Demonstration against the visit of the MR to St.-Gilles

On November 19, the MR wishes to organize a conference in St-Gilles to “explain” their antisocial reforms and racist policies. We are calling for a demonstration against their visit at 5:30 p.m. at Place Bethléem.

The non-profit organization CEMome—the venue for the conference—explained that the building had been made available to the MR not by them but by the municipality of St.-Gilles, and that they distanced themselves from the policies promoted by the MR.

We refuse to allow the MR to promote its contempt for the poor and its racism in Saint-Gilles. This party, which embodies the interests of the rich, is the main vehicle for the far-right agenda in French-speaking Belgium.

We call on everyone to put pressure on the municipality of St-Gilles to ban the MR conference.

It is therefore the same municipality of St-Gilles, which presents itself as “progressive” with anti-fascist flags, that will host the MR conference. It will even deploy hundreds of police officers to “cordon off” the neighborhood—according to its own words—so that GLB and his clique can come and spew their contempt.

Jean Spinette, the mayor of Saint-Gilles, commented that our call to rally against the MR was “undemocratic” and a “call to violence.” We would like to correct Jean: violence is perpetrated by the state, which pushes hundreds of thousands of people into precarious situations, which suppresses social solidarity, our unemployment benefits, our pensions, and our allowances, in order to invest in weapons... It is the violence that kills in detention centers and police stations, not the violence of a population defending itself by organizing against policies that directly threaten their lives. Wednesday's popular gathering will be the only legitimate democratic expression of the neighborhood, not the conference you are protecting.

The non-profit organization CEMome—the venue for the conference—explained that the building had been made available to the MR not by them but by the municipality of St-Gilles, and that they distanced themselves from the policies promoted by the MR. We refuse to allow the MR to promote its contempt for the poor and its racism in Saint-Gilles. This party, which embodies the interests of the rich, is the primary vehicle for the agenda of the far right in French-speaking Belgium.

We call on everyone to put pressure on the municipality of St-Gilles to ban the MR conference.

It is therefore the same municipality of St-Gilles, which presents itself as “progressive” with anti-fascist flags, that will host the MR conference. Wednesday's popular gathering will be the only legitimate democratic expression of the neighborhood, not the conference that you are protecting.

This hypocritical stance by the municipality is one of the reasons why we oppose the PS and the entire reformist left: while claiming to fight against the far right and support policies in the interests of the exploited, these parties are in fact doing the opposite.

The PS takes up the themes of the far right and capitalizes on racism in Belgium: declaring through its president that more “foreigners” considered “illegal” must be deported and imprisoned. By calling for the strengthening of the repressive apparatus of the state, which beats, harasses, and kills people out of racism, because they live in working-class neighborhoods and/or because they protest and organize to live with dignity. On Wednesday, it gave the MR a new space, well protected by an army of cops.

Should we be surprised? No. Social democratic parties have always had an interest in mediating between the far right, the bourgeoisie, and workers/the oppressed, destroying any semblance of progressive politics in their discourse if it contradicted the interests of the capitalist class and its reactionary policies.

Anti-fascism remains and will remain revolutionary, otherwise it is limited to flags on facades. Down with the PS and all political forces that give a platform to the far right.

[machine translation]

👥 by Front d'Action Révolutionnaire and others (source,source)