France - another hateful act

Racism is alive and sick in France - as in probably many other countries in the world - as witnessed in the latest shameful episode, which has brought quick condemnation from the government.

It occurred on Wednesday night at a secondary school in the southern French town of Agde.

Vandals apparently clambered over the gates to gain access to the grounds and proceeded to daub the walls, doors and outside stairwells of the school with anti-semitic and anti-Islamic profanities too obscene to repeat here, as well as Nazi swastikas and slogans.

There was swift reaction from local officials, school authorities, anti-racist groups and the government. And the story was widely reported in the French media.

The minister of education, Xavier Darcos, who visited the school on Thursday condemned the "acts of racist violence, antisemtism and xenophobia" and called for an inquiry to be opened immediately. He also told reporters that it didn't look as though it had been the action of one individual.

The 400 pupils at the school began the new academic year on Wednesday, and according to the deputy head teacher, Anne Bondy, everything seemed normal.

"It's a school without any real problems," she told reporters.

"It opened on Wednesday morning and everything went without a hitch.

"There was no tension of any sort, no indication that would have led us to imagine that such a thing could happen."

On Thursday, the school remained closed, parents were informed of what had happened and children kept away for the day while the clean-up operation went ahead.

While many here in France have reacted with understandable indignation and consider what happened a hateful crime, a quick read through the comments sections of some of the national newspapers' websites - and there has been plenty of reaction - reveals that not everyone shares the same point of view.

Most wholeheartedly endorsed the outrage felt by school officials, local authorities and the sentiments expressed by Darcos. But there were also others who sought to understand what had happened and why - without justifying the act.

And there were also some unkind words about both the level of media coverage and the reaction of the education minister.

One reader (of Le Figaro) suggested that simply painting over the problem and not allowing children to see what had happened - even though they would undoubtedly have been aware of why they were missing a day off school - was "a meaningless attempt at trying to ignore a chapter in French history that had being invoked by the graffiti."

While another (of Libération) criticised the media itself for drawing too much attention to a senseless act that was probably the result of those who knew no better, and newspapers and television would be better off reporting everyday cases of racist aggression in all walks of life rather than "publicising" purely "symbolic acts."

And then of course there were the claims that Darcos - currently under fire from teachers for a slew of reforms to the French education system that have just come into effect at this, the beginning of the academic year - was "benefitting" from the general outrage as a means of deflecting attention from upcoming strikes against 11,000 job losses.

This latest case is far from being an isolated one here in France.

In April racist and sexist abuse was painted on 148 Moslem graves in the country's largest First World War military cemetery at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette à Albain-Saint-Nazaire near Arras in northern France.

The same cemetery was also the scene of a similar racist attack in April 2007, when Nazi slogans and swastikas were painted on some 50 Moslem graves.

Racism, it would appear, is indeed alive and sick in France.