|
France
’s Muslims and Jews Against Le Pen
 |
|
Students holding a French national flag with "no" written protest against the extreme-right Le Pen at the Republic square in Paris. |
By Alya Si-Ahmed, IOL Paris correspondent
PARIS
, April 24 (IslamOnline) – Muslim and Jewish circles in
France
are turning strongly against Jean Marie Le Pen, French President
Jacques Chirac’s opponent in the second round of elections on May 5.
“The
French people have made their choice in the first round and we respect
this choice, but what’s worrying us is the growing support for
chauvinism,” Tohamy Pres, the head of the Union of Islamic
Organizations in France told IslamOnline. “We call upon French
politicians to study the causes behind this phenomenon and to try to
solve it regardless of party interests.”
“The
election campaign in the first round focused on exaggerated lack of
security claims, which eventually came in Le Pen’s favor against
Chirac.”
Pres
said he sent a message to all affiliated Islamic organizations calling
on them to vote for Chirac in the second round.
Meanwhile,
the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in
France
has effectively mobilized the Jewish community, especially youngsters,
against Le Pen who adopts an aggressive policy of enflaming the spirit
of fighting in youths, a policy that goes against the prevalent Rap
music and hamburger.
A
few hours after the announcement of election results, demonstrations
broke out in a number of cities, including tens of thousands of high
school pupils.
“It’s
a shock,” said the head of the Council on the sidelines of the
demonstrations. “It’s a defensive reaction… It’s a reaction
that is both sad and comprehensible… The far right has made use of a
situation [lack of security], which is no surprise to us.”
On
the same day the election results were announced, the union of Jewish
students in
France
succeeded in mobilizing students by calling on them to vote for Chirac
in the second round.
In
Israel
, the hard-line Jewish party Shas urged the French Jews Monday, April
22, to emigrate to
Israel
, following the announcement that Le Pen had won the first round of
the elections.
Top
French television channels, including Channels 1 and 2, said Le
Pen’s first blunder came in 1987 when he told RTL radio that the
Nazi gas chambers was a "detail" of history.
Le
Pen is also known for his utter rejection of Arab and Muslim presence
in
France
.
The
far-right leader was among foreign paratroopers in the wars in
Suez
and
Algeria
. Chirac too took part in the French war against the Algerian
revolution for independence.
Latest
polls show 30 percent of those who voted for Le Pen are unemployed, 24
percent are workers and 20 percent are youths.
Left-wing
politicians, hard-bitten trade unionists and trendy media joined
mounting calls for an anti-Le Pen vote in the May 5 runoff as youths
organized nightly protests chanting "vote the crook, not the
fascist!"
France
’s Socialist Finance Minister Laurent Fabius stumbled over his words
on RTL morning radio as he stammered out his reluctant call to back
Chirac before finally saying: "An anti-Le Pen referendum --
that's what it's all about."
He
picked up the phrase from the leftist daily Liberation, whose
editor Serge July wrote: "To hold back Le Pen on May 5, the vote
for Chirac must be massive. There's only one way -- make the second
round an anti-Le Pen referendum."
|
