France: school protests escalate into violence
A protest movement is spreading across secondary schools in France. Pupils are calling for more teaching staff, the renovation of dilapidated school buildings and better facilities. Blockades have led to riots and clashes with the police in several cities and hundreds of youths have been arrested.
Breaking their silence
Today's French youth is by no means out of touch with reality, writes Jean-Emmanuel Ducoin, editor-in-chief of L'Humanité:
“The very pupils we thought were quiet and apathetic are now making their voices heard. They are coming together and demonstrating. ... We now realise that their deafening silence may not have been what we thought it was. Young people may fall silent in front of their screens, but they speak out when it comes to their schools, their living conditions and their future. So here's a question: do we still know how to listen? And how should we let them have their say? These pupils whom we took for 'silent' are asserting themselves as engaged citizens. ... They speak out loud and clear when an emergency arises.”
LFI mayor legitimising riots
Commenting on the protests in Contrepoints, political scientist Nicolas Lecaussin criticises Bally Bagayoko, mayor of Saint-Denis from the radical left-wing La France Insoumise party, for echoing the pupils' criticism:
“When he condones attacks on police officers and teachers in his town and describes those who have allegedly 'failed to uphold the republican promise' as the real culprits, he is not engaging in politics, he is conveying the message to young people in his town that the law is negotiable, depending on the merits of the cause. This is the definition of what the rule of law is not. ... So on Monday, teenagers learned from their mayor – an elected representative of the people – that arson, vandalism and confrontations with the police can be justified if they serve a good cause.”
President has failed in fight against extremism
Macron has allowed the political fringes to gain strength, Le Figaro criticises:
“Seven months before the presidential election, the firebrand candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon is pulling out all the stops. True to his 'cuckoo strategy', he intends to exploit every expression of anger to stir up and channel conflict. Not only is he using school pupils as electoral cannon fodder, on Tuesday he also appeared alongside striking civil servants, while his supporters joined the Parisian firefighters' march. ... Emmanuel Macron was elected twice on the promise of being a bulwark against the Rassemblement National. We see now how that has turned out. Moreover, never before has the far left been so strong in France's major cities.”