Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

According to AJ+, the number of pupils who wear abayas in school represents less than  0.00005 percent   of all students in the country:  A threat to ‘France’s secularism’:  The latest example of how French state institutions work together to uphold institutional racism Related “ Muslim societies are assumed to have sweeping patriarchal structures, while it is claimed that Western societies are pictures of progressive modernity, says Swiss social anthropologist Annemarie Sancar. Neither of these absolute views are correct.” The West's gleeful obsession with the 'oppressed Arab woman' Liberal feminism is bankrupt Imperialist feminism and liberalism A photo from qantara.de

Priorities of a ‘neoliberal’ regime

D’Eramo is good as usual.  As far as I remember the constant emphasis on your role as an individual in mitigating the environmental crisis has been on for at least 15 years. I was bombarded by the likes of the BBC and the areas where I have worked and lived of messages urging us to take individual actions. Here is the latest example, but it is a French one. Climate crisis and the ‘political class’

“From the point of view of the regime, it may well be that riots are welcome , for they guarantee  renormalisation , they permit social ‘bantustans’ to remain such, and they deflate discontents that could otherwise be perilous. Naturally, for them to perform this stabilizing function they must be subject to outward condemnation: vandalism should be denounced, violence should spark indignation, looting should cause disgust. Such reactions justify the ruthlessness of the repression, which becomes the only means to beat back the tide of barbarism. It is under these conditions that riots serve to ossify social hierarchy.” “A social system is not only characterised by its internal structure, but also by the reactions it provokes: a system founded on commandments can, in certain moments, imply reciprocal duties of aid carried out honestly, as it can also lead to brutal outbursts of hostility. To the eyes of the historian, who must merely note and explain the relationships between phenomena,

The UN has accused France's security forces of systemic racism. Poor French suburbs catch media attention when they are in flames Related Reading Britain’s 2011 riots

“If you think people are going to burn down a police station because they read a tweet, that’s a conspiracy-theorist way of seeing things, which ignores the social reasons behind these conditions. People have lost their lives, and the way it’s been handled hasn’t given the families any confidence. The police force needs to be rebuilt, and its control body cannot depend on itself.”  “What the working-class neighborhoods have been suffering for years, others are suffering today, even if not with the same severity. So everyone understands that it’s the same social order that’s at stake.” “ The Left’s ‘software’ has changed , and the basic axiom of the American sociology of riots, according to which they always have a political explanation, has been adopted. The subtext today is: Who protects us from the police?” “However, there is still a yawning gulf separating the Left from the poorest housing projects — and we should be under no illusions about its ability to impact the course of event

France has always waged war against  its  people for secular, imperialist, colonial, racist, capitalist reasons—all resolutely fascist. On lessons of street action and fire building in Paris

Reposting In English En français بالعربية

Let’s not forget that state and social movements relation are governed by the political economy of a given period and how confident – and far – could the state go in repression and beyond the daily oppression. We should also differentiate between security states where regimes use all necessary means to survive and the advanced capitalist states where maintaining the status quo means rotation of governments, which have significant resources at their disposal, powerful media and interest groups that marginalise and vilify dissent. That also apply globally where international capital, international institutions and organisations and states work together to support or divert and co-opt this or that social movement when it suits their interests.  ‘ How elites are crushing dissent ’ in Britain or France should be read differently from how regimes in Egypt, Iran or Russia exercise repression. After all, the title of the article does not apply to Britain, Germany, or even to France, where ther

“It would take human jobs faster than the Kardashians ‘dump boyfriends’.”

Calling it a ‘pre-revolutionary situation’ is an exaggeration, I think. Macronism in peril Original article in French

What more does it need for the French government to react and correct its indulgence, or rather its complicity, with Israel? The president’s policy follows the same line as that of François Hollande who lamented, in the presence of Netanyahu, that he could not sing aloud “all his love for Israel and for its leaders”, asks Alain Gresh. Friends in state terror  – a very liberal article that does not put Macron’s action as part of French imperialist actions and interests. There is no geopolitics and no political economy. French imperialism in the Sahel. French imperialism and the Egyptian regime. French imperialism in support of General Haftar. France’s war in Yemen. French capital in Africa and elsewhere.

The emergence of a ruling class?

Also available en Français The French obsession with the veil Related The Imaginary Separatism of Salafist Women

Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi

“A survey for French television found that almost six out of 10 people thought those living in France without permission should be put in administrative detention.” No surprise here . Related Le Pen consistently received her best scores  [in  la France périphérique small towns, rural municipalities and declining former industrial belts, the ‘France of the Gilets Jaunes’],  precisely because she offered a discourse that resonated with the demands for security and protection found in parts of France that have most suffered from the consequences of market-led globalization. Having accepted the mantra of There Is No Alternative, the forces of ‘progressive neoliberalism’ have been signally unable to speak to these demands, instead viewing them as obstacles to modernization. This laid the terrain for the Front National to frame them in nationalist-xenophobic terms, and present itself as the ‘voice of the people’. Us and them

As Irène Félix, Chairwoman of the Metropolitan District, Bourges Plus, explains, “After a period of reconstruction at the end of the nineties, hirings in the Defence sector have risen sharply over the past five years due to orders from the French army and other countries.” The accusations of complicity in war crimes aimed at our national champion do not seem to worry this official, elected on a list “miscellaneous left.” The defence industries are perfectly familiar with the limits of their activity,“she answered us.” The local authority supports the local industrial fabric but does not interfere with diplomatic issues which are managed by the Government." Complicity in war crimes indeed. “Made in France” war in Yemen Related Yemen in purgatory The Road to War

“In the beginning, everyone we met was really helpful – and then the reality set in. I am grateful to them for saving our lives, but in this bargain, I’ve lost my dignity, my home and I’m very depressed,” says Rias. Reflecting on the racism they’ve faced in their first year in Europe

In English En français بالعربية

 Interesting. Édouard Louis's latest book