Posts
Thousands
Protest In France Calling For Revolution
9
April, 2016
Thousands
of protestors have taken to the streets of Paris demanding a “general
revolution” amid a continued ‘state of emergency’ in France.
A
variety of protestors, ranging from parents, students, workers,
artists and pensioners, have set-up camp in around the Place
de la République square for over a week – and the government are
beginning to panic.
The Guardian.com reports:
Called Nuit
debout,
which loosely means “rise up at night”, the protest movement is
increasingly being likened to the Occupy initiative that mobilised
hundreds of thousands of people in 2011 or Spain’s Indignados.
Despite
France’s long history of youth protest movements – from May 1968
to vast rallies against pension changes – Nuit debout, which has
spread to cities such as Toulouse, Lyon and Nantes and even over the
border to Brussels, is seen as a new phenomenon.
It
began on 31 March with a night-time sit-in in Paris after the latest
street demonstrations by students and unions critical of President
François Hollande’s proposed changes to labour laws. But the
movement and its radical nocturnal action had been dreamed up months
earlier at a Paris meeting of leftwing activists.
“There
were about 300 or 400 of us at a public meeting in February and we
were wondering how can we really scare the government?. We had an
idea: at the next big street protest, we simply wouldn’t go home,”
said Michel, 60, a former delivery driver.
“On
31 March, at the time of the labour law protests, that’s what
happened. There was torrential rain, but still everyone came back
here to the square. Then at 9pm, the rain stopped and we stayed. We
came back the next day and as we keep coming back every night, it has
scared the government because it’s impossible to define.
“There’s
something here that I’ve never seen before in France – all these
people converge here each night of their own accord to talk and
debate ideas – from housing to the universal wages, refugees, any
topic they like. No one has told them to, no unions are pushing them
on – they’re coming of their own accord.”
The
idea emerged among activists linked to a leftwing revue and the team
behind the hit documentary film Merci
Patron!,
which depicts a couple taking about France’s richest man,
billionaire Bernard Arnault. But the movement gained its own momentum
– not just because of the labour protests or in solidarity with
theFrench Goodyear tyre plant workers who kidnapped their bosses in
2014. It has expanded to address a host of different grievances,
including the state of emergency and security crackdown in response
to last year’s terrorist attacks.
“The
labour law was the final straw,” said Matthiew, 35, who was
retraining to be a teacher after 10 years in the private sector, and
had set up an impromptu revolutionary singing group at the square.
“But it’s much bigger than that. This government, which is
supposed to be socialist, has come up with a raft of things I don’t
agree with, while failing to deal with the real problems like
unemployment, climate change and a society heading for нdisaster.”
Many
in the crowd said that after four years of Hollande’s Socialist
party in power, they left felt betrayed and their anger was beginning
to bubble over.
Jocelyn,
26, a former medical student acting as a press spokesman for the
movement, said: “There are parallels with Occupy and Indignados.
The idea is to let everyone speak out. People are really sick and
tired and that feeling has been building for years. Everything
Hollande once promised for the left but gave up on really gets me
down. Personally, it’s the state of emergency, the new surveillance
laws, the changes to the justice system and the security crackdown.”
The
government and the Paris authorities are being cautious about the
policing of the movement. An investigation is under way into the
alleged assault by a police officer accused of hitting a student at a
Paris high school last month during a demonstration against the
labour overhaul.
The
government is preparing possible concessions to students and youths
to calm those expected to attend another such rally on Saturday.
Each
night at Paris’s Place de la République, the “general assembly”
begins at 6pm and the crowd discuss ideas. Hundreds of demonstrators
communicate using coded hand gestures: wiggling their fingers above
their heads to express agreement or crossing their wrists to
disagree.
Various
committees have sprung up to debate a new constitution, society,
work, and how to occupy the square with more permanent wooden
structures on a nightly basis. Whiteboards list the evening’s
discussions and activities – from debates on economics to media
training for the demonstrators. “No hatred, no arms, no violence,”
was the credo described by the “action committee”.
“This
must be a perfect mini-society,” a member of the gardening
committee told the crowd. A poetry committee has been set up to
document and create the movement’s slogans. “Every movement needs
its artistic and literary element,” said the poet who proposed it.
Demonstrators
regularly help other protest movements, such as a bank picket over
revelations in the Panama Papers or a demonstration against migrant
evictions in the north of Paris.
“Generation
revolution”, was scrawled on the pavement. The concept behind the
movement is a “convergence
of struggles”
with no one leader. There are no union banners or flags of specific
groups decorating the protest in the square – a rarity in France.
Cécile,
22, a Paris law student at Thursday night’s general assembly, said:
“I don’t agree with the state society is in today. To me,
politics feels broken. This movement appeals in terms of citizen
action. I come here after class and I intend to keep coming back. I
hope it lasts.”
'Still
no fear': Tear gas, firecrackers & stones at anti-labor reform
rally in Paris
RT,
9
April, 2016
Hundreds
of protesters were seen marching through the streets of Paris, some
of them setting off firecrackers. At some point, police fired tear
gas and RT France correspondent Kyrill Kotikov-Convenant, who was
there live-feeding the event through Periscope, got caught up in the
smoke.
Later,
a standoff between rows of riot police and hooded youngsters took
place in central Paris, with each side taking turn to advance on the
other. The hooded protesters were throwing stones at the police, who
responded with more tear gas.
An
RT UK crew was caught up in the violence as camerawoman Hulya Sen
sustained an injury to her leg.
“She
was filming and she says some kind of explosive device was thrown and
it exploded near her foot and she has a bleeding leg,” RT’s
Anastasia Churkina reported from Paris.
Churkina
said that Hulya was all right. The explosive device was apparently
thrown by a protester, she added.
OneRadex
Gros affrontements à Nation, projectiles énormes contre les CRS. Je crois que la colère gronde. #manif9avril
The
protest in the French capital started on Place de la Nation, the same
spot where previous anti-labor rallies took place. A heavy police
presence has been reported in the area.
“Still
no fear” and “Democracy, where are you?” were written on
demonstrators’ banners.
Other
banners read “For life without war” and “Stop the [labor
reform] project.”
Nit
Twenty-six
demonstrators were detained by French police on Saturday, as 120,000
people protested labor reform across the country, the Interior
Ministry said.
According
to FranceTV Info, nine arrests were made in Paris, where between
18,000 and 20,000 took to the streets.
Students
have been repeatedly rallying against labor law reforms recently
proposed by Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri. The French authorities
are desperately trying to battle high unemployment in the country,
and have suggested cutting overtime pay for work beyond 35 hours.
Romain R.
#manif9avril Rassemblement monstre et festif à #Paris !
#loitravailnonmerci #OnVautMieuxQueCa #LoiTravail
The
proposed reform states that employers would pay only 10 percent of
overtime bonus, instead of the current 25 percent.
The
protest, held under the hashtag #LoiTravail (Labor Law), was
partially organized by a Facebook group called ‘Loi travail: non,
merci’ (Labor reform: No, thanks).
About
15,000 people took to the streets of Toulouse, according to local
press. In Nantes demonstrators broke windows of a local shop and set
it on fire; tear gas was also deployed.
Anne-Hélène Dorison
Nouveaux tirs de lacrymos cours Olivier de clisson
#Nantes #manif9avril
In
Rennes in northwest France the protest also turned violent. At least
22 demonstrators and two police officers were injured during clashes.
Police deployed tear gas against the rally.
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