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posted by takyon on Monday December 03 2018, @03:59AM   Printer-friendly
from the "I-love-Paris-when-it-sizzles" dept.

Thousands of "gilets jaunes" (yellow vest) protesters, often masked, riot in the streets of Paris and other major French cities for a third weekend. Hundreds have been arrested and injured (including police) in the often violent protests. Reuters documents the activities in some detail. This video shows a mob of protesters surround and attack a policeman (it's ok, he gets away, with help from one or more of the protesters).

The protests are over fuel taxes imposed to discourage fossil fuel use and help France meet its carbon emission goals under the Paris Climate Accord (which the U.S. is not party to.)

With the usual nod to common sense:

The U.S. embassy issued a statement urging citizens to be careful, saying that "violent clashes between police and protesters" continued in at least three of Paris's 20 districts, known as arrondissements. "Avoid all demonstrations, seek shelter in the vicinity of clashes, follow instructions of security personnel"

Chants and graffiti sprayed during the protests sometimes expresses frustration with the administration:

[Some] targeted the Arc de Triomphe, chanting "Macron Resign" and scrawling on the facade of the towering 19th-century arch: "The yellow vests will triumph."

And other times simply more general anarchistic statements:

Protesters smashed the windows of a newly opened flagship Apple Store (AAPL.O) and luxury boutiques of Chanel and Dior, where they daubed the slogan "Merry Mayhem" on a wooden board.

French President Emmanuel Macron commented Tuesday on the protests, saying that:

he understood the anger of voters outside France's big cities over the squeeze fuel prices have put on households. But he insisted he would not be bounced into changing policy by "thugs".

Those "conciliatory" words have no doubt improved the situation.

The protests enjoy widespread support inside and outside the major cities, including from many of the police even as they strive to keep order, and show no signs of abating.

Also at NBC.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 03 2018, @06:06PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 03 2018, @06:06PM (#769217)

    Might as well throw the wswswswswsws coverage here. Third “yellow vest” protest in France defies government crackdown [wsws.org].

    In downtown Paris, the protesters faced an unprecedented police crackdown, the most violent since May 1968, when police assaults on student demonstrations triggered the French general strike.

    Videos posted by protesters on social media showed some carrying out violent acts. These were most likely plainclothes policemen acting as provocateurs. They donned yellow vests and attacked luxury cars or shops, and then moved away to speak calmly and amiably to the police.

    WSWS reporters in Paris spoke to “yellow vest” protesters, who came from the far Paris suburbs and from the provinces, to oppose Macron. Pierre said, “I have been protesting since the start of the movement, but not in Paris, because I am from Vesoul in the Saône valley. I am here to protest against Macron and all his new taxes, and all the riot police who are tear-gassing us, though we are trying to protest peacefully. But they are attacking us first. That is not correct.”

    About the alleged presence of far-right parties among the “yellow vest” demonstrators, an electrician participating in the protests said: “Personally I have not seen them at all. But I think that even if they tried, they would not succeed, because the people are here, and we are sick and tired of always having to deal with the National Front,” France’s neo-fascist party.

    An ambulance driver said, “The cost of living always rises, but some people are doing great … like our congressmen who say, ‘I can’t dine on the Champs Elysées for less than 200 euros. I doubled the salaries of my advisors because you can’t live on just 5,000 euros per month.’ Well, then they should give me those 5,000 euros a month, because I can live like a king with that much money.”

    Workers should give no credence to the manoeuvres of a police state, which represents the financial aristocracy and is planning a state of emergency, directly targeting social anger in the working class. Mass opposition in France and across Europe is emerging with explosive force. The only way forward is the mobilisation of workers throughout France and the development of a socialist and internationalist movement to transfer state power to the working class.