian journalists targeted as Netanyahu and Abbas march for 'free speech' - Electronic Intifada highlights a few troubling inconsistencies

 

The limits of liberalism - John Rees explores the debates around freedom of speech 

 

From anti-Semitism to Islamophobia - Michael Rosen recalls some pertinent history

 

What should anti-capitalists say? - John Mullen offers some thoughts from Paris

 

Unmournable bodies - Teju Cole on the different values placed on different lives 

 

Don't mention the war - Lindsey German points out what is missing from media narratives about the Charlie Hebdo murders

 

Making sense of the horror - Tariq Ali on how Islamophobia and Islamist terror feed each other

 

I'm going to kill a cow - Anindya Bhattacharyya provides an illuminating analogy

 

Discussing Charlie Hebdo - Gavan Titley puts a few things straight

 

Why many French Muslims are not impressed by Je Suis Charlie - the Washington Post shares the voices of those suffering the backlash

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12 illuminating contributions to debate in wake of Paris killings

Joe Sacco.

If you want thoughtful reflection, context and a refreshing alternative to banal or racist responses to the killings in Paris this week, I recommend the following...

Satire is not meant to be a weapon against the powerless - Will Self on satire, free speech and racism

Was it really an attack on European values? - Myriam Francois-Cerrah punctures a few lazy myths

Why this was no attack on humour - Des Freedman examines the context surrounding the debate about free speech

The bitter fruit of imperialism - Lindsey German on lessons to be learned by the West's war-making governments

Western liberalism? Abdullah Al-Arian on the Enlightenment, empire and the contradictions of 'Western values'

What is the purpose of satire? - Cartoonist Joe Sacco on the politics of his art

There is a difference between being brave and being funny - Hugo Rifkind offers a thoughtful response

Moral clarity - Adam Shatz dismantles the 'clash of civilisations' thesis

The Iraq connection - Juan Cole draws attention to how the 'war on terror' influenced the latest terrorist atrocity

Algeria is the post-colonial wound that still bleeds in France - Robert Fisk on French imperialism and the legacy of the Algerian war for independence

The problem with drawings that fuel sectarian tensions - Alain Gresh sketches the recent evolution of Charlie Hebdo

How exactly would we like Muslims to condemn these attacks? Mark Steel lampoons the hypocrisy and absurdity of some responses to the killings


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France: Sarkozy rejected as Left and Fascists gain

Exit polls for the first round in France's presidential election put centre-left candidate Francois Hollande ahead of the right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. The official exit poll puts the Socialist Party candidate on 28.4% and Sarkozy on 25.5%.

The ousting of Sarkozy - one of the political figures most strongly associated with the mantra of ever-deeper cuts and privatisation - will be a setback for the Right across Europe. He has championed the interests of the bankers and the rich, pursuing a neo-liberal agenda. Everyone who is opposed to austerity wants to see the back of him.

Marine Le Pen, the far right's candidate, is on 20%, with left-winger Jean-Luc Melenchon predicted to take 11.7% and the centrist candidate Bayrou on 8.5%. Le Pen's vote may turn out to be a little lower - one exit poll puts her on 18.2% - but it is somewhat higher than many commentators anticipated.

The first round of voting determines which two candidates will go through to the second round on 6 May. A combined vote of around 45% for the two major right-wing candidates, as suggested by the exit polls, will raise Sarkozy's hopes of re-election.

Hollande, however, remains the favourite to win. Every poll for months has suggested he'll win the second round, against the backdrop of the current president's growing unpopularity. It would also be wrong to assume that all Le Pen voters will switch to Sarkozy.

It appears that Le Pen's vote has been boosted by the widespread disenchantment with Sarkozy's government. It is nonethless worrying that a fascist candidate - however superficially 'detoxified' - should win nearly one in five of the popular vote on a high turnout of around 80%.

The Le Pen vote reflects a mix of factors, including the prevalence of Islamophobia. The aftermath of the Toulouse killings was exploited to bolster her attacks on multiculturalism. This context almost certainly influenced the scale of her vote. The wider European far right will be inspired by the result, which indicates the potential for disaffection, at a time of economic crisis, to be channelled in a dangerous direction.

Melenchon's vote will be disappointing for many activists, but it is substantially better than the polls suggested even six months ago. His broad left-wing campaign developed tremendous momentum and galavanised thousands of activists, many of them politically active for the first time. He inspires millions of working class people with implacable opposition to cuts, NATO's wars and Islamophobia - and by passionately advocating an alternative political vision.

Melenchon's vote is clearly good enough to justify hopes of developing a much stronger French left out of this election. Just as important here is the spectacular growth - in the last few months - of activist networks around the election campaign.

The campaign also had the effect of pulling Hollande at least slightly to the left, who in himself offers little in the way of an alternative to the pro-austerity orthodoxy dominating Europe. An eventual Hollande victory could mark a turning of the tide in European electoral politics - 21 out of 27 European Union countries currently have right-wing parties in office (and that's without including Italy and Greece).

The real challenge for left-wing activists will be mounting pressure on Hollande - assuming he is elected - to break from austerity. That is a huge task, but the dynamic and popular campaign around Melenchon has strengthened the basis for a mass movement - on the streets and in the workplaces - to confront austerity.

This is re-posted from Counterfire. Thanks to Elly Badcock, Ady Cousins, Feyzi Ismail and Chris Nineham for rapid response feedback on the draft and for editorial help.

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Sexism, cover-ups and a 'respectful silence'

From Lindsey German's article 'Dominique Strauss-Khan, rape and the power to wreck lives':

'Even Strauss-Kahn’s allies told the Guardian that he was ‘a well-known seducer’ but that the rape charges were ‘far-fetched and unlikely’. However it seems that what is rather more ‘far-fetched and unlikely’ is that Strauss-Kahn has been caught and charged at all. That the word of a chambermaid has been taken against his.

It remains to be seen whether he will be convicted. But it is clear that the great and the good of French society were content to allow a man who behaved like this to remain at large. Far from his sexual behaviour coming under scrutiny, it was deemed acceptable enough in his circles.'

Quite. It's not Strauss-Khan's own behaviour that should be the greatest concern. The real scandal is that someone who evidently has this kind of 'sex pest' reputation - who has 'form' - is tolerated.

The story reveals something corrosive and repellent about the culture in these elite circles: the casual acceptance of unacceptable behaviour, the reluctance to challenge a respected leader, the maintenance of a respectful silence. These, remember, are mainly politicians who regard themselves as belonging to the left. In 2011 you might expect less tolerance of such individuals - and more regard for women's dignity and rights.

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Paris celebrates Tunisian revolution

A report from Kate Connelly in Paris:

'The atmosphere on the streets of Paris was one of joy and elation at the news of the revolution that has sent the Tunisian dictator, Ben Ali, scuttling from power.


Thousands of people poured onto a demonstration of celebration where Tunisian flags were seen everywhere and people tossed red and white flowers (the colours of the Tunisian flag) into the crowd. Every time a flag was waved from one of the balconies along the way a huge cheer went up, and there were more ecstatic cheers when pictures of the hated Ben Ali were held aloft and burnt.

Tunisians, Algerians, Muslims, non-Muslims, left groups and other campaigners impassioned by events all marched together in the streets. In a country where the left has, regrettably, been divided over the question of a woman’s right to wear the veil it was wonderful to see young women in hijabs marching and chanting in the streets. It shows that it is not what you wear that matters, but whose side you are on.

A popular chant was “Ben Ali, assassin; Sarkozy, complice” (Ben Ali, murderer; Sarkozy, accomplice) which reflects the anger at the conspicuous silence of the French state over Tunisia. They haven’t always been so silent.

Shortly after his election, Ben Ali was given a grand reception in Paris by President Mitterrand, and since then the French government has fawned over their corrupt ally. Chirac declared Ali’s Tunisia was “on the road to modernisation, democracy and social harmony”, while Sarkozy paid a high-profile visit to Ben Ali in Tunisia in April 2008.

Ben Ali has not been ungrateful. Le Monde reports that one former French ambassador received a villa near the presidency, while influential figures in French politics have been invited on luxury holidays in the Tunisian desert courtesy of the regime.

For the French establishment Ben Ali’s regime has kept Tunisia ‘stable’ – which really means the people are oppressed while French businessmen have the right to exploit Tunisia to get as rich as they can. Tunisia may have won formal independence from France in 1956 but that has not stopped the French elite from treating it like a colony. Now their avarice, corruption and complicity has been exposed.

The Sarkozy government, which was only last involved in a hugely damaging corruption scandal this summer, looks increasingly vulnerable.

Adding fuel to the fire has been the comments of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, who has called for restraint on both sides and, in a moment of breathtaking arrogance which nevertheless reveals her impartiality does not last long, suggested that the French police lend their expertise to the Tunisian police! Olivier Besancenot, the spokesperson of the left-wing Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste has called on her to apologise or resign.

The Tunisian revolution has sent shock waves around the world. It may yet topple more corrupt regimes.'

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France shows the way

'Hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across France on Saturday in the latest protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy's flagship pension reform.

Government estimates put the total number of protesters at around 850,000, while unions said between 2.5 million and 3 million had taken to the streets.

The French president is determined to stand firm on his plans to raise the retirement age, but unions have staged weeks of nationwide demonstrations to try to force him to back down. Five-day-old rail and refinery strikes are piling pressure on the government by disrupting travel.

Public and private sector employees and students marched in dozens of cities, with the biggest crowd assembling in Paris. The mood was upbeat, with disco music blaring, horns honking and chants of "All Together."'

The above comes via France24

It's obvious the outcome of the struggles in France hangs in the balance. The current situation is a severe test of leadership for the main trade unions in particular. It will be essential in coming days to sustain the momentum and avoid compromise.

This is a huge issue over which to fight, drawing extraordinary numbers on to the streets, and victory is possible. Such a victory will be decisive for the anti-cuts movement and turn the tide against Sarkozy's government, something recognised by the latter (hence the stubborn determination to press ahead despite mass opposition).

A number of things stand out in the magnificent example the French people are currently providing. One is the unity between workers and students, including high school students as well as those in the universities; another is the combined action of public and private sector workers. It is crucial, too, that the movement combines industrial action with mass protest. One without the other would be insufficient in confronting such a major national political issue.

In this country the action in France, while so geographically close, appears very distant. It does, however, indicate the possibilities for large-scale resistance to austerity measures.

Although it would be facile to simply assert 'Turn Britain into France', without thinking through the precise tactics we need now, it would also be wrong to either assume it can never happen here or think there's nothing we can learn.

A good first step is to bring together at least the beginnings of the mass, broad-based coalition we need to stop our own version of Sarkozy. See HERE for more on this Wednesday's Coalition of Resistance protest at Downing Street.

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France: snapshots of resistance

I recently wrote - admittedly without really doing the subject due justice - about how Lenin linked the economic and the political. There's a fascinating short piece (just over 2 pages in the print edition) by Denis Godard in the new issue of International Socialism, called 'France: from economic to political struggles'. Godard comments on the political nature, in France today, of a great deal of the resistance to the effects of the system's crisis. He also notes the ways this can feed economic resistance through strikes and occupations.

Godard suggests there has in recent months been little generalised class struggle in response to the crisis, but more hopefully there has still been localised resistance on a significant scale. He concludes, therefore, that any talk of a 'downturn' in struggle would be entirely misplaced. But the most hopeful aspect of the situation is the political campaigns, for example opposing post office privatisation and in defence of immigrants' rights, and how these pose a challenge to capitalism's offensive agianst workers at a time of crisis. He, finally, locates the whole question of electoral co-operation on the left firmly in this context: united political mobilisations around the impact of the crisis.

Godard identifies four particular mobilising issues: 'precarious' employment, climate change, post privatisation and immigrant workers. Are these also relevant in the UK? While the exact issues vary a little, it seems self-evident that yes they are. There may still be weaknesses in industrial struggle - due to the impact of neoliberalism, past defeats for organised workers, and the problems associated with the union bureaucracy (and its continuing allegiance to Labourism) - but the crisis is political as well as economic, and the same goes for resistance to the crisis.

Here is an excerpt from the article, lengthy but in my view worth re-posting:

'But what characterises the present phase of class struggle is the increasing prominence of conflicts of a political nature: marches against “precarious” employment and mobilisations around the Copenhagen summit on climate change and, most significantly, campaigns against the privatisation of the postal service and for the regularisation of sans-papiers (immigrants denied residence rights).

For the second time since 2008 the CGT has launched a wave of strikes and workplace occupations in the Paris area in support of the regularisation of workers without residence papers. But this wave is much bigger than the last, and more united, involving more than 40 companies.

The campaign against the privatisation of the Post Office reveals even greater possibilities. A nationwide “citizens’ referendum” was arranged for Saturday 3 October by a broad range of organisations including parties of the left (including the PS), associations and trade unions, giving rise to a multitude of local unitary networks. The results went beyond even the most optimistic predictions with 2.3 million signatures collected, for the most part in a single day, outside post offices and certain left wing town halls.

In the days that followed Olivier Besancenot, a leading spokespeson for the New Anti-Capitalist Party (Nouveau Parti Anti-Capitaliste, NPA) responded to the government’s refusal to give way by calling for a demonstration to impose a referendum. In spite of the anxiety of the PS and trade union leadership in the face of rank and file mobilisation, the idea began to take hold. Not only were demonstrations held but the popular support expressed in the citizens’ referendum gave postal workers the confidence to take national strike action (alongside teachers’ unions) on 24 November.

What links these two struggles is the potential they reveal for a qualitative step forward in the class struggle in France, the possibility of establishing a practical link between social and political struggles. In both cases it is political themes which are mobilising workers as workers, in the workplace, both against their bosses and the state. Conversely, the weapon of strike action is being applied in local mobilsations, giving political struggles a class character.'

The picture is of someone in Toulouse casting their vote, in the unofficial ballot on post privatisation, last October.

Is France on the verge of another May '68?

http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2009/06/france-party-npa-european

It's worth checking out this piece by Andrew Hussey, long-time commentator on French politics, in the New Statesman. He examines the prospects for another 1968-style upheaval in France, plus there's a useful round-up of Europe's radical left ('Left of the Left'). Hussey writes: 'I have never seen anything quite like the anger that has been building up during demonstrations over the past few months against the government of Nicolas Sarkozy.'

I am especially struck by the level of generalisation politically, the indications that people are linking their own specific struggles with something bigger: "we are sick of having no control over our lives", "we are degaraded as citizens". For socialists it is also very significant that the NPA, the recently-launched anti-capitalist party, is gaining such high approval in the country, especially amongst the young. It offers hope of the organised Left channelling the widespread anger and linking various struggles.