Hello Houria. Thank you for talking to us. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
I am a decolonial activist. I co-founded the Parti des Indigènes de la République in 2005. It is a decolonial political party which broke with the French Left, which we criticised for having abandoned people with a colonial history and, more broadly, for collaborating with what I call the “total racial state”. I develop this concept in my book Beaufs et Barbares, le pari du nous [Published in English as Rednecks and Barbarians: Uniting the White and Racialized Working Class]
What is your experience as a Franco-Algerian author and decolonial activist?
As a Franco-Algerian, that is to say a post-colonial subject, my experience is one of structural racism in French society. Fanon said, “A society is either racist or it is not”. French society, like German society, is structurally racist. That is why, no matter how hard I try to integrate, my efforts will always be in vain, because there is a glass ceiling that means I can never truly be French. As a decolonial activist, I am quite satisfied right now because I can see that our definition of racism is progressing. The political anti-racism that I espouse has made great strides on the left.
You were recently disinvited from a conference organised by Historical Materialism (HM). Can you explain what happened and why?
In France, our enemies have created a very negative image of us. When we denounce structural racism, we are accused of being anti-white racists; when we denounce colonial feminism, we are accused of being masculinists; when we denounce Israeli colonialism, we are called antisemites. The French reactionaries who run the universities today take advantage of this image to justify censoring us. This is what happened with Dauphine University, which hosted HM.
We understand that Les Soulèvements de la Terre and Action antifasciste Paris-Banlieue were also affected? How do you interpret this?
It’s very simple. What has been censored is the transformative left: anti-fascists, radical environmentalists and political anti-racists. In short, those who want to break with the capitalist order.
HM issued a statement after the conference. Are you satisfied with their response?
Their initial communiqué was timid, but people on social media were unhappy with this weakness. After that, the second statement from HM France was much better, as was the one from HM London. Overall, I am quite satisfied, because many allies protested, some by boycotting and others by denouncing the censorship from within.
Is this the first time one of your speeches has been cancelled?
No. It happens to me frequently, in this country of human rights and freedom of expression.
Where does the current debate on Israel stand in France?
I would say that reactionary forces are running out of steam. The denying of genocide cannot withstand the reality of the facts. The moral bankruptcy of French leaders is complete, as is that of other Western leaders. This bankruptcy is all the more significant because its consequences are terrible. Antisemitism among the elites has never disappeared, to the point that the French and German police forces have begun to persecute anti-Zionist Jews. The masks have finally come off.
How does this debate fit into the context of the implementation of various Islamophobic laws and the continued rise of the National Rally?
The far right no longer has anything to do, since the positions of the Islamophobic and imperialist government are completely taken up with serving or anticipating the far-right agenda.
Do you think that antisemitism is being exploited?
It has been being exploited for a long time. It is simply more visible now than it was before. When the yellow vest uprising took place, the authorities immediately used accusations of antisemitism to destroy the movement. We decolonialists have always warned the left: if you let the government exploit antisemitism (which, incidentally, has never disappeared), you will end up being the victim. That is what is happening now.
Would you say that you are part of the French Left? Why, or why not?
I would say that it is up to the French Left to decide whether the decolonial movement is on the left or not.
What kind of solidarity is possible between Jews, Arabs and the French Left?
Rather than talking about solidarity, I prefer to ask how we can build a hegemonic bloc, as [Antonio] Gramsci advised us to do. It seems to me that in order to unite the working classes in a radical left-wing project, we need an anti-capitalist, anti-racist, ecological, and anti-imperialist programme. That is how we can unify the working classes and build a people’s movement.
How can we support you in Germany?
By supporting anti-Zionist Muslims and Jews in Germany who are mobilising for Palestine, by supporting anti-imperialist movements, by creating a decolonial international with us. This is what we are trying to do with the series of events we have entitled the ‘Bandung du nord’ (Bandung of the North), [in reference to the 1955 meeting of newly liberated colonies from Asia and Africa] which have already taken place in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and Montreal.
Translation from the French: John Mullen
