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Latest update: 11/03/2010
Far-Right election poster ‘insults’ Algeria
France’s far-right Front National has upset Algeria, a former French colony, in its latest election poster denouncing "Islamism" and featuring a map of France decked in the North African country’s national flag.
By FRANCE 24 (text)
French far-right party the Front National (FN) has revealed its latest election poster – a map of France decked in Algerian national colours, covered with minarets and featuring a woman whose face is hidden behind a “niqab” face veil.
“No to Islamism,” the poster screams in big black letters.
The image is central to the FN’s campaign in the PACA (Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur) region, where the party’s leader, octogenarian firebrand Jean-Marie Le Pen, heads the party list in forthcoming regional elections due to begin March 14.
The posters, already widely diffused on the Internet, are due to be distributed across France.
French anti-racist group LICRA failed to get an injunction against the distribution of the posters at a Marseille Court on Monday on the technicality “that the group itself was not based in Marseille”.
Following this failure, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci made an official complaint to the French government, demanding that its former colonial ruler, “take firm measures to prevent the symbols of foreign nations from being insulted.”
Pressure in the courts
Meanwhile, French campaign group MRAP has started proceedings at a Nanterre court (Paris) to ban the posters. The court is due to make a ruling on Friday, two days before voting in the regional elections begin.
Another anti-racist group SOS Racisme has started criminal proceedings against Le Pen, who will have to attend the criminal court in Paris on May 6.
The group said in a statement: “Under the pretext of denouncing religious extremism, Le Pen has clearly marked a wish to solicit fear and rejection of not only Muslims but also all people of Algerian origin living in France.
At a FN campaign meeting last weekend attended by thousands of party supporters, many of whom were carrying the poster, Le Pen railed against what he perceives as the “Islamist presence in France” and said mosques were “growing like mushrooms” across the country.
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Comments (8)
la tunisie aujourdhui !
Elkasba aujourdhui le 28/01/2011 , les gens sur place subissent depuis quelques minutes des violentes agressionspolicières...
I think the French government
I think the French government need to take care their own country before take care the rest of the world!!!!
The France country has a lot of problems (the jobs, the economy ..etc.) What are they thinking????
Missing the point
To AbingtonJim J. Morgan, guy you're missing the point here, firstly we talking about a Nazi like party using other INDEPENDENT state' flag for malicious agenda and secondly you're generalisation of French Muslims of various background as if are all Algerians? And lastly it was the French who colonised Algeria for 132 years, never mind the Algerians who fought for the independence of France from the German ( one of them was my grandfather and still buried in France)! Peace
09/03/2010 - 11:40
Compare like with like.
The French in Algeria came as colonial armies & not as Algerian citizens. The French of ethnic Algerian origins ARE French citizens. Many Algerians fought & died to free France from Nazism & fascism, how many French in Algeria did the same.
iso
iso
Let's remember the more
Let's remember the more accurate and updated definition of racist:
RACIST: 1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive term for a white person. 2: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, if promoted by white people. 3: a belief that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, if promoted by white people.
Mosques growing like
Mosques growing like mushrooms is a compliment, I think. Growing like weeds would be more apropos. Mushrooms at least have some benefit.
The key word here is
The key word here is "former". First the Algerians wanted the French out of their country, and the French left. Now the French want the Algerians to leave France, perhaps the best for all concerned is for the Algerians to return, after all, other than a common language, there is nothing that binds the two.
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