Nice to see a worthwhile posting from SWP-ANL for a change,
But you must ask yourself WHY these scum-show politicians are gaining ground all across Europe. Yes, we know 'Nazis' are beastly sordidness and ghastly horridness, but chanting Never Again is a bit late when its happened a few times already and will certainly happen again: Aznar in Spain, Bloecher in Switzerland, Haider in Austria, Berlusconi in Italy, some creep in Denmark whose name I forget, Sharon in Israel, (and we can add Blair in Britain as a cohort if not a full subscriber to this new Bonapartism). Theres a pattern here, not just a random sequence of nasty foreigners doing sieg heil for fun...

the tone of the previous posting has left me somewhat amazed. the anti nazi league have done a tremendous job, along with anti fascist action, in keeping the British general public informed about the fascist menace.
since living in France i have seen the rise and rise of Le Pen and the total lack of any counter-organisation capable of comparing itself with its british counterparts (in Marignane, alarme citoyen, the anti-fascists dedicated to overthrowing the national front from their local council, have only four members).

no, it's not just a bunch of nasty foreigners, i agree. being a foreigner here myself, i am inclined to be a little tougher on the French.

They have a reputation, let it be said, of being raving fascists (when compared with british fascists who don't like to shout too much about their opinions). This is not a new thing, the constant work their millitants put into developing their image is proof of their solid grounding. in my street alone there are hundreds of stickers and posters with Le Pen's big ugly face on them.

The gradual devolution of the left wing parties, the media platform given over to the national front and the "insecurity" propaganda war waged on the French electorate is to blame. And this, in an all too liberal europe where social values are hard pressed to find an agenda in the political, now economic arena.

Although this comes as no surprise to many French people from all walks of life, i consider it to be a dangerous and volatile situation - one i could quite frankly do without. plus jamais ca, never again, I say. let's hope we can bring the French to reason.

It's funny how stickers, bill-boards, etc, create the impression of a party larger than it is. Fascists are good at this - it only takes one BNP foot-soldier to decorate a mosque with ugly stickers to terrorise the local population into thinking there is a large Nazi cell in the area.

In truth, the way fascists have got elected in the past few years is by default not because there is a resurgence of extremism in Europe. Ten per cent of any electorate is right-wing extremist, so when the far larger left-wing supporters are marginalised by the mainstream centre-left (New Labour, SPD, Socialiste, Ulivo, etc) and stop voting, a right-wing candidate is bound to secure a larger proportion of the vote. This is what happened in France and Italy. The question is, how to turn disenchantment among socialists into something more positive.

Perhaps it's time to take a leaf out of the book of the far right - stop bickering about our differences, stop smashing windows, stop the futile rioting, stop the idiotic sloganeering and baracking and start providing a meaningful alternative that looks reasonable and sensible to the average socialist-leaning person. This is what the far-right has been doing for the past few years and the results are terrifying. The left is in disarray and self-doubt while the right has retained its loyal following and won some more support - although not nearly as much as the media are making out.

We need organised fronts and coalitions, not this obsession with each group's quest for intellectual monopolisation of the left. For too long the European left has been introverted and self-absorbed while the right has been out there leading debate. Now is the time for organisation for change, not staying at home as a reactive and marginalised force.

I still havent heard WHY all this is happening. Alright, a university seminar on "The Rise of Fascism 1920-40" could go on for weeks, and even a clear definition of what it actually is has never been satisfactorily expounded, which is why I used Marx's term of "Bonapartism". He coined this term to the PRE-facsist dictatorships appropriately enough in a french context, and which I apply to the POST-facsist forms now appearing.
Read Marx's 'CLASS STRUGGLES IN FRANCE 1850' and 'THE 18TH BRUMAIRE OF LOUIS BONAPARTE' and ask how his analysis can be applied to the current situation, if at all.

Note 'Bonaparte' does not apply to Napoleon, but to his nephew, who was deposed in 1870.

The results for this woeful election include some sixteen candidates, one of whom is "Daniel Gluckstein". Is this the Danny Gluckstein who used to write for the SWP ? Indeed, I recall that Tony Cliff's 'real' name was Gluckstein too. If there is any connection, why did "Socialist Worker" endorse Arguiller instead (?), not that it bothers me greatly ...

Protesting AGAINST democracy. Of course it's terrible that this has happened, but one must look at why. Instead of whining when things don't go their way, people should've been fucking voting in the first place. Like 30% of voters didn't bother right? I suppose it's the politicians fault for not engaging the electorate. People abstaining is a gold mine for minimalist far-right candidates (and I suppose far-left ones too).
i agree with previous posts too, the left needs less pointless infighting (such as that seen on Indymedia) and more unity...stop bickering amongst each other and face the real enemy...

For D Brett - well, let that be a lesson for me - i ought to be more concise.

it is amazing the impact that a few miserable stickers can have. but in france, the visual impact is really terrifying. we aren't just talking about a few stickers here.

in marseilles, a city with a very large population of north africans, africans and non-whites in general, Le Pen managed a score of 34%. that means he won, and by a long way. in one district alone (about 10000 votes altogether) where white people are a minority, he won nearly 40%. needless to say, the whole city is covered with their ugly propaganda. everywhere you look.

French people who traditionally vote left wing are now faced with a bloodcurdling decision. vote for chiraq or run the risk of feeling very guilty should Le Pen win through a massive boycott of the second round. And talking to those in the demonstrations around me (5000 people took to the streets this evening during a three hour long demonstration that will be repeated on wednesday evening) the chiraq vote is the very symbol of an outdated democratic system.

now i know there are lots of you out there who can't understand how on earth the national front posters and stickers don't end up getting systematically defaced or torn down, as would happen in any traditional BNP town (Dewsbury - my home town, Bradford or Leeds for instance). well there simply aren't enough people willing to fight that millitant battle, i'm afraid. but rapid progress has been made in the last 24 hours and as one activist told me tonight - people are finally waking up.

Link to anti-semitism worldwide site run by Tel Aviv University. It gives an overview of the French far right.
 http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2000-1/france.htm

Well, it's been asked more than once on this message board why the far right are gaining. I think it is part of a broader political polarisation that is occurring. It is not true that this only benefits the far right, of course, because the Trotskyist vote in France totalled 11%, whereas Rifondazione Communista regularly does extremely well in the Italian elections, while in Germany the PDS is expected to do well. But the far right are gaining, and this is, I feel the result of a number of factors. First and foremost it is the failure of the mainstream left to offer solutions to the problems of global capitalism (labour rights, environment, unemployment, privatisation, war etc.) On almost all of these issues, Jospin had absolutely nothing distinctive to say. The left in the nineties practically gave up any idea of saying that capitalism had to be tamed, controlled, regulated. It adopted a pro-business agenda, comforting itself that it could at least offer some reforms and still tackle issues of racism, sexism and homophobia. In fact, it habitually compromised on even its most limited agenda, whether it be in France, Germany, Britain - or even the US, if one can count the Democrats as 'left'.
There are other factors, specific to France. The post-1995 climate of upswing for the left combined with a political inheritance of sectarianism produced a bullish mindset for the French far left. Aguiller should not have had two other Trotskyist candidates standing against her. It was a ridiculous idea to have the revolutionary left split, votes-wise. Secondly, the Sos Racisme is far too timid in challenging the far right - I think this owes something to its dependence on the Socialist Party. While the ANL in Britain does intervene on far right demonstrations and rallies, Sos Racisme does everything it can to avoid confrontation. If they want to seriously tackle the nazi vote, they need to single-mindedly set about placing a crow bar between the fascist le-Pen and those attracted to the 'soft' racism of his campaign. The task then is to launch a serious challenge to racism of all kinds, and finally, for the left to offer a systematic political alternative that is prepared to challenge the priorities of global capital, and not leave this fertile political ground for the far right and their allies.

Caro daniel
your argument, Re Stickers, works both ways.
when you look at some of the so called parties and groups from the supposed Lefty ranks.
When to take away the hype most of them are doing S.FA !
Just looking for a peice of the, existing, action.

but good comment all the same ...

You wonder why the FN get massive votes in areas with lots of non whites and where whites are a minority? Because ordinary French people don't want to be a minority in their own country, EVER! That means the only option is to vote for Le Pen. The sooner the left realise that if they want to stand up for the working man again they must agree to stop the immigration tide.

We hear and obey! We will immediately give up all our beliefs and convictions to serve the Master Race. Free speech for white men only!