Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Paris to show their support against far-right headed into the second round of France’s legislative elections. The protest, initiated by Media, Trade Unions, and Associations, revolted against the far-right party for a majority victory in Marine Le Pen’s party abusing the majority.
Valere Pique, a 31-year-old web developer in the civil service, expressed his dismay: “The impression I have is that we have turned into a country of racists, and that pains me a lot because we were France, after all,” He laments at the change in culture that France is portraying by becoming a country that is more and more close-minded and intolerant.
An example was a protester who specifically stressed the increasing polarization of cities and rural areas, wondering about the normalization of such things as racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and Islamophobia. This protester leveled an added concern as they said, ‘I find this trivialization of violence very frightening.’
Scrambling to obtain the support of center-left and liberal voters against the far-right in the upcoming legislative elections, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said this weekend Le Pen’s anti-immigrant party was within striking distance of an absolute majority. One of the groups that can obtain an absolute majority concerns the extreme right – the National Rally headed by Marine Le Pen, according to Attal, who stressed the need to avoid empowering this party.
Far-right political groups have remarkably changed the opinion of France’s Muslim community. It has previously demanded the removal of Muslim headscarves in public places and the exclusion of halal procedures to slaughter animals. That is why Muslim representatives are concerned that with a far-right government, their rights to practice their faith will be even limited, and they will be discriminated against.
To counter this, another conference, “For the Republic, For France,” was organized at The Great Mosque of Paris. This event was organized in a bid to counter the far-right. It was endorsed by the mosque Imam Chems-Eddine Hafiz, whose mosque was targeted, Kamel Kabtane, Imam of the Great Mosque of Lyons, and the Mayor of Stains, Azzedine Taibi, among other civil leaders.
Hafiz urged all citizens to vote in the second round on July 7 to battle the National Rally’s philosophy. He said we are against the project, ideology, and roots of the National Rally party in these decisive days for the future of France. He reassured the audiences that the parents of Muslim citizens built France, informing them, “We are not involved in politics; we are fighting against an enemy that is a threat to all of us. ”
In Paris, the protesting part Frantz and Roger Daniel, a former lawyer in the CGT child welfare union, stated that extreme parties might be formed under emergence. ‘Fascism does not count to [my son]. To him, the RN is just one of the many parties, while to us, it is a menace,’ said Daniel. The prominent messages were the threat to democracy, freedoms, and immigration. The final statement was, “What we’re going through today is very dangerous. ”
In this regard, the fight against the far right in France appears to be a battle for the soul of a nation. France seeks to remind itself of the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity as hate creeps into modern society.
