<nettime> extreme right in france and culture

[benjamin weil <beweil@adaweb.com>]

the advent of the extreme right in the mayorship of a few cities in the
south of France is gradually becoming a really scary thing, in terms of
cultural censorship (no to mention other issues related to racist moves
that include finding ways to cut any support to non-french citizens such as
health benefits of any other form of state support).  last year, these
mayors manoeuvered discreetly, and made significant changes without anyone
noticing (changing names of streets, banning certain kinds of literature in
public libraries while of course replacing those documents with ones that
are more in tune with the extreme right's policy and propaganda - including
texts by historians who deny the reality of the holocaust, just as one
particularly shocking example, and many other things).  Last year also, in
Toulon, the book fair which was supposed to honor Marek Halter decided
instead to honor... Brigitte Bardot, who we know is a prominent writer and
revered thinker!  but hey, she's not a jew from central Europe, and she
lamented publicly over the islamic culture taking over the good old french
catholic traditions...
today, the mayor of Vitrolles, another extreme right demagogue has decided
to close one of the most dynamic concert place in that city, after they
were denied any funding, because they were engaged in anti-national front
activities.  The cause for this sudden closing - the door to the space was
walled overnight! is still unclear.

the following is a petition you can send to support an action to force the
mayor to let the space re-open:

I support the action of COLLECTIF CULTURE which fights against the national
front mayoral decision to arbitrarily close "Le Sous-Marin".
Je soutiens l'action du Collectif Culture contre les agissements de la
Mairie Front National de Vitrolles a l'encontre du café musique "Le sous-
marin".

please fax this text including your name, signature, and company name to
(+33.4) 42 38 03 22.  if dialing from France, 04 42 38 03 22
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