Violence in France: a call for change

(also published on www.iofc.org )

Once emotions recede, what are we going to learn from the events that have shaken France in the past two weeks? Will we use them to demonstrate how right we always have been and how wrong the others still are? Or can we take a step towards the other? Are we just going to get bogged down again in narrow selfishness, and prepare the ground for further violent crises, or can we convert revolt into positive change?

In 1983 there was a similar wave of violence across France, starting in Vénissieux near Lyon and triggering the so-called "deadly summer", with snipers shooting at young people in the poorer suburbs. On the eve of our national day (14^th July) an angry worker killed a nine-year-old child during a Ramadan celebration.

This led to a remarkable and hope-filled response: a march for equality and against racism. It started in a discreet way from Marseilles on 15^th October 1983, and arrived in Paris on 3^rd December with 100,000 people in an atmosphere of national celebration. Across the country, young people from immigrant backgrounds and many native French identified with the marchers and became active in public life. This changed perceptions of immigrants and the anti-racist movement. But when we look at what’s happened now, we are forced to admit that the change did not go deep enough.

The current movement is harder to figure out than that of 1983. There are no clear demands, no visible spokespersons, no co-ordination. Yet it rapidly took on a national dimension. So the crisis is worse than it was then. There’s a generalised ‘fed up to the back teeth’ movement of young people (some very young), angry that they’re not counted as real French. When it comes to job hunting, they’ll always be handicapped – despite the fine speeches about integration and equality of opportunity, and despite every town hall in France still proclaiming Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

The economic crisis was the detonator: 15 kilometres from Paris, in Clichy-sous-Bois, where the first violence broke out, there is over 50% unemployment among young people – and that’s not uncommon. But the true causes lie deeper. To overcome them calls for the involvement of French society as a whole, and courageous political leadership.

We need fundamental reforms including:

· Rigorous and even spectacular measures against racism. That will require adequate numbers of police with a clearly defined mission; otherwise articles 225-1 to 225-4 of the Penal Code, which define and punish the crime of discrimination, will remain a pious wish;

· Equal treatment for all great religions practised by French citizens, making up the lost ground in the area of Islam, but also granting more recognition to the new evangelical churches which are developing in the suburbs;

· Granting foreigners the right to vote in local elections – their French-born children are not even aware of real democratic life, never having seen their parents vote or take part in local affairs;

· Obliging political parties to field candidates of immigrant origin in French elections. At present none of the 577 representatives in the French lower house of Parliament come from that background, though immigrants comprise 10% of the French population.

The question of voting rights for foreigners illustrates France’s current problem. The American Revolution and the French Revolution established the principle of voting rights for foreigners. Ten European states have already introduced such laws without provoking electoral earthquakes. The Council of Europe calls for this in its Convention 144 (5.2.1992), which argues: ‘Considering that foreign residents generally have the same duties as citizens at local level; aware of the active participation of foreign residents in the life of the local community and the development of its prosperity, and convinced of the need to improve their integration into the local community, especially by enhancing the possibilities for them to participate in local public affairs, …’

In 1981, François Mitterrand, as presidential candidate, made this one of his 110 proposals – but, sensing that French society was not ready, he didn’t push it through. For the same reasons, in 2000, the Jospin government didn’t even try to push a similar through the conservative-dominated Senate, even though it had already passed in the lower house. Most French politicians argue that only fully-fledged citizens should have the right to vote. It may please their constituencies, but the net result is that nothing has happened.

To tackle those powerful blockages of fear and ignorance, Initiatives of Change for many years has been organising meetings between native French and those from the immigrant communities. And guess what! Dialogue is a shared value. ‘Dialogue isn’t just a tool, it’s a spirit,’ Professor Jaballah, a Muslim theologian said at a meeting in 2004. ‘The Koran calls all believers to dialogue. It’s a holy duty. It requires of each participant a deep understanding of their own faith, but also of the realities that mark our current situation.’

Let us not waste the good will that is there. Let us put into practice without delay the values of respect, of human dignity, solidarity and dialogue which are proclaimed by our institutions, adding a ‘values’ side to government action plans. This can only build a more robust new society for the coming years.