France in the Grip of the Far Left. Interview with the Leader of Némésis After the Tragedy in Lyon.

Olivier Bault (Ordo Iuris Institute)

You are the leader of the Némésis collective. This collective is a “right-wing” feminist organization. Is this the correct definition?

Alice Cordier (Némésis)

Yes, that’s true, although many media outlets claimed that we are far-right. This stems from the fact that we condemn violence against women, but above all, we condemn the overrepresentation of foreigners among perpetrators of sexual assaults and sexual harassment in public spaces.

This overrepresentation is also evident in cases of domestic violence. In France, as soon as you bring up the topic of the consequences of migration, you are immediately branded an enemy to be defeated, a fascist, and a racist. That’s exactly what happened to our association.

Our methods are simple: we organize small protest actions such as banner drops. We display banners and posters, sometimes in response to events, sometimes at feminist demonstrations or during our own marches. We also have a strong presence in traditional and social media in France.

Were you present at the event in Lyon on February 12 that ended with the killing, at the hands of an Antifa group, of a young Catholic activist whom the media also described as a nationalist?

No, I wasn’t there. I supported this initiative; I knew it would take place, but I wasn’t there in person.

Could you briefly describe the protest your collective staged at Sciences Po to oppose the visit of Rima Hassan, an MEP from the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI)?

In France, there are institutes of political studies known as Sciences Po, including one in Lyon, which last Thursday hosted Rima Hassan, a person deeply involved in Palestinian issues.

During the war between Israel and Palestine, she spoke in a very aggressive manner, primarily using verbal abuse directed at our association, but also at anyone who opposed her views.

Our main criticism of Sciences Po is that the university regularly invites individuals representing the far left, whereas people with right-wing views do not, in practice, have the opportunity to speak there. Right-wing conferences are automatically canceled due to the risk of disrupting public order, whereas such events are not canceled for people with left-wing views. We want both the right and the left to be able to debate freely at this type of college.

However, there is also a second aspect concerning Rima Hassan. She promotes views known in France as ‘Islamo-leftist’ that do not support gender equality between women and men. We also believe that she is associated with violent individuals and maintains close ties with terrorist groups, which makes her dangerous.

To express opposition to her arrival, we organized a small demonstration in front of the entrance to Sciences Po. Our female activists stood on the sidewalk, off campus, holding a banner that read: “Islamo-leftists out of our universities.”

Seven Némésis activists, around twenty years old, took part in the action. About 50 meters away, a dozen or so of our colleagues and friends were standing; they had come to support them in the event of any violence. They stayed off to the side so the girls could carry out the operation without interference, but were to intervene in case of danger. However, they could not react in time.

Our female activists were attacked—one of them was choked, and two others were knocked to the ground and beaten. Doctors determined that, due to the injuries sustained, they were unable to work for eight, five, and two days, respectively. The men were unable to help them because they themselves were attacked by about thirty Antifa activists linked to the far-left movement La Jeune Garde (Young Guard). The assailants had a significant numerical advantage and were also equipped with gloves with hard reinforcements around the fingers—typically used for motorcycling, but when used to deliver blows, they can cause very painful injuries.

Since your organization asked a group of young men to accompany you during the action, does that mean it wasn’t the first time your female activists were attacked during peaceful protests?

Exactly—this isn’t the first time we’ve encountered aggression, even though our actions are always peaceful. We oppose violence and do not use it ourselves. We are a movement of women activists who act decisively, but always within the law. However, the fact is that our female activists had already been brutally attacked many times, so this time we decided to have a dozen or so men present to ensure their safety. I want to emphasize that their role was not to fight Antifa activists, but solely to protect the girls.

You yourself have repeatedly been a victim of violence, or at least of threats—including death threats from an LFI lawmaker—haven’t you?

Indeed, this is not an isolated case. The far-left militant groups we are talking about are linked to a far-left party that today has numerous representatives in the National Assembly. One of them is Raphaël Arnault, elected two years ago, a former co-founder of the same militant group, namely Jeune Garde.

It was the members of this organization who attacked one of the young men who had come to keep us safe. He was knocked to the ground and brutally beaten, especially in the head. The blows resulted in a skull fracture and internal hemorrhage. He died at the hospital from the injuries he sustained. In practice, as soon as the lynching ended, his fate was sealed—the doctors concluded that the injuries were irreversible and fatal.

Thus, the people responsible for the death of 23-year-old Quentin belonged to the Jeune Garde organization, co-founded by Raphaël Arnauld, whom the La France Insoumise party allowed to run for office in recognition of his “anti-fascist” activism. So there are clear links between this far-left, aggressive organization and the La France Insoumise party. Moreover, the group to this day has not distanced itself from Jeune Garde, and Arnault himself still holds his position—even though his parliamentary assistant was present during the lynching and, according to testimony, took part in it. [Two parliamentary assistants of MP Raphaël Arnaud were in fact arrested after this interview took place and charged with participation in the murder of Quentin by the prosecutor.]

I’ve seen the footage, and there’s little doubt about the intentions of Quentin’s killers. In France, therefore, the far left is active; it attacks people in superior numbers for their views and also commits violence against women, endangering their health and even their lives. Among other things, I saw footage in which Anaïs, your spokeswoman––whom I had the opportunity to meet at the CPAC conference in Budapest—was being brutally dragged by the hair and thrown headfirst onto concrete steps.

The Némésis organization has existed for six years, and throughout that time, we have been victims of psychological, verbal, and physical violence at the hands of far-left activists. I co-founded this association in October 2019, and by June 2020 I had already been attacked. I was 22 then. The female assailants were waiting for me at the station exit in the city where I was scheduled to give a lecture. There were about ten of them. I was hit in the face, and only the intervention of nearby restaurant owners prevented further escalation of violence.

A similar situation happened to our spokeswoman Anaïs—she was grabbed by the hair and brutally pulled backward by a woman. In fact, those perpetrating violence against us are not exclusively men. This incident took place in September of last year, the day before the assassination of Charlie Kirk in the United States.

We have also repeatedly participated in demonstrations against violence toward women, especially on March 8. As a feminist organization, we believe we have a place there. Unfortunately, almost every time, it resulted in aggression against us by masked individuals whose identities were never identified. Sometimes I would say to the assailants, seeing they were women: “Do you realize that you are attacking women during a demonstration against violence against women?” They replied that they were not hitting women, but “fascists.”

Since the days of Lenin and Stalin, far-left ideology has featured the dehumanization of opponents as a means of justifying violence. If an opponent is considered a “Nazi,” then—in this logic—you can do anything to him; you can kill him, because Hitler should have been killed earlier. This is what we experience all the time.

There is also a second problem—the functioning of the justice system. A few months ago, we were attacked along with journalists from the weekly magazine “Valeurs Actuelles.” We recorded the moment when they were being beaten. The police caught the main perpetrator red-handed. The officers testified in court that they saw him attacking journalists, and our footage was also available to the court. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to only a suspended one-month prison term and a two-year ban on participating in demonstrations. Moreover, since he filed an appeal, the ban was not yet legally binding, and a few weeks later, we saw him again at a far-left demonstration.

In France, there is a problem of leniency toward violence by far-left activists, both among some in the judiciary and in the media, which often portray such activists in a positive light. This sense of impunity encourages the escalation of violence and, in our view, also contributed to Quentin’s tragic death.

In this situation, do you feel protected by the French state? Did you request police protection for your female activists or for yourself, given that you yourself have received death threats?

There are many right-wing groups and identitarian activists who request protection but do not receive it. Even in situations where someone faces numerous threats on social media, that may still not be enough to secure real protection. Violence by Antifa activists is still being downplayed.

Just yesterday, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of LFI, held a press conference during which he verbally attacked us in a very direct way. He mentioned our group Némésis and stated that we are aggressive and dangerous and should be fought against. After what happened to the young man in Lyon, who was there to ensure our safety, Mélenchon continues to incite left-wing activists to attack us. Yesterday evening we requested police protection, but so far we have not received any response from the Ministry of the Interior.

Our female activists are being attacked in their neighborhoods by Antifa activists. Graffiti appears on their houses, which reads: “A female fascist lives here.” Mailboxes are being destroyed and marked with slogans: “A fascist from Némésis lives here.” There are young girls attending schools whose names are publicly labeled as “fascists.” It has intensified particularly in Rennes. The faces of our female activists were recognized and photographed by members of Antifa. Their images were then printed along with information about their workplace and posted at bus stops in Rennes. So we are dealing with real violence and a genuine threat, yet no action is being taken to ensure our protection.

You are fighting not only the left, but also the so-called Islamo-left. The slogan on your website reads: We are the Cologne generation. The Némésis Collective was formed after the New Year’s Eve events in Cologne in 2015, when hundreds of women fell victim to sexual assaults perpetrated by migrants. Are you also being attacked by Islamists and radical Muslims, or only by the far left?

Indeed, the problem is not limited to the far left. We are being stigmatized for our fight against Islamism, which poses a real challenge in France. We criticize certain Salafi-oriented schools and mosques. We oppose the wearing of the Muslim headscarf and the veiling of girls. Yes, we are also being heavily attacked by part of the Muslim community, which is becoming ever younger and more radical. Young Muslims of my generation differ significantly from my grandparents’ generation—they are more inclined to strictly adhere to Sharia law. Research indicates that a significant proportion of young Muslims in France believe that Sharia is above the law of the Republic.

The worst thing is that France is presented as a country of human rights, freedom of opinion, and debate. In reality, however, when you hold right-wing views and condemn immigration-related violence, you become a target of attacks from the far left. And when, as a woman, you oppose the influence of Islamism, you also face threats from Islamists. In practice, freedom of speech in France is seriously restricted. There are groups—both far-left and Islamist—that seek to intimidate and sometimes even physically eliminate their opponents.

It’s not only Islamists and the far left who want to demonize you. In the mainstream media, including belonging to the “moderate” left or the center-right, and even in statements by some politicians who are neither far-left nor Islamists, you are regularly labeled “far-right” because you defend women’s rights against Sharia law, which is gradually being imposed in Muslim neighborhoods, as well as against attacks from the far left, and also because you simply defend your right to equality between men and women and your right to personal safety as French women.

I agree—in France, there is also a phenomenon that we call the “extreme center.” It is the one that shares responsibility for demonizing both our activists and the people who protect us. This narrative ends up justifying violence against us, which led to the gang murder of Quentin by the Antifa Jeune Garde militia during our protest in front of Sciences Po, the political science school, on February 12 in Lyon. The problem is also that many people don’t want to acknowledge reality. These are the same people who, just ten years ago, claimed there was no problem with immigration, that everything was fine, that we should open the borders. Today, these people from the extreme center are trying to present themselves as the foremost defenders of security.

And if we find ourselves in such a situation today, it’s precisely their fault. It is not the fault of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. The center is responsible for it. These people are also responsible because, by demonizing right-wing and far-right parties, they are the ones who brought left-wing activists into the National Assembly. We forget about it too often. In constituencies where voters could choose between an RN deputy and a far-left deputy from LFI, the extreme center—what we increasingly call France’s current presidential camp—called on voters to support the far left. They were the ones who sent people like Raphaël Arnault, co-founder of Jeune Garde, to the National Assembly. It was they who sent those “antifascists” there, and it was they who placed their trust in them and gave them impunity, which is why today those “antifascists” have completely dominated the public sphere.

I think we should talk about Antifa, which is the proper name of a certain movement, rather than about “antifascists,” because these people do not fight fascists. Personally, I don’t know any fascists in France. I imagine there may be a few of them, but there definitely aren’t too many.

That’s right—the term “fascist” is used today as a tool to demonize the opponent and to justify violence against them, and for them, fascism actually begins with Emmanuel Macron.

You are risking your health and lives to carry out your activities because, as women in France, in connection with the mass immigration that has been taking place for decades, you feel threatened in your rights as well as in your safety in your everyday life. Is being a woman in Emmanuel Macron’s France really dangerous and difficult?

Yes, and that’s exactly why we’re taking that risk. The level of uncertainty and aggression in the public sphere is very high. Security in France is clearly deteriorating. Today, tourists receive maps of Paris’s dangerous neighborhoods so they know which neighborhoods they can go to and which to avoid. Women’s daily lives have become unbearable. There are entire neighborhoods that women do not go to, and where they cannot go unless they cover themselves in the Islamic manner, because otherwise they are at risk of harassment. Some women choose not to leave home to avoid assault. Fewer and fewer women go out in the evening. Some women carry a change of clothes with them so they can go home in sweats. Women carry small tear-gas spray canisters, even though possession of them in public places is prohibited in France. But nowadays, almost all women have them, because if you are attacked, that’s all you have left. The number of self-defense kits currently being sold online is enormous. We also have pocket-sized alarms.

It’s terrifying to see all the kinds of small weapons that women are forced to carry with them just to be able to defend themselves. Self-defense and martial arts clubs are experiencing a real boom in the number of women signing up. It’s a disaster, because it means that women currently don’t feel safe in their everyday lives. And that’s exactly why we’re not going to stop. We cannot stop our fight. We may do things differently, but our association has no intention of stopping, because this is simply about the future of our children.

From what we’ve heard in the media, Quentin, the young man murdered by Antifa militants, became involved with the Identitarian movement following his conversion to the Catholic faith. Are there many Catholics or Christians in your collective as well, and does your faith have anything to do with your courage and your commitment despite the risk? Does faith matter to you personally?

Yes, for me, faith plays a huge role in my life, in my community work, because it is what allows me to believe, to carry on, to stand on my own two feet, because when you do good on Earth, good is promised to you elsewhere.

Faith has enabled me to learn to serve others and to lead a meaningful life in the service of a cause greater than myself. It is faith that helps me hold on despite the hardships, because what you have been told and what I have told you about the violence against us is only one-tenth of what we experience every day. We experience violence on many levels—physical, media, and administrative. Even everyday things, like finding an apartment, are often made more difficult for us. But because I believe in God, I will never stop doing what I do. I believe in God, but I also believe in the future of my children, in the future of France, and, above all, in the future of Europe.

I take this opportunity to appeal to Poles: take care of yourselves, take care of your country; do not let left-wing politicians convince you that the borders must be opened, that so many people must be let in. Preserve your identity and that strong sense of belonging, thanks to which your nation is still safe today—unlike ours.

*****

This interview was conducted on February 19 by Olivier Bault, Director of Communications at the Ordo Iuris Institute.

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Source of the cover photo: https://x.com/Coll_Nemesis