Activists from the "SOS Resistance" organization organized an anti-racism march - yesterday, Sunday - in front of the headquarters of the far-right "National Rally" party in Paris, in protest against the statements of the head of his parliamentary group, Marine Le Pen, regarding the possibility of singer Aya Nakamura participating in the opening of the next Olympic Games.

Since her song “Djadja” in 2018, the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world has become the target of far-right criticism, and has been subjected to racist campaigns since the French weekly magazine “L’Express” announced at the end of last February that she might participate in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on July 26. Next July, she may perform songs by the late French singer Edith Piaf.

In a "flash gathering", about 20 activists danced to the tunes of the songs of the French artist of financial origins, and also to the songs of Edith Piaf, which were broadcast at the highest volume in front of the closed doors of the party headquarters.

Last week, the leader of the "National Rally" deputies in the French National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, criticized the possibility of Aya Nakamura singing at the opening of the Olympic Games, considering that French President Emmanuel Macron wants to "divide" the French and "humiliate" them. Le Pen's criticism particularly targeted Nakamura's "dress" and her "vulgarity," saying that she "does not sing in French."

The head of the anti-racism organization SOS Resistance, Dominique Suppo, said that the demonstrators came to send a “message of contempt for Marine Le Pen” (French)

In response, SOS Resistance activists held up a banner reading "It's impossible, Marine, this is Paris, not Vichy," a reference to Marshal Pétain's Vichy regime during World War II. Another banner read: “Mrs. Le Pen, France is not humiliated by blacks, but by racists.”

The head of the anti-racism organization, Dominique Sopo, said, “We came to send a message of contempt for Marine Le Pen” through this “anti-racism party.”

He added, "We are preparing to welcome the whole world to the Olympic Games, and we are facing controversy, because some of our most important French-speaking artists want to return her symbolically - and perhaps not only symbolically - to Bamako."

Activists from the Union of Jewish Students in France were also present in a gesture of “support” for the singer. Union President Samuel Leguayo emphasized that "anti-racism is not selective."

The Olympic Organizing Committee had previously expressed its feeling of “shock at the racist attacks against Aya Nakamura,” and declared “full support for the most famous and popular French artist on the international level.”

As for Sports Minister Emily Odea Castera, she said to Nakamura, "It's okay, people love you, don't worry about anything."

Source: French