France Protests Continue on Multiple Issues

PARIS (11-14) – For the fifth consecutive Saturday students, inter-union members, teachers, “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests), parents and other concerned citizens took to the streets to protest economic, social issues, AI, and child endangerment in three marches that converged at the Place de la République before the combined groups marched through the city via the Place de la Bastille, ending at the Place de la Nation.

The government deployed an estimated 70,000 national police across the country today to maintain control over the anticipated crowds of peaceful protesters. The overwhelming number of riot police was not unnoticed by participants who again complained that instead of working to resolve the issues, the government was using the police to maintain control of a system that they claim has instead oppressed workers and students favoring the rich at the expense of the working class.

The still unresolved issues that protesters addressed included fully funding educational funding, concerns raised by students, the high cost of living, raising the minimum wage, pensions, social program funding, calling for a pause and an international treaty for AI, climate change, police violence, and for a stop of violence against children.

Stop aux viloences d'État (SAVE) protested a proposed law calling for the legitimate use of force by police referred to as “the right to kill law.”

SAVE co-founder, Samia El Khalfaoui, as reported by SUD Radio stated that “In a Republic, there can be no institutionalized police impunity... In a Republic, there cannot be a category of citizens who hold the power of life or death over other citizens.” This in consideration of several young men including her nephew who have been killed by police, most of whom were from working-class neighborhoods. The bill to be voted on is also opposed by Amnesty International.

The protest and marches were also joined and supported by several left-wing members of parliament and other politicians. The peaceful protest was disrupted momentarily by one minor incident when several young people who scaled the imposing monument in the center of Place de la République, while descending to join the march, were immediately rushed by the riot police.

As the large crowd booed, they withdrew just as a crowd of several hundred students entered the Place and paraded between the police and those who had occupied the monument, diffusing the situation.

A few blocks away, another large crowd made up of parents, children and others rallied and listened to speakers regarding the vulnerability of and protection for children in calling for reforms to protect the most vulnerable and innocent among us. Members of Green Peace holding a bright banner calling for the protection of children and all living things led the group where they joined the main march.

One sign horrifically noted the one child in France is killed every five days in an act of Adultism.

These protests have become a biweekly reality in France and many other EU countries, as governments are being pressed to lower the high costs of living and fully funding social programs.

As the proverbial “snowball rolling down a hill,” these protests are gaining momentum and aggregating additional issues that affect peoples lives during these turbulent economic and political challenges we are facing.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

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