“We call to vote for the New Popular Front. But it’s not a blank check”, summarizes Noureddine. A resident of the Meinau district, he is one of the 27 people who participated in the first meeting of the Nous, Quartiers 2 Strasbourg collective, Thursday June 20 at the Wagon Souk. The initiative was launched by Mohamed Zahi, president of the association which manages the third place located between the Gare and Koenigshoffen districts. Social workers, members of associations such as the Alsatian Coordination of Maghreb Immigration (Calima) or independent people responded to the call.
“There were even single mothers”, says Magali, who comes from the City of Ill and who raised her daughter alone. A specialist educator, she has notably worked at Éveil Meinau and in child protection: “Since it’s people from the neighborhoods who organize it, it makes people want to participate more.” In the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, June 26, she cuts a roll of green paper to make a banner. “The Wagon Souk serves as a toolbox”, specifies Mohamed Zahi. Paint is available in the middle of the courtyard.
“The neighborhoods have scores to settle with the left. »
mohamed zahi
On its Facebook page, every day, the collective posts about collage actions, a discussion group in the street, a barbecue organized by Calima at the Meinau… Azziz comes from the Hohberg district in Koenigshoffen. A member of the food distribution association Compagnons de l’espoir, she filmed herself to encourage people to vote in the legislative elections on June 30 and July 7: “We have many different origins here, but we all vote for the Popular Front. Block the RN, all together! Go and vote.”
Mohamed Zahi is preparing a tour to present the collective and call for a vote for the NFP with a “neighborhood caravan.” He is also involved in the France Insoumise action group in Hautepierre. “It’s well received by people because these are our words, we have the same experiences, they trust us”he assures. “Some young people from the city center came to knock on my mother to tell her to vote but she didn’t take it well. She has the impression that they are interested in us just for the elections”explains Noureddine.
For Mohamed Zahi, “the neighborhoods have scores to settle with the left” :
“The left sees us as masses to be made to vote, without making concrete changes afterwards. François Hollande passed in 2012 with our votes, then he put Manuel Valls at the Ministry of the Interior who stigmatizes Islam. Even today, only rebellious France carries our struggles, against police violence, against Islamophobia, for immigrant workers and Palestine. »
Getting politicized to count
“We don’t care about politicians. What matters is concrete actions, programs.”insists Magali. The collective Nous, Quartiers 2 Strasbourg does not intend to limit itself to the upcoming election. The aim is to influence public actions in the long term. “In Robertsau, if a street lamp is broken, it is repaired the next day. In my home in Meinau, it can take years for it to be fixed.”remarks Noureddine, sitting in the shade of a parasol: “In rich neighborhoods, they vote. » “And they make petitions, they send letters to elected officials, they call the media, they demonstrate”adds Mohamed Zahi:
“What we want is to start a movement that encourages people in the neighborhoods to organize together, to carry their own demands. We must impose our own issues. We are not fighting for political parties, but for ourselves.”
The creation of the collective was accelerated by the urgency of countering the National Rally in the early elections. “We couldn’t say we didn’t do anything at that timesays the founder of Wagon Souk, We will be the first to be affected by the consequences of a far-right government.”
Vast action in the city of Neuhof
The seriousness of the political moment is pushing many people to take a stand to encourage political involvement and voting. Another citizen collective in Neuhof, triggered in particular by the socio-cultural center of the neighborhood and its president Khoutir Khechab, coordinated an action of hanging banners in the city.
About forty residents agreed to display messages on their balconies such as “Don’t let others decide for you. Vote!” or “Together, for diversity and diversity.” “We will distribute between 3,000 and 4,000 leaflets to all the mailboxes in the city.”complete Khoutir Khechab:
“Above we indicate the positions of the National Rally, for example against the increase in the minimum wage. And there is a text which calls for blocking the extreme right. We advocate living together and respect for others every day. The RN is clearly in opposition to all our work. When we speak in the street, many feel concerned, and if they vote, it is because they feel obliged. We would like them to vote out of conviction. »
Accompanying residents on election day
A long-standing struggle since the Neuhof socio-cultural center had carried the Citizen Challenge during the 2017 presidential election aimed at reducing abstention. Five years later, in 2022, Rue89 Strasbourg had met Neuhofois more or less concerned by the vote. “It’s a long-term job”constate Khoutir Khechab.
Booska-P magazine published a video on June 26 about Feris Barkat, a young man from the Banlieues Climat collective from Illkirch-Graffenstaden who went to talk to residents of Hautepierre to tell them to vote for the NFP:
“It’s not going to mobilize anyone to just say “come and vote”. Why are you only calculating us now? When we try to mobilize on politics, I feel a lot of disinterest and a form of resignation in “we are young and we are already disgusted” mode. On June 30 and July 7 we will try to form groups, we will say “come, we will vote” because they have confidence in us. »
A more inclusive space
Same strategy for members of Nous, Quartiers 2 Strasbourg, who plan to set up a fanfare to accompany people to the polling stations. Beyond the feeling of urgency, the collective will push residents to remain mobilized afterwards, to put pressure on local and concrete issues such as the living environment and social housing.
“We will have to make sure not to take up too much space, so that people who are not used to it can make this collective their own. It must become a tool in mobilizations”predicts Mohamed Zahi. “Institutional public meetings are intimidating, it is always those who come from residential areas who are confident and present their demands”Magali believes. For her too, Nous, Quartiers 2 Strasbourg is better suited for the inhabitants of the estates to address their issues.
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