France Battling Bigot Broth for the Homeless

[Kellanved]

Right wing groups in France have for weeks been handing out pork soup to the hungry. But dietary concerns mean that Muslims and Jews are excluded. Which is exactly the point.

Soup doesn't usually figure to be terribly high on the police list of peace-disturbing priorities. And one might think that charitable groups handing out hot soup to homeless people on a frigid winter's day in Paris would engender a pat on the back rather than opprobrium. But the soup in question is made of pig parts, and Paris police don't approve.

For weeks now, groups associated with the far-right organization Bloc Identitaire have been handing out soup -- which they are calling "identity soup" -- to the homeless across the country and in neighboring Belgium. But rather than altruistic charity, critics see blatant racism. Muslims and Jews are forbidden by their religions from eating pork -- and excluding these groups, say many, is exactly the point of the handouts.

"Schemes with racial subtexts must be denounced," said Strasbourg's Mayor Fabienne Keller whose city banned the soup distributions earlier this month.
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http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,397249,00.html