“HEIL LE PEN” (May 2, 2015)
Femen activists are in the news. They disrupted May Day speech by Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French Front National. Three topless women with “Heil Le Pen” and “Stop fascism” written across their chests appeared on a balcony, where they unfurled banners linking the party logo with the Nazi party. Wearing blonde wigs, they made mock Nazi salutes while Le Pen was laying a wreath to the monument of Joan of Arc. After a few minutes, three men from the party’s security services forcefully pulled the Femen activists inside to the cheers of the crowd. The May Day was awkward for Le Pen because her father, Jean-Marie, also interrupted the festivities. The party co-founder and honorary president has become estranged from his daughter, and he dramatically cried out to Joan of Arc for help. The crowd was on his side, it appears. Although the Femen activists attracted more attention that the eighty-six-old politician, the family rift may well derail Le Pen’s candidacy for presidency in 2017. But nothing will derail the second coming of fascism in Europe. Judging by the exuberant Front National crowd at May Day festivities in Paris, fascism has a bright future on the subcontinent.