The results of the second round of parliamentary elections in France in July 2024 are an unexpected ray of light in the chronicle of the far right's seizure of power. The success of the united forces of the left shows that the triumphal march of nationalist and reactionary currents is by no means inevitable, and that a proposal for social justice can reverse the racist impulses at work in European societies.
The Collectif contre l'islamophobie en Europe (CCIE) joins its voice to those rejoicing in the victory of the New Popular Front. The shock strategy promoted by the Head of State, whose expected effect was to hand power to the Front National, has not worked. French society has shown that another future is possible, based on freedom, equality and fraternity. However, these words are destined to remain in vain if the left, which may be in power as of the next few days, does not untie the knot of Islamophobia in which French society is caught. The CCIE cannot pretend to forget that the triumphant forces of the left today have done little to combat the succession of measures inflicted on France's Muslim communities over recent years.
The dissolution of civil society organisations, the law on separatism, the focus of public debate on each and every practice of Muslims (is there any community whose daily humiliation is such a national sport?), administrative searches... In France, the criminalisation of individuals, including children, and collective organisations can be carried out without any counter-power coming into play. This political framework is the necessary condition for the far right to come to power, as it is the only party to propose a solution to the "Muslim problem" that others have constructed for it.
Often indifferent to the plight of Muslims in recent years in France, and sometimes even a party to the outbidding, the Left has a moral responsibility that it cannot shirk today, at a time of its triumph. This responsibility is coupled with a political necessity: unless the nation is pacified by weaving new links between the social groups that make it up, unless the Islamophobic frenzy is reversed (i.e. first and foremost by abolishing the measures decided on by the Macron presidency), it is to be feared that the retreat of nationalist and reactionary forces will be no more than a brief embellishment.
Putting an end to Islamophobia as a government policy is not just a moral duty for the Left, it is not just a gesture of civic friendship towards the Muslim men and women of France, but a way of purging society of the most dangerous affects that take shape there. The salvation of us all depends on it.
