As every year since 1995 in Paris, neo-fascists attempt to commemorate the death of Sébastien Deyzieu, a member of the French Action movement, who died following a police chase in May 1994. This event is merely a pretext for an unashamed fascist march: Celtic crosses, Hitler Youth drums, attacks on people who approach their procession, all under the watchful eye of the police. --- The May 9th Committee (C9M) has established itself as an annual Parisian parade of the most radical far right. Therefore, it is our duty to prevent them from acting.
For the past three years, the UCL (Union of Catholic Students) has been part of a Parisian antifascist network whose aim is to prevent this demonstration. The unity of this struggle extends far beyond specific organizations: political organizations, parties, unions, and local antifascist groups are able to coordinate around a common strategy, namely, preventing the C9M (National Council of the 9th Movement) through mass action. In 2024 and 2025, instead of a demonstration, we opted for an antifascist village, bringing together stands from organizations within our camp. This took place at the foot of the Panthéon in the 5th arrondissement, an area sorely lacking in activism. While the first two events attracted more people than the fascist march, they were not enough to prevent its cancellation.
This led to a slight reassessment of the unified strategy. This year, the stakes were even higher: to prevent a march by neo-Nazis galvanized by the death of Quentin Deranque and planning to come from all over Europe.
In addition to the antifascist village, a demonstration was planned, passing by the C9M starting point, to symbolically reclaim the streets. The aim was to force the prefecture to ban the neo-fascist march. This strategy proved successful, as both demonstrations were canceled.
Thus, only the antifascist village took place over the weekend, attracting approximately 3,000 people with roundtables on the fight against militarization, support for antifascist struggles against repression, and anti-colonialism. The day ended in a very positive atmosphere with a concert by local rapper 2L and a DJ set. Our press conference provided an opportunity to distribute our political materials and discuss antifascism more broadly.
For the first time, the neo-fascists were therefore unable to march publicly and were forced to stage their grotesque spectacle in a field outside Paris.
Although our objective has been achieved, we are under no illusions. The state will not protect us from fascism. The mass arrests of antifascists who nevertheless attempted to demonstrate on May 9th, as well as the recent dissolution of the Young Guard, remind us of this all too clearly. If the prefecture yielded this year, it was due to the collective strength imposed by the unified Parisian framework.
The challenge now is to transform this victory into an example. Let us not allow fascism to strut about, neither in Paris nor anywhere else.
Antifascism Working Group of UCL Paris North East
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Comite-du-9-Mai-Pas-de-nazis-dans-Paris
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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