A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #359 - Antifascism - Marseille: Ibrahim Ali, Latest Victim of a Series of Racist Crimes (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

"I'm going to miss the bus": this was probably Ibrahim Ali's last 
thought before hearing the gunshot behind him that would take his life. 
On February 21, 1995, Ibrahim, a 17-year-old boy of Comorian origin, was 
leaving a rap rehearsal with his friends. Living in the Savine 
neighborhood, north of Marseille, he saw the bus in the distance and ran 
to catch it to get home. A very ordinary scene of everyday life, had he 
not crossed paths with National Front (FN) poster hangers who shot him 
in the back. "They got me," were his last words.
This cold-blooded assassination sparked a widespread mobilization of the 
left, the neighborhoods, and the Comorian community. Twenty thousand 
people marched on the Canebière to express their outrage and demand 
"justice for this racist crime." But not everyone shared this analysis: 
for Bruno Mégret, the local National Front representative, it was an act 
of self-defense. To defend the murderers, National Front leaders called 
on the public authorities, believing that "the real criminals are those 
who allowed '48,000 Comorians to enter Marseille'"[1].

In June 1995, the trial of the three poster hangers began before the 
Aix-en-Provence Assize Court: Robert Lagier, a nostalgic supporter of 
the Secret Army Organization (OAS)[2], was accused of firing the fatal 
shot; Mario d'Ambrosio was also prosecuted for shooting, and Pierre 
Giglio for complicity and possession of a weapon. Together, they adopted 
a line of defense so absurd that it was dismissed by the police 
investigator: according to them, the posters wanted to "intimidate" the 
youths; which is difficult to understand when you shoot someone in the 
back who is running in the opposite direction from you. The posters 
nevertheless pleaded self-defense because, according to them, when three 
French people pasted people in the northern neighborhoods, they feared 
for their lives. The attorney general, for his part, pointed to the 
direct responsibility of the National Front for having led a widespread 
campaign in support of the murderers, which "legitimized their crime." 
The murderers were sentenced to 15, 10, and 2 years in prison respectively.

To Never Forget, the Fight for Memory
To ensure that Ibrahim would not be forgotten, his family and loved ones 
have tirelessly fought. In 2021, after 26 years of struggle, the Ali 
family finally succeeded in having Avenue des Aygalades, in the northern 
districts of Marseille, renamed after Ibrahim Ali. A plaque 
commemorating the site of his assassination was installed. For years, 
the LR municipality of Marseille had refused to do so. It took a 
political shift, with the city's move to the Socialist Party, for the 
inauguration to take place.

In 2024, the official memory of Ibrahim Ali took another turn. On 
October 18, during a highly turbulent city council meeting, the majority 
voted to create the Ibrahim Ali Prize for primary school students and 
their teachers, to work on the fight against racism and discrimination.

On the activist side, annual commemorations continue, led by support 
groups. This year, to mark the thirtieth anniversary of his death, 
organizations fighting against racism joined forces to create a collage 
across the city. Large portraits of Ibrahim were plastered on many 
walls, so that no one would forget that the far right kills.

A Heavy History of Racist Murders
Ibrahim Ali is not the first person killed by the far right in 
Marseille; the city sadly bears a bloody history of racist crimes, 
rooted in 1973.

Against the backdrop of the oil crisis of 1972, the economic crisis it 
engendered, and resentment toward the Algerian War, deep xenophobia grew 
in France.

On August 25, 1973, Salah Bougrine, an Algerian later declared 
criminally irresponsible, killed a Marseille tram driver. The far-right 
newspaper Le Méridionnal seized on this tragic incident and published: 
"Enough with the Algerian killers. We've had enough of this uncontrolled 
immigration that brings a whole bunch of scum from across the 
Mediterranean into our country." In the same vein, a Committee for the 
Defense of the Marseilles People was formed, claiming to "ensure the 
security of the French": it set up shop in the National Front's offices.

A series of bloody murders followed: Rachid Moukla, 25, found body 
riddled with bullets; Saïd Aounallah found near a bus depot; Abdel Wahab 
Hemahoum killed with a plank in the Old Port during a fight; Ladj 
Lounes, 16, shot in cold blood by a police officer; Hamou Mebraki whose 
skull was bashed in by his boss; Saïd Ghilas. Bensaha Mekernef also died 
following a skull fracture; Mohammed Ben Brahim shot dead by his 
neighbor, etc.[3]In response to these assassinations, the Arab Workers' 
Movement (MTA)[4]called for a general strike against racism, a call that 
was followed throughout France.

The apotheosis of this racist wave occurred on December 14, 1973, the 
day of the attack on the Algerian Consulate in Marseille, killing four 
people and injuring twenty. This attack was claimed by the 
Charles-Martel group, which brought together former members of the OAS 
and French Algeria. And yet, its perpetrators were never brought to 
justice. The next day, 3,000 people gathered to express their anger. On 
December 18, the MTA gathered 15,000 people in Marseille for the 
victims' funeral.

Between the summer and fall of 1973, of the 50 recorded racist murders, 
17 took place in Marseille. To date, only two have been tried and their 
perpetrators given suspended sentences.

Today, Marseille is at a crossroads: it is both light years away from 
the social project championed by the National Rally while being 
surrounded by the far right, now at home in the southeast of France and 
making electoral gains in many of the city's constituencies. 
Fortunately, resistance is being organized: since the last elections, 
the city has been crisscrossed by neighborhood anti-fascist collectives 
whose dynamism will prove crucial in the years to come.

Myriam (UCL Marseille)

Validate

[1]https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1998/06/10/une-affaire-qui-marque-le-debut-de-l-ascension-politique-de-bruno-megret_3674135_1819218.html 
.

[2]The OAS is a clandestine French far-right terrorist organization 
created in February 1961 to defend the French presence in Algeria. To 
this end, it uses all means available, including large-scale terrorism. 
It is responsible for nearly 2,000 deaths, mainly in Algeria.

[3]https://www.laprovence.com/article/politique/40689320398823/marseille-en-1973-lete-des-meurtres-racistes.

[4]Founded in 1972 by Maghreb immigrant workers and students from the 
Maghreb or the Mashreq, the MTA was close to the Proletarian Left. It 
brought together far-left activists, Arab students and immigrant 
workers. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouvement_des_travailleurs_arabes

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Marseille-Ibrahim-Ali-derniere-victime-d-une-serie-de-crimes-racistes
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en