How Did the Killing of an Algerian Teen Spark Violence in France?
The incident of the killing of a 17-year-old Algerian teenager, Naïl, revealed how racism and Islamophobia fueled the anger witnessed in the streets of the country over the past week.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the riots that spread throughout France following Naïl’s death at the hands of the police deeply shook French society. The disturbances were described as unprecedented in terms of scale and intensity.
Racism and Discrimination
The BBC continued to report that in Marseille, citizens hurried to complete their tasks before the premature closure of shops and public transportation, anticipating imminent chaos. Evenings were marked by dangerous cat-and-mouse games between the police and rioters, accompanied by the pulsating soundtrack of car alarms, helicopters, and fireworks.
While there was almost unanimous condemnation of the police killing Naïl, many quickly raised the old question regarding immigration to France. The third and fourth generations of French citizens of immigrant origin failed to fully integrate into French society, and a pervasive odor of concealed racism, vulgarity, and Islamophobia became palpable.
In the weeks leading up to the shooting, there were numerous examples of major media outlets and political elites making highly provocative statements about Muslims and Algerians in France.
At the beginning of June, former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe conducted a wide-ranging interview in which he called for immigration reform, stating that some French people do not consider the second or third generation of immigrants as French for purposes of “integration, education, and civic mentality” – and these opinions should be heard.
Philippe went on to say that another problem many French people have with immigration is Islam.
“It is a central issue, a disturbing issue, and a painful issue,” he said, calling for the cancellation of a bilateral treaty that facilitates Algerian migration to France.
Later in June, France’s most-watched news channel, BFM TV, filmed the entrance of a middle school in Lyon to count the number of students wearing “abaya,” a loose robe worn by many Muslim women.
A Heard Voice
The BBC noted that during the detention of the officer who killed Naïl, left-wing figures launched a crowdfunding campaign for him, which received €1.6 million ($1.7 million, £1.4 million) in donations before it was closed. Some left-leaning politicians condemned the campaign, but others on the right used it to express their support for the police, making it an extremely contentious issue. All of this feeds into the feeling among many Muslims and North Africans living in France that they are not accepted by the state and society, explaining why many people reacted with such anger to Naïl’s killing.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Riot is the language of the unheard.”
In the past week, and perhaps for the first time in their lives, the troubled French youth made their voices heard.
Exploitation of Refugees
While The Guardian newspaper confirmed that political actors who criticize – or even oppose – refugees and immigration benefit more in crises like these, right-wing politicians across Europe have exploited the recent disturbances to inundate social media with xenophobia and hostility towards refugees and migrants, and to call for stricter immigration policies.
In countries like Germany, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Italy, right-wing forces have already made significant gains.
It further stated that public discourse in France heavily focused on the background of many protesters. Even the leader of the far-right National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, spoke of “the contagion of savagery in our society linked to a completely insane migration policy.”
The spread of hatred speech against refugees in Central and Eastern Europe was explained, with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki seizing the opportunity to turn public opinion against the proposed migration agreement currently being discussed within the European Union.
