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TWO EXTREME CASES of ANTI-ZIONISM Today the Université

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TWO EXTREME CASES of ANTI-ZIONISM Today the Université CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO TWO EXTREME CASES OF ANTI-ZIONISM Today the Université Paris-VIII is no longer the forum of highly politicised lecturers and students which it was for a long time, in the aftermath of the May ’68 movement, since its founding. Nevertheless, from its political past dominated by tensions between communist party militants and various leftist groups, it has retained a strong attachment to the Palestinian cause. Based for the past 20 years in Saint-Denis, in a working-class suburb, after a transitional period in Vincennes, its intake includes numerous students of immigrant descent, especially from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa: 26% of its students are foreign nationals. Against a background of the depoliticisation of the students and the weakness of left-wing trade union or political organisations, the students’ communal life is structured primarily around the network of community associations. These associations of Tunisians, Berbers, Moroccans, Algerians etc., are de ned primarily in cultural terms but also in terms of the social assistance which they offer, particularly at enrolment, defending the students’ rights, supporting the students with no papers, etc. Everyone agrees that these associations get on well together. As a general rule, they do not present separate lists at the time of the university elections, preferring to group together and make alliances amongst themselves, or with the trade unions. Student action sometimes gives rise to clashes with the administration. Thus in 2001, students without the requisite visa who came in particular from Nanterre (another university) in an attempt to obtain their enrol- ment, occupied an amphitheatre for one month. They were supported in their action by the CNT (the Conféderation nationale du travail, a trade union with libertarian leanings) and by other extreme left groups in the Université Paris-VIII, but also by the University of Nanterre and further, in particular, it would seem, by the AGEN (Association générale des étudiants de Nanterre) which we will discuss later. Mme. A., in charge of an important division of university administrative staff, stated: It was they who organised the action, in daily contact with the student associations, and they were very aggressive [. .]. It reminds me of the two extreme cases of anti-zionism 321 AGEN. They appear when there’s something going on. Normally we don’t see them except for one thing: they often set up a table and sell the Bolchevik journal. The rise in religious demands and, in particular the “Islamisation of some of the North African associations”, is noticeable, according to the President’s of\ ce (Le Figaro, 23 June 2003). Requests for prayer rooms have been rejected and it is not unusual for Muslims to pray in groups in the staircases. At the time of the last CROUS elections (the organisation which manages various resources placed at the students’ disposal), the highest number of votes was obtained by Avenir, a Muslim association from the Université Paris-XIII which is not established in Paris-VIII, but which stood by allying itself with the Étudiants musulmans de France (EMF). Two cases which differ in nature, and are not necessarily related, merit our attention. Maria Poumier In 1996, the Université Paris-VIII organised several cultural demon- strations in the context of an ‘Année de la Méditerranée’ (Mediterranean Year). Maria Poumier, holder of the ‘agrégation’1 in Spanish, and recently appointed a lecturer, invited Roger Garaudy, whose talk on Islam et Modernité was listed on the of\ cial programme. Two weeks before the date of the conference, Roger Garaudy’s book, Les Mythes fondateurs de la politique israélienne (The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics) came out; it gave rise to a erce controversy in the press on account of its content, and in particular its revisionist theses. In the context of this, his contribu- tion was deleted from the of\ cial programme but Maria Poumier had him come all the same and the lecture took place. This episode was not a chance occurrence. From the very well- documented le dedicated to Maria Poumier by the journal L’Arche,2 it emerges that her involvement alongside Roger Garaudy, is long standing and she takes full responsibility for it. Amongst other things, it has resulted in her being marginalised by the research group to 1 Translator’s note: the ‘agrégation’ is the highest quali\ cation available for teachers at secondary level. Many university lecturers are also ‘agrégés’. 2 L’Arche, n° 551–552, January–February 2004, pp. 94–101..
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