Skip to main content

Youth protests across France: “Neither the banker, nor the racist!”

Since Thursday, students and youth in Paris, Rennes, Nantes, Toulouse and other cities across France have held rallies and marched through the city streets. The protests were against the right wing nationalist Marine Le Pen and the liberal Emmanuel Macron who are facing off in the in the second round of the presidential election.

In total, more than 3,000 high school students took to the streets carrying signs exclaiming: “Neither the banker, nor the racist!” and “The real anti-establishment, that is us!” Political slogans could be heard through the streets as students chanted “It is not the immigrants who should be expelled, it is Marine Le Pen!”, "Macron, Le Pen, we do not want them!”, “Their elections, our future!"

During many of the protests, the youth were met by armoured police blocking the marches and dispersing tear gas canisters into the crowds, while surveillance helicopters could be seen in the sky above. One police officer in Rennes even resorted to drawing his pistol and for a brief moment aiming it at the protesters.

In Paris, gathering at Place de la Republique the protest moved towards Boulevard Beaumarchais, where the tension rose between police and students. Anouk, a 16 year-old Parisian student from Lycée Buffon explains how the protests were organised as a peaceful sit-in by high school students from all over Paris. She said: "We disagree with the values put forward by the National Front, and since we do not have the right to vote, we have to express ourselves differently”.

In Lyons the protests escalated as well. Students hung banners on the gates of the town hall, where one read: "By my acts I vote 365 days a year. You who come out only 2 Sundays every 5 years, just vote as you see fit.” At the end of the rally, demonstrators left the Place des Terreaux shouting “down with capitalism”. A group of youths then wanted to cross one of the city-bridges to join the protest on the other side of the river, but were arrested by the police who fired tear gas at them.

The protests across France come after years of political frustration among youths and workers. Current president François Hollande and the French Socialist Party have, despite their promises, implemented countless austerity policies and allowed companies to cut workers' salaries. Meanwhile, youth unemployment still stands at 24.6%. For this, Hollande and the Socialist Party have paid the price, with the party in a deep crisis and their candidate, Benoît Hamon, securing only 6.4% of the votes in Sunday’s first round election. As the last part of the presidential race now pits a racist right-winger against an ex-banker, the frustration among those who face tough conditions continues to increase.

With left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon out of the presidential race, the workers and youth of France only have more capitalist policies of austerity and attacks on living conditions to look forward to. The crisis of French capitalism has, like in many other European countries, expressed itself through a massive political polarisation to the left and to the right. The traditional parties of the establishment, which the ruling class have relied upon for decades, are all in deep crises of legitimacy. The rise of Le Pen to the right and Melenchon to the left is an indication of this process. But the recent protests indicate that a layer amongst the youth are drawing even more radical conclusions. Many of these young people see the crises facing society not only as a result of poor political decision-making, but as a result of the capitalist system. They see no future within the confines of this system and correctly distrust all representatives of the ruling class.

Protests like the ones across France this week show just how fed up many students and workers are with austerity, lies upon lies from politicians and the capitalist system in general. Mélenchon’s massive success, where 30% of voters aged 18 to 24 voted in favor of his movement, is a sign of the potential for radical movements in the next period. The youth who took to the streets this week are reflecting the brewing mood under the surface, and anticipating future developments within the wider youth and the working class. There are undoubtedly more protests on the way and for the workers and youth of France it will only become clearer that the problems facing France, Europe and the entire world cannot be solved within the limits of capitalism. The only solution, as many young people are realising, is “Neither the banker, nor the racist!” but to break with the capitalist system and expropriate the means of production to create a truly fair society.

Source, videos:


Read also:


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oct. 7 Reports Implode: Beheaded Babies, NY Times Scandal, & More

Glenn Greenwald    

Israel’s Descent Into Madness & the Holocaust Comparison

BreakThrough News   Rania Khalek was joined by Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany and associate professor at Koc University in Istanbul, to discuss Israel’s descent into genocidal fascism. Prof. Amar addresses whether it’s useful to make Holocaust and Nazi comparisons and the real reason behind the West’s unshakeable loyalty attitude when it comes to Israel’s barbarism.   

Zionist and US imperialist criminals are about to grab the natural gas off shore Gaza

globinfo freexchange   As the genocide against Palestinians of Gaza is about to be completed with an act of unprecedented brutality by the Zionists and butcher Netanyahu through the bombardment of about 1.4 million civilians in Rafah, it seems that they have already set their next primary goal. Which, in short, is to grab the natural gas resources off shore Gaza, together with their US imperialist buddies whose contribution to the genocide has been undoubtedly critical.     As already reported , in 2007, Hamas came to power and Israel launched an offensive on Gaza Strip, leaving behind 1,400 dead Palestinians, but taking with it the gas fields. Within a year, Israel announced the discovery of the Leviathan natural gas field, which did include Gaza's riches, valued at 453 billion dollars. But Gazans have been denied around 47 billion dollars in revenue. As for Tel Aviv, it's gunning to become a new hub. At that moment in time, that is 2022, Russian oil and gas were sanctioned.

Neocon Queen Victoria Nuland Ends Her Reign: Exposing a Catastrophic Career

Glenn Greenwald    

Το σκάσιμο της φούσκας Μητσοτάκη με νέα επίσημη χρεοκοπία και οριστικό τέλος της μεταπολίτευσης

του system failure   Τα αποτελέσματα των εκλογών της 25ης Ιουνίου ήταν λίγο-πολύ αναμενόμενα όσον αφορά τις πρώτες θέσεις με βάση και τα αποτελέσματα της πρώτης κάλπης του Μαίου. Αν συμπεριλάβουμε και το ποσοστό της αναμενόμενης αποχής, δεν μας έδωσαν κάποια ιδιαίτερη έκπληξη. Αυτό όμως που φαίνεται να αιφνιδίασε ακόμα και το συστημικό κατεστημένο, είναι η είσοδος των δύο υπερσυντηρητικών, ακροδεξιών κομμάτων Νίκη και Σπαρτιάτες, με το τελευταίο να έχει ξεκάθαρες διασυνδέσεις με τον πρώην Χρυσαυγίτη, Ηλία Κασιδιάρη. Παρά τη μεγάλη νίκη Μητσοτάκη, οι μιντιακοί ινστρούχτορες της καθεστωτικής προπαγάνδας εμφανίστηκαν σε γενικές γραμμές "μουδιασμένοι" και αυτό οφείλεται στο γεγονός ότι το συστημικό κατεστημένο (δηλαδή τα μεγάλα οικονομικά συμφέροντα που ελέγχουν και το σύνολο των μεγάλων ΜΜΕ πανελλαδικής εμβέλειας), πέτυχε μόνο έναν από τους τέσσερις μεγάλους στόχους που είχε θέσει εξ'αρχής. Μιλώντας με ποδοσφαιρικούς όρους, ουσιαστικά έχασε με σκορ 3-1.   Ο μεγάλος στόχος πο

Τυχαία γεγονότα στην τριτοκοσμική μπανανία των Βαλκανίων

failed evolution   1) Συμβαίνει το μεγαλύτερο σιδηροδρομικό δυστύχημα στην ιστορία της χώρας. 2) Γίνεται αστραπιαία επιχείρηση μοντάζ των συνομιλιών του σταθμάρχη από μηχανισμό του καθεστώτος, πριν ακόμα φτάσει στα χέρια των αρχών, προκειμένου να αποδοθεί η τραγωδία αποκλειστικά σε ανθρώπινο λάθος και να βγουν από το κάδρο οι πολιτικές ευθύνες ανώτατων κυβερνητικών αξιωματούχων. 3) Αναπαράγεται το παραποιημένο υλικό αστραπιαία από ναυαρχίδα της καθεστωτικής προπαγάνδας. 4) Τοποθετείται επικεφαλής στην επιτροπή-παρωδία πρωτοπαλίκαρο του καθεστώτος Μητσοτάκη που εργάζονταν παλιά στην ίδια αυτή ναυαρχίδα. 5) Η επιτροπή κλείνει άρον-άρον την υπόθεση αποκλείοντας ουσιώδεις μάρτυρες που είχαν προειδοποιήσει επανειλημμένα τον αρμόδιο υπουργό για τον κίνδυνο μεγάλου δυστυχήματος. Σταματάει έτσι και η όποια σε βάθος διερεύνηση για την τσιμεντοποίηση του χώρου και την απόπειρα συγκάλυψης της τραγωδίας.  

The Shadowy, Intelligence-Linked Group Driving the US Towards War With Iran

"United Against Nuclear Iran does not miss an opportunity to try to bring the United States closer to a military conflict with Iran. And on the other side of the equation, they also have worked very hard to oppose efforts to de-escalate the U.S.-Iran relationship."   by Alan Macleod   Part 7 - A Lesson From History   The history of Iran has been intimately intertwined with the United States since at least 1953 when Washington orchestrated a successful coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had refused U.S. demands to stamp out Communist influences in his country and had nationalized the nation’s oil. The U.S. installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a puppet ruler. An unpopular and authoritarian ruler, the Shah was overthrown in the Revolution of 1979. Since then, it has become a target for regime change, and its nuclear program is something of an obsession in the West. Often orchestrated by UANI officials while they were in government, the U.S. has carried

How the CIA oversees the Ukraine proxy war on Russia

Geopolitical Economy Report   Several reports in mainstream US media outlets show how the CIA has helped to direct the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and played a role in causing the conflict in the first place. Ben Norton examines the evidence.   Related: Confirmed: US imperialists wanted to drag Russia into a war with Ukraine since at least 2019

Israel Carries Out Most Sadistic Massacre, Opens Fire On Gaza Aid Convoy

Richard Medhurst  

The real reason behind TikTok ban

Glenn Greenwald /  Richard Medhurst