On February 12, 2023, after a vegan pizza party in the freezing cold, a “very well organized commando” (thank you, ‘The Parisian’), attacked the statue of General Leclerc which overlooks the city of Pontoise (north of Paris). Assessment of the damage: sword, hands and face broken, statue completely repainted in red. Leaflets were left at the scene containing the following text….
Let’s decolonize our neighborhoods!
This statue of Charles-Emmanuel Leclerc, a French colonial figure, has stood proudly in the streets of Pontoise since 1869. This statue represents General Leclerc, who participated alongside Napoleon Bonaparte in re-establishing French authority and slavery in the French colonies, after wars and massacres.
This 3 meter statue glorifies the murderous history of French colonialism in the public space. It marks the continuity of colonialism in the cities, which contributes to the maintenance of the racist and imperialist structures of the current French society.
In 2022, “Pontoise à gauche vraiment” (a municipal political party) opened the debate on the history of this statue without ever asking that it be removed. It is not enough to “debate” these statues, they must be destroyed! Let’s stop glorifying these colonial horrors, let’s decolonize our spaces.
Get your best tools, your best paint, put on your best camouflage and let’s destroy these colonial symbols!
Let’s decolonize our struggles!
Solidarity with all decolonial struggles!
Down with white supremacy and colonialism!
Fire to the imperialist states!
Signed: Pontoise really extremely hyper ultra very left, we swear.
source: https://attaque.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/03/pontoise-france-une-statue-de-colon-defoncee/
translated by Nae Midion