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TechnoratiFacebook anti-Muslim apéros cancelled, protests
Some 800 people demonstrated Friday evening in the centre of Paris to protest against the ban of a sausage and wine “apéro géant” and to denounce what they called the Islamisation of France. Meanwhile, a copycat apéro in Lyon has been called off.
Several secular and extreme right organisations called for the demonstration after a neighbourhood gathering was banned because it was provocatively anti-Islam. Many Muslims do not consume pork and alcohol products and the groups had organised the picnic in the multi-ethnic area the Goutte d'Or, in the north of Paris,
Brandishing salami and wearing berets, they denounced "the arrogance of Muslims”, who, they say, take up the roads in the area for praying.
They also criticised the government for letting it happen and sang the Marseillaise.
A Facebook page is calling for an apéro rosette et pinard in Lyon on the same model as the cancelled Paris event. (Rosette salami is a Lyonnaise speciality, pinard is slang for wine) had more than 2,100 members on Friday evening.
But the author of the page said she was calling it off.
“After great pressure from the police and direct threats, I am calling it off,” said Julie Trahot on the Facebook page. “I am as disappointed as you but I don’t want to put myself or anyone else in danger. That is not at all my goal.”
She said she hoped she had at least helped to highlight the issue.
Comments (2)
Far right and sausage
The person whose name was attached to the initial call for the apéro was a certain Sylvie François, who says she is a long-time resident of the area with no political affiliation.
The terminology used by its supporters includes phrases often used on hard-line nationalists, notably the phrase “français de souche”, roughly translatable as native French.
The call has been supported by various groups, including Riposte laïque, which describes itself as a left-wing defender of secular values, and Bloc identitaire, a small but hyperactive right-wing organisation.
Bloc identitaire was formed by the leaders of another group, Unité radicale, when it was banned because one of its sympathisers, Maxime Brunerie, tried to assassinate then-President Jacques Chirac (although his judges found that he acted alone).
Riposte laïque leader Pierre Cassen, in an intereview with Marianne magazine, has defended his alliance with Bloc identitaire and praised some of the group's actions, such as invading a halal fast-food restaurant wearing pig masks, while claiming that the “islamisation of France is progressing”.
Cassen also told the magazine that the only French politician who currently boasts loyalty to secularism is Marine le Pen, the daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie, who is likely to take over the leadership of the far-right party.
Marine le Pen has condemned the banning of the apéro as "state cowardice" and a "total inversion of vaules" on the party’s website.
Who are the "extreme right organizations"
Can this be specified?
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