A new freezing episode was added to the long list of acts of hatred which target representatives of the Republic because of their origins. This time, the target is Naïma Moutchou, deputy horizons of Val-d’Oise and figure of the presidential majority, from a Moroccan family. She received a handwritten letter in the National Assembly, slipped into the pages of an article in the Paris Match magazine being dedicated to her. This hateful message, written with staggering violence, contained racist remarks of extreme brutality, evoking its appearance, its origins and insinuating links with barbarian acts. The words used caused in the elected official what she calls herself “knot in the belly” and a “cold anger”, but have not started her determination to assert her rights and to file a complaint.
The content of the message is unequivocal. “You have an Arab face – you have nothing to do in this country which collects all the waste from the world – you take the bread of the French. Get out quickly! », Can we read, followed by even more serious accusations, amalgamating the deputy to terrorist crimes, in a delirious shift towards racial essentialization and the designation of scapegoats. Verbal violence, brought to this degree, translates an increasingly tense and uninhibited climate, where the elected officials themselves become direct targets, not for their ideas, but for their supposed origins.
Very quickly, the deputy reacted on social networks. Refusing to give in to intimidation, she recalled her attachment to republican values, affirmed her right to exist and to represent citizens with dignity, and had a strong thought for her parents. “I will never apologize for being what I am or defending what I just believe,” she wrote. A dignity which contrasts with the baseness of the words which were sent to it. She adds a moving evocation of her parents, their sacrifices, their worn hands, and what they transmitted to her.
The emotion quickly won the entire political class. The president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, immediately reacted: “The words of the worst. Racism has no place in our Republic. No form of hatred has its place. We must condemn without reservation, fight tirelessly. Other members of the majority, such as MP Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, also expressed their anger, calling for attacking the roots of evil: “Words are lacking to qualify this odious act. Anger is legitimate, fear too but beyond words, we must find the root of these ills, racism, anti-Semitism, discrimination, ganging our country. »»
On the right, solidarity was also immediate. Valérie Pécresse testified to her support for the elected representative, while Jean-Didier Berger, deputy Les Républicains, pleaded for a firm response from the judicial authorities: “Zero tolerance: the author of these threats must be severely sanctioned. Even on the side of the national rally, often accused of tolerating ambiguous speeches on these subjects, Laure Lavalette expressed her wish that the author “of this filth” be “identified and condemned”.
On the side of the left, the reaction was just as unanimous. Mathilde Panot, president of the group La France rebellious in the Assembly, denounced an “infective” message, ensuring Naïma Moutchou of her “unwavering support in the face of racism” of which she is the victim. Antoine Léaument, also deputy LFI, said forcefully: “It is time for racists to understand it: we do not do France without its people. »»
The entire political scene seems to have been granted, unequivocally, to condemn this attack and affirm a clear rejection of racism in all its forms. Naïma Moutchou, despite the pain, today embodies a figure of republican resilience. The announced legal proceedings may allow us to go back to the author of these insults. But beyond the individual case, it is a collective alarm signal that is launched: racial hatred, even disguised in the form of anonymous letter, remains a poison that no democracy can tolerate.
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