Self-styled enemy of political correctness Éric Zemmour found guilty
after trial over remarks about police stopping minorities
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Saturday February 19 2011
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/18/french-journalist-racism-drug-dealer
The controversial French journalist Éric Zemmour has been found guilty
of incitement to racial hatred after telling a TV chatshow that drug
dealers were mostly "blacks and Arabs".
The Paris trial sparked a fierce debate over freedom of speech and the
extent of France's racism problem, which is poisoning the republican
ideal that all citizens are equal regardless of colour.
Zemmour, a well-known media commentator and columnist for Le Figaro,
prides himself on his outspoken defiance of what he deems political
correct, woolly liberals.
He appeared on a chatshow last year when the debate turned to the
question of the French police's excessive use of stop and search
powers against minorities. He said: "But why are they stopped 17
times? Why? Because most dealers are blacks and Arabs. That's a fact."
According to the French model, where everyone is theoretically equal
under a state blind to race or religion, it is illegal to count ethnic
minorities or race statistics. So there are no figures on the ethnic
identity of criminals.
Zemmour was also fined for telling another TV channel that employers
"had a right" to turn down black or Arab candidates. Job
discrimination over race and ethnicity is thought to be widespread in
France.
Zemmour, whose parents were Jewish Berbers who emigrated from Algeria
in the 1950s, told the court he was not a "provocateur" but a faithful
observer of reality who refused political correctness. He was backed
by several centre-right politicians and some on the left.
The state prosecutor accused him of using the "old stereotype that
linked immigration to crime".
The Zemmour case has reflected an increasingly uneasy debate over
immigration in France as Nicolas Sarkozy tries to win over the far-
right vote before his difficult re-election battle next year.
The Front National, led by its new, young, female face, Marine Le Pen,
is scoring its highest ever ratings in the polls after exploiting
mistrust of Islam by criticising Muslim street prayers and halal-only
restaurants.
After what was attacked as a disastrous national debate on
"immigration and national identity", Sarkozy is now seeking to
outmanoeuvre the extreme right by launching a nationwide consultation
on the role of Islam in the French secular state.
The debate, to be run by his ruling UMP party, will begin in April and
will seek to impose rules on how Islam should work in France, which
has the biggest Muslim population in western Europe. Sarkozy told
party members it was crucial because "yesterday's racists are today's
populists".
He said: "I don't want prayers in the streets, or calls to prayer." He
said the decision to ban the niqab in public places from April was a
good thing and now "we need to agree in principle about the place of
religion".
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011
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