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Palästina Solidarität Archiv

Palestine Solidarity Archives


19/06/2024

Since January 2024, Palästina Solidarität Archiv has been documenting repression by German authorities.

The archive includes nearly 40 hours of testimony with activists, hundreds of videos of demonstrations, dozens of police letters, sharepics, physical materials and more. It will be publicly available, including a website using archival software pan.do/ra.

The project was initiated by a residency of the Palästina Kampagne at AGIT, a space for artistic and archival projects. It has now grown into an independent project with continued support from AGIT, as well as various activist and community groups and aims to document the repression and resistance within the Palestine-Solidarity movement in Berlin.

In response to the escalating repression in Berlin, Palästina Solidarität Archiv seeks to make a wide array of vital materials about the actual situation and experiences of Palestinians and their allies available. These materials are thoroughly indexed, allowing journalists, activists and researchers to parse them with relative ease.

Far Right Gains in the European Elections

Why fascist parties were successful and how we can stop them


18/06/2024

We were expecting far right gains at the European elections, but we were not expecting this. Within a few hours of the election results being announced, 2 governments fell. This means that in the coming month, we will see 3 general elections in Europe where in different ways the far right will pose a serious challenge.

In France, Rassemblement National (RN) got 31.4% of the vote, up 8% from the last election and over twice as much as President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party. Another fascist party, La France fière, got a further 5%. In response, Macron called a snap election. This is a big gamble, which may end up with RN’s Jordan Bardella as Macron’s prime minister.

In Belgium, prime minister Alexander De Croo also resigned after his Open Flemish Liberals haemmoraged support. The main winners of the new election are likely to be the parties of the centre, but the fascist Vlaams Belang, who received 14.5% of the total vote (21.8% in Flanders) are waiting in the wings.

The third country with a coming election, Britain, did not participate in the EU elections. Labour’s Kier Starmer is expecting a landslide, but in the most recent poll, Nigel Farage’s Reform Party is lying ahead of the failing Conservatives. When Starmer disappoints the limited expectations in him, as he surely will, Farage will be waiting to take advantage.

Although Farage is a former stockbroker and  sympathiser, if not member, of the Nazi National Front, the Reform Party is aware that Labour no longer represents working people, and is attempting to present itself as a people’s party. In an attempt to win over working class voters, party chairman Richard Tice recently tweeted: “Reform is the real party of workers who’ve been abandoned by ‘cafe latte’ Labour.” 

Far right parties did well in other countries. In Austria, the FPÖ topped the polls with over 25% of the vote. In Italy, president Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia got nearly 29%, almost 5 times as much as in the previous EU elections. In the Netherlands, Geert WIlders’s PVV got 17.7%. In Hungary and Poland, the Fidesz and PiS votes went down – but they still got nearly 50% and 36.2% respectively.

In Spain, where the far right is less established, VOX got nearly 10%. Even in Ireland, far right parties made gains, particularly in the local elections which were taking place at the same time as the EU elections. In Ballymun-Finglas, they got 20% of the first preference vote. For the first time, Ireland now has local councillors who are, essentially, Nazis.

Far right and fascist parties are now part of 8 governments within the EU. If RN win the coming French elections, this could be 9.

A Vicious Circle

After the election results were announced, a friend posted a meme showing a cycle of political changes throughout Europe. It starts with an uninspiring centrist refusing to tackle the underlying social problems that led to the far right (Germany, USA). We move quickly on to a stagnating living standard creating a fertile ground for fascism. The far right win the elections (Netherlands, France, Italy).

Next step is the right driving the economy off a cliff, lowering the standards of public life and generally making everything objectively worse (UK). As a result, an uninspiring centrist wins the election with a promise of change (Poland). This results in an uninspiring centrist refusing to tackle the underlying social problems that led to the far right…

This meme is, if anything, too optimistic. At the moment, Europe is not in the middle of a vicious circle but a downward spiral. At the end of each cycle, the far right emerges stronger, the centre left has fewer answers and the far Left is weaker than last time round. We look back in regret at the optimistic SYRIZA/Podemos/Corbyn (delete as appropriate) years.

This does not mean that defeat is inevitable. Resistance is possible – necessary, even. But history shows that repeatedly making concessions to the fascists has only made them stronger. As the crisis of neoliberal capitalism gets deeper, the centre is not holding and people are seeking increasingly radical opportunities.  This is both a challenge and an opportunity for the Left.

Germany

In Germany, the AfD gained 16%, despite the pre-election scandals of the re-migration conference, AfD lead candidate Maximilian Krah telling an Italian newspaper that members of the SS were “not necessarily criminals”, and the video from Sylt of young Germans chanting the banned Nazi slogan “Foreigners out – Germany for the Germans” while making Nazi salutes. 

While some of the people in Sylt may well have voted for the neoliberal FDP, such normalisation of Nazi Germany will ultimately benefit the AfD, which has become much more than just a “party which has Nazis in it”. So many of its representatives are prepared to celebrate Hitler and the Third Reich that it’s time to come out and call the AfD a Nazi party, just like the Rassemblement National, just like the Fratelli d’Italia.

The AfD was the most popular party in Eastern Germany, with around 30% of the vote. 18.5% of trade unionists voted for the AfD – more than the party’s vote of 15.9%. More trade unionists voted for the AfD than for the SPD – only the CDU polled better amongst organised workers. Among young people aged 16-24, the AfD vote trebled from around 5% to over 15%.

Having said this, things could have been even worse. It is only a few months ago that the AfD was polling at 23%. It is likely that recent mobilisations have contributed to reducing their vote, but it is still worryingly high, particularly as there will be regional elections in 3 of the 5 Eastern German states in September. The AfD has a chance of winning them all. 

Response 1:  try and steal the fascist’s clothes

As a reaction to the Fascist threat, the Left is suggesting a number of different responses, not all of which are equally useful. In Germany, the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht won a lot of votes – more than twice as many as die Linke – but refused to challenge the AfD’s racism. At a post-election television interview, where an SPD representative called the AfD Nazis, it was Wagenknecht who pleaded that while there may be a few rotten apples, it was wrong to malign the whole party.

Incidentally, the reaction of the Linke leader, former Trotskyist Janine Wissler, shows the extent to which that party has degenerated. Instead of attacking Wagenknecht’s openness to the far right, Wissler preferred to criticise her for leaving the parliament chamber just before it was to be addressed by Ukraine’s neoliberal president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile in the UK, George Galloway talks a good fight on Palestine, while dividing his voters by blaming migrants and other minorities. While Galloway claims to be fighting “for the workers, not the workers”, Wagenknecht attacks “scurrilous minorities”. They both claim to be speaking on behalf of the working class, while being oblivious to the fact that the working class is made up of people with many ethnic backgrounds and sexual preferences.

Both Galloway and Wagenknecht help bring the Nazis into the mainstream, especially as both call for more immigration controls. Even if this does might win short term electoral success, it ends up legitimising the far right’s antisocial agenda. And, as Le Pen’s father Jean Marie was keen to say, people ultimately prefer the original to the copy.

Response 2: New Popular Front

In France, all left of centre parties, from the social democratic PS to the revolutionary left NPA have joined what has been (slightly inaccurately) called a “new Popular Front” – an electoral alliance within which each party stands its own candidates and issues its own propaganda but does not stand against other left parties. This alliance has also been backed by the anti-globalisation organisation ATTAC, and the big trade unionists, who organised last week-end’s demonstrations against the far right attended by hundreds of thousands.

The “new Popular Front” has been criticised by a minority of Leftists inside and outside France. One criticism counterposes an electoral strategy with one on the streets. A Left election campaign, so the argument goes, will demobilise any street actions. But you can’t have it both ways. Even the opponents of the new Popular Front argue that a RN victory will demoralise anyone who wants to fight. This acknowledges that elections are not a distraction. A Left victory would have a positive effect which gives people the confidence to fight.

If done correctly, an election campaign which highlights the fascist nature of RN and proposes a socialist alternative to austerity and racism could be a central part of the mobilisations against the RN and involve far wider forces than are currently active, both at the ballot boxes and on the streets.

In the EU elections, Jean-Luc Melenchon’s La France Insoumise (LFI) campaigned under the slogan “the strength to change everything” for a package of reforms, including a rise in the minimum wage, a return to retirement at 60, a price freeze on basic foodstuffs and other necessities, and a ban on arms sales to Israel.

This was highly popular, particularly in the banlieues where many working class migrants live. In the multi-ethnic working class suburbs around Paris, LFI often achieved votes of over 30%, winning 58% in La Courneuve, 51% in Saint Denis, and 53% in Bobigny.

Another reason why I believe that an electoral front is tactically correct at this juncture is the peculiarities of the French electoral system. The first round of votes in each constituency is followed by a run off between the most successful two parties (plus anyone else who gains more than 12.5% of the vote). 

This has meant that in the last two presidential run offs, French voters have been offered the unsavoury choice of either Macron or Le Pen. The next election will determine MPs in each constituency – Macron is staying for now – but the same principle applies. A recent poll suggested that the RN would gain 31% in the first round, the left bloc 28% and Macron’s Renaissance party 18%. 

A left wing electoral bloc will not bring socialism, but it would produce an election in which the main debate would be about more than choosing between neoliberal and fascist forms of austerity. Elections are not a distraction from class struggle, but – with the right campaign – an important part of it.

If the RN did very well in this election, their leader Jordan Bardella could end up Prime Minister. This would give him very important executive powers and would boost his party immensely. He must be stopped. According to most projections, if the elections went ahead without an electoral alliance between different Left forces, the far right RN would get 70 to 80 more seats than if there were such an alliance.

Response 3: Street mobilisations

While I agree with the New Popular Front in the French context, if we want to remove the Nazi threat, it is insufficient to  limit the fight to the electoral arena. Especially in Germany, with the coming elections in the East, we need to physically oppose the Nazis.

The next opportunity is the AfD national conference in Essen at the end of June. Essen council already cancelled the conference because of pro-Nazi statements by AfD representative. The AfD has successfully challenged this ban in the courts, but it has still made people aware that the conference can be stopped – on the streets if not in the courts.

The AfD conference will be met with an expected 50,000+ demonstrators, but this will be more than a symbolic demonstration. The plan is to put our bodies between the AfD delegates and the conference hall and to stop the conference taking place. The fact that local police will be otherwise engaged in a nearby European Championship football match makes this more possible.

The demonstrations to block the AfD are in the spirit of Dresden Nazifrei, which prevented the largest Nazi demonstration in Europe, which used to take place on the anniversary of the Dresden bombings. A broad but radical alliance – including everyone from the Black Bloc to SPD president of the Bundestag Wolfgang Thierse – physically prevented the Nazis from marching.

If we successfully stop the AfD conference, we will send a signal throughout Europe that the rise of the far right is not inevitable. This requires a dual strategy. Firstly, by uniting with anyone who can unite to stop the AfD. But within this broad alliance, we must offer socialist politics of hope instead of the despair on which the far right thrives. Only then can we break the AfD’s fascist core from the voters who currently vote right because the establishment parties have failed them.

Experiment

We have already died in the name of God. Maybe we can just hug today?


As long as a person has the strength to act normal, then he is  normal. But where does one find this strength? How does one not go crazy in such a challenging time?

Psychologists advise to write down thoughts in stressful situations. Why do we need a plot when reality turns out to be more radical than the boldest literary experiment? By organizing our thoughts, we take control of them. This helps us see that in reality, things aren’t as frightening as they feel

But what about in wartime? 

So, check it out! I present you: my notes.

Note #1. Ukraine partially withdraws from the Convention on Human Rights. In reality, this happened on the first day of the war when Ukrainian men were forbidden to leave the country. 

*Article 157: “The Constitution of Ukraine cannot be amended if the amendments involve the abolition or restriction of human rights and freedoms”

Note #2. Refusal to provide consular services for men abroad. They’ve been threatening us with this for a long time, and now it’s happened. 

Note #3. My last couple of months in Ukraine, I exclusively used rented bikes to go outside. The streets were mainly populated by women, kids, and the elderly. I needed a bike to quickly escape at the sight of the military or police. 

Note #4. I have a buddy who was raped by his stepfather as a kid. We are the same age. It’s hard to believe, but even now he maintains a warm relationship with this man. I often think about him when I talk to Ukrainians about the current situation. 

Few support forced mobilization, but many support Ukraine as a whole. Yeah, the fact that the stepfather raped the kid was a bad act, but the rest of the time he bought him clothes, paid for sport clubs and took care of his mom. This situation is unpleasant to analyze, but I feel like there is something in common between my buddy’s personal story and the 2-year forced mobilization in Ukraine. Not talking about it is an attempt to ignore the obvious.

Note #5. Have you noticed how people around us have changed? We’ve changed ourselves. We’ve all acquired a list of questions that we now ask everyone we meet to immediately determine whether this person supports Russia or Ukraine, Palestine or Israel. 

At the same time, the qualities of the person themselves interest us to a lesser extent. We rarely accept neutrality. We need specifics. Other times, I want to know what kind of tea my new friend likes and which Radiohead album is their favorite.

Note #6. Even during the war, same-sex partnership has not been legalized in Ukraine. Nevertheless, gay people also go to war. At the same time, homophobic headlines occasionally appear in the news. Some commanders believe that there are no gays in the Ukrainian army. 

Meanwhile, exhibitions dedicated to LGBT people in the army are opening in Ukraine, but they are disrupted by hooligans, gained the support of local politicians.

Note #7. Once in Kyiv I was caught by the police. They started frisking me, as if having a penis made me a criminal. They found nothing illegal. Then they took my phone and started browsing through my messenger chats. Yep, in Ukraine, this is already a common occurrence. 

What a criminal I am. Ha ha ha. They found a few nudes: mine and my sub’s. Photos of feet and white socks. Kinky chat about of my belts collection. Stern men with weapons slowly and methodically viewed all of this. I saw disgust on their faces. I saw them trying to suppress a smirk. And yet, the sudden permissiveness, absolute power over me, made them continue to view chat after chat. Again, and again. Until they found my chat with the dentist to whom I had sent a photo of a broken filling.

Note #8. Before the police and military caught men near the metro. Now they do it right in the stations. They stand behind the columns and wait for the train doors to open. They are not satisfied with your private chats, now they need all of you. You are forcibly taken out of the metro and put into a car. Medical examination. Distribution. Congrats! You have become a soldier.

Note #9. Judging by the videos on the Internet, I have increasingly seen instances where elderly people fight with the military to prevent them from taking another guy off the street. A positive trend. But still, there are too few random videos to compile serious statistics.

Note #10. An amazing substitution of concepts. Why is our main value not human rights, but the desire to offend our neighbor so as to remain unpunished? By pushing our neighbor to war, we do not save ourselves from war, as it might seem, but we put all of society in a vulnerable position. 

When a homophobe comes to the defense of a gay man, and an academic finds a common language with a worker, the government will not be able to so easily split society into enemies and heroes, right and wrong citizens. But today, medals are given to those who bring death, and fighters for peace are declared traitors. Anyway, these days will pass. We will have to learn this lesson. But we can still reduce the price we pay for it.

Perhaps for some people, following the advice of psychologists to write down their thoughts helps gain control. As a writer, I work with words, and sometimes I feel trapped by this topic. I justify myself by believing that a good writer is capable of transferring an individual’s tragedy onto a societal level. I hope that in my texts, I manage to accomplish this.

Nevertheless, most Ukrainians I’ve talked to recently believe that it’s better to stay silent. As long as you don’t express your opinion publicly, you’re safe. Remember my photo of the broken filling, after which the police returned my phone? When I came for a dental appointment, the dentist said to me, “If it hurts, let me know, and I’ll stop.” And indeed, if we remain silent, how will anyone know that we’re in pain?

This piece is a part of  a series, The Mining Boy Notes, published on Mondays and authored by Ilya Kharkow, a writer from Ukraine. For more information about Ilya, see his website. You can support his work by buying him a coffee.

 

Experiencing Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi trilogy

Examining Palestinian Film


17/06/2024

Experiencing Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi trilogy A Space Exodus (2008), Nation Estate (2012) and In the Future They Ate from the Finest Porcelain (2015) means recognising the historical monopolisation of Science Fiction by Western views of the future. The image of post-western civilisation dystopian environments as a result of hyper-technology warfares and the zenith of colonialism, is just an unfair mirroring of what the world already looks like. Sansour’s work pays tribute to the anti-colonial struggle and recognises its political subject as an active main character of these fictions that have been historically dictated by Hollywood’s imperialist agenda. Translating Palestine resistance concepts into Sci-Fi language unveils her commitment to provide with complete agency the role of this political agent that’s fighting for survival, rebellion, recognition, reparation and justice. 

The act of defying fictional western narratives prompts us to explore the utilities of imagination as vehicles for change. This means understanding material realities in contexts of colonisation and using them as literary sources to create a true identification with the oppressed and against the oppressors. The metaphor in A Space Exodus (2008) is a victory of liberation. Jerusalem has been set free in the confinements of the Galaxy and the Moon has been claimed as Palestinian land. This is a direct reflection of how hegemonic historicist visions can, and must, be rethought. There’s also an imperative need to produce fictions in which the dystopian visions of classical cyberpunk can be subverted into constructive and optimistic ecosystems. This means responding to the demands of imagining future landscapes in which collective liberation has been achieved. Larissa Sansour is an artist who enables this, not by explicitly designing a socialist one-state secular utopia where all oppressions have been dismantled, but by situating the true agents of Palestinian liberation as the nexus of resistance stories. 

The liminal language used in Nation Estate (2012) poses the question of borders, freedom of movement, the coloniser’s gaze and the consequences of hyper-militarised technologies that mirror the history of Palestinian land. The 3D rendered versions of archeological and historical sites echo the dispossession and decontextualization of Palestinian heritage the same way in which early colonial museographic strategies plundered material vestiges of indigenous civilizations from all over the world in order to exalt the imperialist powers of the West. However, retaking on hopeful visions of the future, the film reveals an olive tree being watered, that spreads and grows once it’s taken root in the hearts of the people, just like the baby being grown in the main character’s womb, giving a glimpse of this bio-engineered ecological system that has been established within the colossal concrete locked-up city. 

The iconography from In the Future They Ate from the Finest Porcelain (2015) is perhaps the most loyal to the post-apocalyptic narrative, taking on elements from solarpunk, cyberpunk, steampunk and other literary streams within the fantasy movement. The pop culture references that repeatedly appear become a tool for the audience to relate to the protagonist and facilitate an empathy exercise with her. We’ve seen this in many mainstream works like The Hunger Games, Avatar, Sucker Punch, Ghost In The Shell, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Altered Carbon and so many others where the narrative collides, either because of an imperialist military power that wants to steal and subordinate the native population of a land, or because of a governmental elite is heavily oppressing its own population through exploitation, surveillance and torture. The stories are all there, and we never question on which side we are because the equation is too simple. Israel, as an illegitimate military terrorist and imperialist power that has tried, through a heavily US-funded propaganda machinery, to convince the international community that this is a complex issue, can be proved wrong, and the stories from these films and productions have the literary potential to do so. 

Another central element in the plot is time. The piece is a dialogue between past, present and future through the lens of loss and emancipation. This is relevant to the current context because the actual genocide of the Gazan people is the proof of how “a nineteeth-century colonialist project” has been “extended into the twenty-first century” (Ilan Pappé, On Palestine) and the imagery of the finest porcelain connects the questions of history, identity and weapons of resistance that will redfine Palestinian identity in the name of liberation. 

To conclude, Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi trilogy is a response to a necessity that has been demanded by contemporary fiction writing and screening, reviewing old outdated narratives and transforming them into a potential anti-colonial Sci-Fi genre that constitutes the afrofuturist and solarpunk movements as real alternatives to future imaginations.The challenge of science fiction is being faced with the potentiality of creating a new world and as Ursula K. Le Guin famously stated “We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art.”

 

Fascist nightmare in France

What should anticapitalists do ?


16/06/2024

It is a historic moment in France. The far-right National Rally (RN), led by Marine Le Pen, gained 31.4% of the votes in the European elections, and President Macron’s party got only half that. Responding Macron dissolved parliament and called a snap election.  Early projections are uncertain but scary, predicting a parliament with no overall majority. Projections see the RN with more seats than any other single party and well-dressed fascist Jordan Bardella as Prime minister.

I do not consider this the most likely outcome, but the danger is very real. Already the media carry interviews of various union leaders, business leaders, and voluntary sector representatives asking them “How will your organization adapt once the RN is in government?” The idea of a far-right government as a realistic and acceptable option has been normalized.

If the RN were to take office, it would be a catastrophe. Even without a parliamentary majority, they would have power to appoint or dismiss hundreds of top civil servants in every field, control of the police, education and cultural sectors and so on. Their capacity to persecute Muslims, trade unionists, LGBT people and others would be terrifying. Green initiatives and safeguards would be thrown on the rubbish heap.

There are four main reasons that the far-right vote is so high. Firstly, Marine Le Pen has persuaded the majority that the RN has broken with its past and is just like any other party. We – who think the organization is a threat to democracy – are in a minority of 41% according to a recent poll. Secondly, Macron has helped the far right by adopting parts of its program. In particular a whole series of laws victimizing Muslims, which do not have a serious practical aim, but are part of a “divide and rule” strategy. Macron hopes people will hate Muslims instead of neoliberalism. Thirdly, Macron’s vicious attacks on pensions, benefits and public services have increased the misery which fascism feeds on. Finally, the Left has not organized a serious, permanent, long-term, mass national campaign of harassment and education to stop Le Pen from building her party structures. The Left has generally considered that building a radical alternative is sufficient, and that there is little need to take aim specifically at  RN activities.

Unity can beat the fascists

There is everything to play for in the weeks to come. At the European elections on June 9th, nine million people voted for the far right. Eight million voted for some shade of left-wing politics. Seven million voted for Macron or for the traditional right wing parties. And twenty four million people stayed at home. Three quarters of these abstainers do sometimes turn out to vote at election time, so they could certainly be persuaded to do so this time.

The NR remains a party with a fascist core, whose logo is based on the flame symbol of supporters of Mussolini. It pretends to defend ordinary people even as it regularly votes in parliament against workers’ interests. It voted against raising the minimum wage (in 2022); against rent freezes (in 2023); against increasing resources for victims of domestic violence (in 2016) – and so on. It promises to slash inheritance taxes for the rich and to reserve social housing for people of French nationality. It aims to increase prison sentences and make it even harder to prosecute killer cops.

Unity is required to defeat the fascists, in parliament, in the streets and elsewhere. But two different types of unity have been proposed. Many suggest the unity of all democratic parties – left and right – against the fascists. The ex-Socialist président, François Hollande has just this week insisted this is the best option. This has been tried at various elections in France over the last 25 years. Millions voted Macron at presidential elections in 2017 and in 2022 purely “to keep the fascists out”. A huge row broke out on the Left between those who wanted to vote Macron against Le Pen and those who would vote for neither. 

This idea of unity with neoliberals against the far right has been a disaster. Macron’s neoliberal crusade was strengthened by the votes lent to him by left-wingers. Predictably enough, Macron’s strategy was to defeat Le Pen by stealing parts of her programme, an idea which backfired completely and led to millions more voting for the National Rally.

The “New Popular Front”

The unity we need is that of the Left. It is extremely good news then that the four main left parties – the France Insoumise (France in Revolt), the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and the Greens – agreed an electoral pact this week, so that there will be only one left candidate per constituency. Several smaller groups, such as the New Anticapitalist Party, have joined the pact.

These elections take place in two rounds. If there are several left candidates in a town, the chances of a second round opposing only right and far right are much increased. So this agreement will automatically reduce the number of far right MPs elected by several dozen. But it also has two other crucial strong points.

Firstly, people will be able to vote for a break with neoliberalism. An alliance which simply says “No to fascism!” is not enough (especially when millions are not convinced they are fascists). This is why the new electoral alliance has also produced a programme for government.

The alliance has chosen as a name the “New Popular Front”, in reference to a radical government from the 1930s which is remembered for important social reforms, notably for introducing paid holidays. Its real history is far less glorious than its reputation. Hence this name – New Popular Front – might be misunderstood by Marxist readers. Because this alliance is only made up of left wing organizations. Whereas Marxists have often used the term “popular front” to refer to wider alliances which include parties which are not left wing.

Its programme, published on Friday morning, begins by declaring the need for a complete break with Macronism. It promises  that  a left alliance government, if there is one, will raise the minimum wage by 15% and all public employees wages by 10%. It will cancel the recent two-year rise in the standard retirement age and aim at returning later to retirement at 60. It will cancel the recent cuts in unemployment benefit and re-establish the wealth tax abolished by Macron. Other plans are to build a million homes, defend tenants’ rights, invest heavily in opposing violence against women, and abrogate the recent racist immigration laws.

These are just a few of the many measures proposed in its programme. A dynamic campaign can use them to get millions more to vote for the New Popular Front. And the campaign is set to be dynamic. The danger of the far right, the fact of the united front, and the radical program, are three enormous encouragements. Several thousand activists joined the France Insoumise networks in the 48 hours after the snap elections were announced. Last Monday, as the four organizations were negotiating, hundreds of young people outside the building were chanting the need for unity.

The mobilization is not limited to political parties. There are demonstrations against the far right called by the main trade unions in 200 towns this weekend. Human rights groups, feminist organizations, cooperative groups, and campaigns such as ATTAC and Greenpeace are calling to vote and to mobilize against fascism. 

Serious mistakes

Three far left publications in France declared their opposition to the New Popular Front this week. One of their arguments was that elections don’t matter and electoral campaigns “undermine” the “real” antifascist movement. This is a serious mistake. Certainly, organizing outside parliament to oppose Le Pen and Bardella is essential. But how could we attract large numbers of people to fight fascism while showing them that we did not care whether Bardella gets to be Prime Minister or not? 

The other argument was that – Now that the radical Left France Insoumise proposes a joint programme with the Greens and the Socialist Party, many important, more radical elements of the FI programme could be downplayed or omitted. For example,  stopping nuclear power is not mentioned in the programme, and nor is leaving NATO. But one cannot propose an alliance on the basis that other parties abandon their political ideas! In addition, there is nothing in the compromise programme that prevents each party from continuing to campaign for its own priorities. We must also remember that, if the Left should win the election, there will still be a need for mass movements and strikes to make sure the new government implements real change. It will be faced with the organized hostility of investors, bankers, billionaires and their ilk.

Though there is plenty of enthusiasm in the united left campaign, it will nevertheless be an uphill struggle, and much patient explanation will be required. Defeatism is common. You even hear people of generally left sympathy suggesting that it would not be a bad thing for the NR to be in government for a few years – “to show people how dreadful they are”. Many are tempted by Macron’s lie that “extremism” of left and right are similar.

Anti-capitalists must build the election campaign and the anti-fascist mobilization, as well as putting forward our own arguments. A radical left government would be under enormous attack by international and French capital. We need to be discussing what happens to left governments under pressure and what can be done about it. These debates in and around the France Insoumise have been rare. Partly because the most prominent Marxist organizations have not generally debated seriously with left reformists.

There will be many ups and downs. No doubt between the two rounds of elections there will be another blazing row, about whether it is acceptable or not to vote for Macron’s candidate against a fascist candidate. This is just one moment in a long political crisis.  The   left-wing alternative, and the rise of the France Insoumise, result from the mass working class struggles of the last thirty years. That showed that political class consciousness was widespread in France. If we get a left government, there will be much work to do to make sure promises are carried out. If the elections go badly for us, it will just be the beginning of the struggle.