Photo caption: The translation of the protest sign is “Guadaluppe, Martinique [French island]: No water in the faucet, products 40% more expensive, and people dead in chlordecone (pesticide) and yet nobody is shocked.”

All photos embedded in the article are by sxn.focus. Photos in the gallery at the end of the article are by enzo.tbb.

What started as a spark has now lit France ablaze. Strikes and riots have been consuming large areas of France right now. While some see this as a chaos collector, others see it as their duty to speak up and protect their rights. Let’s take a deeper dive into what actually started the strikes and how they have progressed.

The Background

Translation: “It’s the revolution,” spray painted on a metro map.

On September 21st in a high school just outside of Paris, students of Lycée Saint-Exupéry, a high school in Créteil, blocked the entrance to their school. They held signs in protest to the schooling system there. They demanded for government funding to increase staff rates and improve the conditions they were learning in. They turned to the public in hopes of support. While they gained an active audience, it was not in the ways that they had hoped. Some stood with the students, demanding a change from the government. However, some took a more violent stance on the issue, burning trash cans, cars, and even buildings to the ground.

Paris is Taking Action

On October 23, renowned destinations such as the Louvre Museum, the Musee d’Orsay, the Musee Picasso, and the Grand Palais temporarily shut down due to safety concerns regarding the recent protests. Métro stations circling the Champs-Élysées in particular are also closed. Partial curfews have been installed, streets and roads blocked, leaving many Parisian civilians wondering what will be next?

FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS:

Robin

These first quotes come from a 18 year old Parisian resident who has witnessed and been a part of these protests. He has shared with me several empowering statements regarding what is happening right now and how it has affected his everyday life.

Question: What surprised you most about the riots happening in Paris right now?

“What surprised me the most was really the contrast between the chill and peaceful protests I saw when I joined the main procession and the violence of the police. Even if I stayed far away from them and thus avoided scenes of fighting, I was still gassed (tear gas) a lot.”

Question: In your opinion, are the strikes good or bad for the country?

“For the second question, what's happening I believe is essentially beneficial and very important for our democratic rights. What I mean by that is that the youth being involved for its future for its rights and being able to protest like that is key to benefit our values of freedom and equality. Of course, if you meant like are the protests good or not, yeah, unfortunately some people are using that movement to destroy shops in the protests. But the thing is that media are focusing on this destruction to avoid talking about the demands of people. Even so, garbage burning is not important and media are focusing on that (when I talk about media I mainly talk about tv media, not social media). [A] good quote that came from students protesting was, ‘burning garbage only scares waste.’”

Question: Is there any additional information you would like to share about the protests?

“The questions around the protests are very hard to approach because it’s very political and there is a lot of division in our population as some people are against what is happening (mainly right and far right orientated people).

“Even so, what the government does right now is very anti democratic, as they removed voting rights of people who attended some looting even if they just picked up an item in front of a store and did not destroy the store. Some members of the government like the ‘ministre de l'intérieur’ even threatened to block all of social media during protests. And when you look at the violence of the police during protests, this situation looks like the rise of extremism from political institutions.”

*These next quotes contain a graphic example and image*

“Some people were mutilated during protests. One lost his hand to a grenade from the police, another lost the use of his eye. I believe 2-3 people died, but I'm not sure and many people were in all manners hit by the police.

“Really it's impossible to show you the scale of the violence protesters suffered as it’s been a month [and] I’ve seen videos of violence every day.”

Lou

Lou has been an active peaceful protester throughout the riots. She is 18 years old and shares her first hand experiences as an activist in the strikes.

Question: Are you surprised by the riots happening in Paris right now?

“No, not really, because here we're used to this kind of protest and, above all, this kind of police crackdown. However, I think that even among people who are less politically active, there has been a growing awareness of the implications of the government's actions and those of its police.”

Translation of the signs from left to right: (1) History must not repeat itself. [A little history behind this! On October 17, 1961, a massacre in Paris occurred. The French police brutally killed Algerians who had been living there at the time. This sign shows as a warning to ensure a tragic event like this does not take place again.] (2) They want to silence us.

Question: In your opinion, are the strikes good or bad for the country?

“I think it’s good that the movement is gaining momentum because the government has been making a mockery of us for a very long time. Hadrien [a French foreign exchange student at Hamilton High School] told me that the American media was showing footage of violence by the protesters. But in reality, here it’s usually the police who strike first. The widespread vandalism (of stores, etc.) is simply a response to institutional violence and the government’s failure to act, even though it has been warned time and again about the severity of the system it continues to implement, [like] Parcoursup [France's state-run, centralized web portal that manages applications for the first year of higher education], deteriorating high schools, pension reforms.”

Question: Have you or will you take part in the protests?

“Yes, I’ve taken part in them several times; I want to make it clear that I’m a peaceful protester—I don’t break anything, and I don’t provoke anyone. However, I’ve been tear-gassed several times, and sometimes I’ve been forced to run to escape the police and their water trucks, which were trying to douse us. They also confiscate certain signs and any equipment used to protect ourselves from tear gas. Because of this, many of us here feel like we’re drifting toward an almost totalitarian state.”

Enzo

Enzo is an 18 year old who lives in the Parisian suburbs and has also been protesting. Here he shares his views on what is going on right now.

Sign translation: Yuck, a fascist. F*** the RN [Political party in France, extremist party].

Question: Are you surprised by the riots happening in Paris right now?

“First, it’s important to understand that there are two categories of protesters: One consists of civilians demanding their rights and the other consists of rioters who are taking advantage of the situation. I find it surprising that police officers are using such excessive force against all protesters and are even targeting innocent people, especially among the youngest age group (18 to 25); even medical personnel and journalists are being subjected to this violence. As for the rioters, I am quite upset and outraged to see so many businesses vandalized and destroyed for no reason by them.”

Question: In your opinion, are the strikes good or bad for the country?

“What is currently happening is very serious for the entire country because people are demanding their rights but are not being heard by the government, which—it seems—refuses to ‘submit’ to the will of the people. And so this creates a vicious cycle in society.”

Question: Have you or will you take part in the protests?

“I was at the center of two major demonstrations on October 8 and 17. My friends and I joined the procession of demonstrators and protested in front of law enforcement.”

Upcoming Important Dates:

October 31st (Halloween), the “Yellow Vests” and other student union groups have called a nationwide Act lll protest to protect their civil liberties.
November 5th (The Big One), France’s main labor unions called for a massive cross-sector nationwide general strike.