Municipal council. The city of Marseille votes to create the Ibrahim Ali Prize

The Municipal Council of the city of Marseille voted this Friday, October 18, the creation of the Ibrahim Ali prize, which offers students, from the Grande Section to CM2, and their teachers to work around the issues of combating racism and discrimination based on the History of Marseille and the memory of Ibrahim Ali.

In 2021, the City named Avenue des Aygalades in the 15th arrondissement after Ibrahim Ali. This prize is a continuation of the work to remember the figure of Ibrahim Ali carried out by the city of Marseille alongside his family.

On February 21, 1995, in the middle of the presidential campaign, Ibrahim Ali, a young 17-year-old from Marseille, walked through the streets of Marseille with friends. At this moment he crosses paths with people putting up posters of Jean-Marie Le Pen. The poster pasters were armed and opened fire on the group of young people, fatally hitting Ibrahim Ali. This racist crime had a profound impact on the people of Marseille.

“In order to remember this terrible event and to ensure that no crime of this kind occurs again, it is essential to raise awareness among children of the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination”indicates the City which recalls that the creation of this Ibrahim Ali prize allows children to participate in an “educational journey” around these themes.

An educational course to raise awareness of the fight against discrimination

This course, built by the City in partnership with National Education, offers students and their teachers a range of activities for students to work on the subject of discrimination, around the figure of Ibrahim Ali, through the mobilization of municipal equipment, the intervention of partners, and the creation of a production which could take different forms: theatrical staging, production
writing, creation of a board game, musical production or any other hybrid form mixing text, images and sounds. Several associations will also come directly to the classes, to engage with the students in thinking about discrimination through artistic and cultural actions.

The Ibrahim Ali Prize will reward, at the end of the school year, collective work mobilizing students in primary classes, from the Grande Section from nursery to CM2, who have carried out action aimed at combating prejudices and stereotypes.