Since the Algerian War, murders targeting individuals perceived as North African have punctuated the grim history of racism in France, to the extent that the term “Arabicide” was coined by the author of a book on the subject. Certain political rhetoric has inspired such crimes, including the murder of Ibrahim Ali, a young Frenchman of Comorian descent who was killed in 1995 in Marseille by a member of the Front National (now the Rassemblement National, RN) far-right party while posting campaign posters. However, never before had a racist murderer’s intent to incite others to follow their example – thereby “disturbing public order through intimidation or terror,” to use the French penal code’s wording – led to a classification of “terrorism.”
After the murder of Hichem Miraoui, age 45, on Saturday, May 31, in the southern town of Puget-sur-Argens, the decision to involve France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office was based notably on the suspect’s call to “go get them [foreigners] where they are,” posted on social media. Christophe B., age 53, is now under investigation for “premeditated murder in connection with a terrorist undertaking, committed because of race or religion.” This classification, which is appropriate, marks a first in cases of racist or anti-Muslim homicides. It reflects the emergence of a troubling threat: far-right terrorism.
By combining calls for racist murder with appeals to vote for the RN in messages broadcast without any filter on Facebook and X, Christophe B. has highlighted the ambiguity, and even perversity, of the RN’s rhetoric. The image of respectability crafted by party leader Marine Le Pen masks barely subliminal messages of hate from her supporters. The depiction of immigration as a “flood” responsible for all the country’s ills, the conflation of Muslims with terrorists and the labeling of perpetrators of urban violence as “savages” have for years fostered a hostility toward foreigners that far-right groups or lone individuals are encouraged to translate into action.
But this “ambient racism,” in the words of Socialist leader Olivier Faure, has also been fueled by a growing portion of the political spectrum adopting the language of the RN. By denouncing “barbarians” after the incidents that occurred during the Paris Saint-Germain football victory celebrations, and by constantly placing Islam, Muslim and Algeria at the center of political debate, conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, like other political leaders, fueled the hate machine. His condemnation of the “racist” crime in southern France and his description of racism as a “poison that kills” are therefore all the more commendable.
Still, the frequent tendency to substitute a religious lens in lieu of an analysis of the racism and social relations underlying these crimes represents a regrettable step backward. Admittedly, the repeated shocks inflicted on French society by Islamist attacks are echoed in the hateful writings of Christophe B. However, his language, which includes racial slurs, seems primarily inspired by classic racism and xenophobia.
By viewing the tragedy in Puget-sur-Argens solely through a religious lens before even knowing Miraoui’s relationship to Islam, there is a risk of reducing him to a single trait and favoring the perspective preferred by all extremists. This murder should first and foremost prompt condemnation of any rhetoric that equates a religion, skin color, culture, nationality or foreign origin with a threat.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
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