2023-07-06 00:05:09
On the left, a “convergence of struggles” between popular neighborhoods and social and environmental causes began to materialize after the death of Nahel M. killed by a policeman in Nanterre during a traffic check. After a week of urban riots in several towns across the country, some 90 organisations, including trade unions (CGT, Solidaires), political parties (La France insoumise, Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste), associations ( Human Rights League, Amnesty) and neighborhood collectives, have signed a common text to express ” mourning “ et ” anger ” and denounce “decades of discriminatory and security-based public policies”.
For these signatories, it is a matter of speaking out again in the face of “the right and the extreme right” and make claims other than “the security responses of the government”, specifies Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary of the CGT. The trade union center is one of the five organizations at the origin of the text alongside Attac, SOS Racisme, the FSU and Solidaires. In the document, there is no question of urban riots, nor of thugs or looters, but of “revolts” which have their origin in “the abandonment of populations” popular neighborhoods, penalized by the ” social inequalities “ et « l’inflation ».
Finding common ground between actors which do not carry the same claims” and are not “on the same grounds” recalls the spokesperson of Attac Youlie Yamamoto, was not easy. The latter is pleased that this initiative has succeeded “to denounce structural racism, the abandonment of the State on public services and leads to proposals”.
“We must put words to a reality”
Complicated, sometimes tense, the discussions required two video meetings. The first was held on Saturday. The second, on Monday, brought together nearly 90 participants, including many groups of victims, including the Truth and Justice Committee for Adama.
The latter, very active since the death of Nahel M., have reinforced the initial text, by including terms that may offend older left-wing organizations. Thus, during this meeting, the death of the teenager was qualified as “murder”which refers to the notion of” voluntary homicide “, whereas at the start, the press release deplored a “dramatic death”.
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Above all, the expression “systemic racism” has been the subject of much debate. “It was a request from the collectives. You have to put words to a reality”, justifies Murielle Guilbert, co-delegate of Solidaires. The CGT admits having “definitely evolved” on these issues and “work more and more on discrimination”, explains Céline Verzeletti. Youcef Brakni, one of the main linchpins of the Adama committee, is delighted that “the social and trade union left does not miss the boat, unlike 2005 [au moment des émeutes qui avaient suivi la mort de Zyed Benna et Bouna Traoré à Clichy-sous-Bois]».
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