The estimates are approximately figures. © IIFOR/IJA ISSN 0800 – 0220 2007 and later.
Anarchy = here social-individualist anarchism; Soc. dem. = social democrat marxism; Populist = here moderate parliamentarian democratic fascism; Cons. lib. = Conservative liberalism. See economic-political map above. Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, estimates of the libertarian degree in general, and information on methodology, see Ranking and System theory - chapter V.B.. We have used ", ", the European standard instead of American/UK standard, i.e. ". "as decimal separator. The term "ca"i s an abbreviation for the latin circa, which means about or approximately.
Say, the system in Norway had a revolutionary change in 1994/95 from an authoritarian marxist social-democratic system at ca 49,4% libertarian degree (state), to ca 53% libertarian/anarchist degree (anarchy), and the anarchy degree has later increased to ca 54% (2010 est.)
The system in France, seen all in all - private and public sector, and seen in international perspective, is a social-democratic, right marxist, system with ca 43,5% libertarian degree, regarding the long term structural estimates of the coordinates of the map. Shifting cabinets and presidents among the French major parties are usually indicating just marginal left and right movements of the system seen all in all. However during the present economic depression, there is a relatively strong tendency of unenlightened plutarchy and economical plutarchy in general, i.e. capitalism, in France. This is indicating a temporary dip in the libertarian degree, and a movement downwards and to the right on the economic-political map. It may even be possible that the increase in the degree of capitalism has moved the system temporarily into the populist sector of the fascist quadrant of the map.
When the economic depression is over, the system however will most likely move towards the coordinates indicated in the table above. The temporary dip in the libertarian degree is so far statistically an x = unknown. However a) the ongoing industrial direct actions in France, the demonstrations by anarchists and others, including IWW's international direct action 'Towards anarchy in France' launched 16.10.2010, may b) make this movement quicker, and even go further. By "Towards anarchy in France"IWW means:
But the action is really making itself felt in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, where rubbish collectors have already been on strike for a week. Eight thousand tonnes of rubbish are produced in Marseille every day, the saving grace being that the weather here is still relatively cold. "We are walking around the rubbish but there are rats everywhere. Rats on the streets, that means a great reputation for Marseille."said one householder. Rubbish collectors here are employed by a private company, and are demanding guarantees from management over job security. One-day rubbish collection strikes were also held in several other major French cities, by workers angry over pay rises and changes in the retirement age.
27.04.2010. Thousands of French farmers are protesting in Paris to call for more financial aid to help them through the economic downturn. Falling prices and rising costs mean many are struggling to make ends meet. They want President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene as they say they could go out of business. Yet direct aid looks unlikely. The French public deficit currently stands at a record 7.5 percent, twice the amount allowed under EU rules. Paris is already the biggest beneficiary of the EU's Common Agriculture Policy. France currently swallows up 20 percent of the bloc's 40-billion-euro farming subsidies. The French government has offered tax breaks and interest-free loans to the farmers but that has failed to quell the discontent.
24.06.2010. France strike over pension age reform. Public sector workers in France are staging a series of strikes, affecting transport and disrupting schools across the country. Trade unions have called the strikes over government plans to reform the pensions system and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Strike organizers say they have 200 rallies planned and are hoping for at least one million protesters, although they have said that figure might be higher.
07.09.2010. General strike in France. French strikers disrupted trains and planes, hospitals and mail delivery Tuesday amid massive street protests over plans to raise the retirement age. Across the English Channel, London subway workers unhappy with staff cuts walked off the job. The protests look like the prelude to a season of strikes in Europe, from Spain to the Czech Republic, as heavily indebted governments cut costs and chip away at some cherished but costly benefits that underpin the European good life - a scaling-back process that has gained urgency with Greece's euro110 billion ($140 billion) bailout. In France, where people poured into the streets in 220 cities, setting off flares and beating drums, a banner in the southern port city of Marseille called for Europe-wide solidarity: "Let's Refuse Austerity Plans!"The Interior Ministry said more than 1.1 million people demonstrated throughout France, while the CFDT union put the number at 2.5 million. IWW supports the strikes.
12.10.2010. General strike in France. Angry marches by French workers against later retirement have grown, shutting down public services across the country, by some accounts even more than the last time a national strike was called, less than three weeks ago. Union organizers in other sectors have warned that the latest strikes could be prolonged. Both the Assemblée Nationale parliament and the Senate, however, have approved raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and raising eligibility for a full pension from 65 to 67. Many Parisians determined to make it to work did so under their own steam. While bus and tram services in the capital were almost normal, Paris commuter and urban rail transport reported higher strike participation than in September. Strikes were called at refineries and for state gas and electricity, so some companies and public buildings could face targeted power cuts. The unions of the national carrier Air France called a 24-hour work halt, and were considering extending that. Also students participated in the strike. The anarchosyndicalist French labor confederation CNT participated in the strike and demonstrations, and their black and red anarchist flags/banners and their angry anarchist cat were shown on TV even as far as in the Anarchy of Norway by the NRK-Dagsrevyen. IWW supports the strike, and also see it as a part of the general fight against the unenlightened plutarchy world wide.
Heaps of waste are proving to be both health and fire hazards as youths turn them into bonfires. The IWW's French fellows are active on the street. The anarchosyndicalist French labor confederation CNT, participates actively in the demonstrations, and their black and red anarchist flags were shown on Euronews TV and France24 TV International. The French Anarchist Federation also participated and their black banners with slogans and the @-sign were shown on France24 TV International. More demonstrations are planned for Tuesday 19.10.2010. IWW has launched an international direct action against the unpopular pension reform plans in France, called 'Towards anarchy in France'. The IWW's direct action is also a part of the general fight against the unenlightened plutarchy world wide.
BBC/Web - 16.10.2010 about 23.30 GMT reported: "A group of what the police described as anarchists operated on the fringes of the main demonstration, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris. As the protest drew to a close, they began [with ochlarchy - i.e. mob rule broadly defined...] ransacking café terraces, breaking windows and setting fire to bins. Some of them briefly occupied the Opera House at Bastille. The clashes did not last long, but they are a reminder to the government and unions of how quickly things can get out of hand, our correspondent says."The IAT-APT - The International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch, hands out Brown Cards to the a) anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, plus b) ochlarchist, i.e. authoritarian, c) youths. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists, and the Brown Cards to the youths also mean they are expulsed (if they ever claimed to be anarchists) from the anarchist movement, according to the Oslo Convention. These ochlarchist youths are thus not anarchists, but marxists.
Spokespersons of France's powerful unions and IWW say they will not give up until the government drops the bill and invites the main domestic unions to the table to have their say in a pension overhaul. There is toughening of resolve. The direct actions will go till the end. Most of France's fuel depots, which are mainly outside refineries, have a couple of weeks' supply, but depots in southwestern France are already depleted because a three-week unrelated strike at a major oil port near Marseille has hit supplies of crude into refineries in the area. Tuesday 19.10.2010 is the big direct action day. Unions also plan to meet on Thursday, a day after the Senate's final vote, to discuss further action. If the Senate votes in favor, the bill would go to the president for his signature, possibly as early as Friday. The anarchists including IWW say to the Senate: Vote NO Wednesday!!! And if the Senate votes Yes: Sarkozy! Don't sign!!! And if he signs, and in general: We call for a referendum about the pension 'reform'.
The government remains firm in face of the protests. "I won't let the French economy suffer from a supply blockage,"Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Sunday. "The right to strike isn't the right to stop access to a fuel depot. That's an illegal action,"he said on French television. Several government ministers have said the country was not at risk of fuel shortages. "The government is in control,"Industry Minister Christian Estrosi told French radio on Monday. "There will be no blockade for companies, no blockade for transport and no blockade for road users."France has a strategic fuel reserve which holds up to three months of supplies, the government says. President Nicolas Sarkozy has called a crisis cabinet to protect supplies. He also told reporters that the reforms were "essential"and would be carried out.
As mentioned, there were already demonstrations outside 261 schools on Monday, which the education ministry said had been blockaded. In the western suburb of Nanterre in Paris, dozens of students clashed with riot police who fired rubber bullets. Shop windows were reported broken in the Saint-Denis suburb, where education officials said more than half the areas secondary schools had been blockaded. In Lyon, several cars were burned and one teacher whose car was badly damaged by fire complained: "They want to fight [against the pension reform]. OK, but they have to understand the meaning of what they are doing".
Public support in France. According to the latest opinion polls, more than 70% of French people continue to support strike action. Rail unions have called for new transport strikes to start on Tuesday, including the Eurotunnel services between France and England. On Saturday, a fifth day of protests brought 825,000 people on to the streets, police said, although unions put the figure at 2.5 million to three million. The pension reforms have already been approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament. The upper house, the Senate, has endorsed the key articles on raising the retirement age, and is due to vote on the full text on Wednesday. IWW continues the international direct action - 'Towards anarchy in France'... !!!
Nicolas Sarkozy says France can't afford to pay the pensions agreed upon. This is a lie. IWW and anarchists in general say: Tax the bureaucracy [including the economical plutarchists - the capitalists] broadly defined in private and public sector, i.e. the superiors in rank and/or income - more, and give the money to pensions for the grassroots = the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, the bureaucracy!
19.10.2010. Ad the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10, 06 & 23.11& 15.12.2010 and more: Join in the international world wide solidarity direct action!!! IWW continues the international "Towards anarchy in France"direct action with a special world wide solidarity campaign and calls on all a) anarchists & syndicalists and b) the people seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income in general, c) grassroots-organizations, d) labor confederations, as well as e) mandated persons and f) the international newsmedia - to join in the struggle as they see fit!!!!!! By the way, the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy has official Web-e-mail address at: webmestre@elysee.fr. May be he will 'like' to hear your opinion.... Be matter of fact - no ochlarchy! Don't spam!
If you don't have other ideas, you can just click on
webmestre@elysee.fr and copy and paste in the phrase "Towards anarchy in France! "or "No to the pension reform! ", or preferably both, also in the header, and then send the e-mail to Sarkozy. All organizations, groups and individuals are welcome to join in...
The whole network of the Anarchist International, i.e. more than 50 000 anarchists, has signed up for IWW's international world wide solidarity action, in e-mails sent to Sarkozy etc., see (click on:) Solidarity action. NB! Updated...
New France shutdown on sixth day of pension protests. France is enduring a sixth national day of strikes and protests over plans to reform the country's pension system.
Protests are planned in more than 200 towns and cities. The government's pension reform plans are widely unpopular with the public. Protests on Monday turned violent in some areas. As mentioned the IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, see the report of 18.10.2010. Left-leaning senators have submitted hundreds amendments in an attempt to delay the vote. The bill was initially expected to be passed on Wednesday, but some reports say the debate could last until the weekend. In Paris, marchers will set off from the Place d'Italie at about 13.30 local time (11.30 GMT). A high turnout is expected following the success of the last weekday protest.
Renewed strikes and an ongoing week-long blockade of France's 12 oil refineries are expected to hit transport networks as well as private fuel supplies. Half of flights in and out of Paris's Orly airport have been cancelled and 30% of flights at other airports have been affected. Train operator SNCF said it expected 60% of trains to run on Tuesday, the Le Monde newspaper reported, with Metro and local trains around Paris also expected to keep some services running. One in four supermarket petrol stations are said to have run dry or are on the verge of closing.
Later, with all 12 French oil refineries shut down by strikes, Sarkozy said the cabinet would draw up a plan to stop France grinding to a standstill. The government tapped on emergency reserves to offset the growing fuel shortage...
French fuel and heating federation FF3C said the "extremely worrying"situation "should definitely be called a shortage,"while the International Energy Agency said France has "sufficient stocks"to deal with the situation. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said a third of departments or local administrations were experiencing fuel shortages.
Fillon said that the government's fuel resupply programme would see the situation restored to normal in four or five days' time.
The head of the national road haulage association, Jean-Paul Deneuville, told AFP that "the end of the week is going to be very difficult"with many transport companies unable to work because of the fuel shortages.
While the Paris metro is running almost normally, people in rural areas are finding it increasingly difficult to get to work, the CPME association of small and medium businesses said.
Despite the disruption, one opinion poll on Monday suggested that 71% of those surveyed supported the strikers, despite the increasing effect on people's lives. Franck Wadteau, team leader at a local council, called the strikes justified. "This is a massive change for public service workers. Yes, there is money to be saved, but it shouldn't be like this. There are other ways of doing things."[Say, see the report of 18.10.2010, about more tax of the bureaucracy.] In the face of hugely unpopular reform the unions and picket lines refuse to give way. A clear majority of voters resent the plan to raise the minimum and full retirement ages by two years to 62 and 67 respectively, and unions are demanding negotiations on the pensions overhaul.
"I want to live my retirement,"read one protest poster.
Tuesday was the sixth day of nationwide - general - strikes and protests against pension reform since June, and perhaps a last-ditch challenge to Sarkozy before a final Senate vote this week. Sarkozy hopes the Senate will approve his bill by Friday, after which it needs a last vote by a parliamentary committee. Some French political analysts expect the pension reform law will pass within days and the protests will fizzle out. But the unions, which defeated pension and labor reforms with strikes in 1995 and 2006 with the same passion that saw student protests in 1968 drive out President Charles de Gaulle, say they will press on regardless. "Tougher guys [than Sarkozy] have backed down"said auto factory worker Patrick Planque, 42, at the main march in Paris.
Millions took to the streets. Officials say almost half a million people have taken to the streets of France in a sixth national day of action against planned pension reforms. However according to France24, a labor union estimated the number to 3,5 millions. Later,
more than a million people,
i.e. 1.1 million, had turned out and
joined the protest marches, the government said, while unions put the figure at 3.5 million nation wide. Strikes have hit transport and education, 4,000 petrol stations have run dry. The protests have blown up into the biggest test yet for Sarkozy, whose popularity ratings are dismal 18 months before a presidential election which polls show the left would win as things stand today. The unrest has put him under an uncomfortable spotlight as France prepares to take over the G20 presidency in mid-November.
Sporadic ochlarchy. The Paris march ended without reports of major trouble.
Police said nine people were arrested for robbing people. However police have clashed with protesters in several cities.
Shops were looted in Lyon.
Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of rioters in Lyon after a day of running battles, using a helicopter to track gangs and at one stage deploying an armoured car. Police arrested 75 people and 25 were hurt, half of them riot police. Rioters burned or overturned about 30 vehicles, police said. The interior minister promised tough action as clashes erupted anew outside a secondary school in Nanterre, near Paris, where youths burned a car and threw rocks at riot police for the second day in a row.
Police fired tear gas and arrested nine youth protestors in the central city of Lyon who had overturned cars and set one alight.
The ministry said that 1,158 troublemakers [ochlarchists/ochlarchs] had been arrested at demonstrations since the start of the week, 163 of them on Tuesday morning...
Ochlarchists/ochlarchs, in short mob rulers, are as other rulers, archists/archs (and not anarchists), a form of superiors, typically extremists, very much a top-down approach and ultra-authoritarian on the economic-political map, and not a part of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors. However a vast majority of the protesters are and were non-ochlarchical, among the people, seen as a class. As mentioned the IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, also of course the police ochlarchy, see the report of 18.10.2010.
In the French newspaper Le Monde, Pierre Jaxe-Truer asks if the protests signify deeper discontent: "Is the strike movement just a simple refusal of the pension reform, or does it express a wider malaise, with opposition against Sarkozy as the background?...""The government's gamble, which involves holding onto its position come what may, while hoping that the discontent will die down once the bill is voted on, is risky...""Since the beginning of the protests, the support of public opinion for the strikers and the demonstrators has been strong. And, importantly, remarkably stable."
"Polls follow one another and resemble each other. A CSA poll showed that 71% of French people support or have sympathy for the strike action on Tuesday. There is no sign of weakening."
The IWW and anarchists in general assume that the protests signify deeper discontent regarding the traditional top-down economic-political system of France, now also with a relatively strong tendency of unenlightened plutarchy... As mentioned above, the system may by now even be populist, i.e. within the fascist quadrant of the economic-political map, and quite far from real democracy. The main slogans of the French republic, freedom, equality and solidarity, sound very hollow for the time being.
20.10.2010. The struggle continues! Ad the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10, 06 & 23.11 & 15.12.2010 and more: Join in the international world wide solidarity direct action!!! See the report of 19.10.2010
Brown Cards to French marxist ochlarchists, Bernard Vivier and France24. Brown Cards to the liar and high ranking authoritarian marxist Bernard Vivier, director of France's Higher Institute of Labor, and France24 publishing his lies. "The unions are embarrassed by this violence, which is led by anarchist elements of the unions who want to derail any attempts to negotiate with the government,"he told France24. France24 has no critical remarks to Bernard Vivier's lies, and thus are also liars in this connection.
1. The IAT-APT - The International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch, hands out Brown Cards to the a) anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, plus b) ochlarchist, i.e. authoritarian, c) youths and their leaders. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists, and the Brown Cards to the youths and their leaders also mean they are expulsed (if they a) ever claimed to be anarchists, and b) if the ochlarchist youths had leaders from the unions, that may c) be discussed!) from the anarchist movement, according to the Oslo Convention. These ochlarchist youths and their leaders are thus not anarchists, but marxists. Any ochlarchist/ochlarch is an arch, not only their leaders.
2. Ochlarchists/ochlarchs, in short mob rulers, are as other rulers, archists/archs (and not anarchists), a form of superiors, typically, and in this case, extremists, very much a top-down approach and ultra-authoritarian on the economic-political map, and not a part of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors. In this case ultra-authoritarian marxist extremists. Any ochlarchist/ochlarch is an arch, has de facto a top-down approach, not only their leaders.
4. However a vast majority of the protesters are and were non-ochlarchical, among the people, seen as a class. As mentioned the IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, also of course police ochlarchy, see the reports of 18.10.2010 and 19.10.2010. And the sporadic violent and other ochlarchy, say theft, will probably have marginal influence on the result of this struggle.
3. Bernard Vivier and France24 also get Brown Cards, for the lies that the ochlarchist marxists were anarchists. To mix up opposites as anarchists with marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, as Bernard Vivier and France24 do, is equally authoritarian, i.e. politically brown, as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984"newspeak, and deserves Brown Cards.
5. In fact, no anarchists participated in the ochlarchy. To falsely put the blame of the ochlarchy on anarchists, as Bernard Vivier and France24 do, is horrible and can get mislead kids, including copycats, from all over Europe to go to France and falsely pose as 'anarchists', in the false meaning of ochlarchists, and do ochlarchy... [Or do the same locally, all over Europe and perhaps more...] Bernard Vivier and France24, with their lies in this connection, are not only Big Brother authoritarian, but also quite dangerous! France may very well get more ochlarchy, falsely and wrongly called 'anarchy', due to such false reports. And the international and domestic media, including France24, have a responsibilty to report objectively and fairly about a) the situation and b) the opposites: ochlarchists vs anarchists and ochlarchy vs anarchy! See also the resolution IWW protest against G20:... below for more information, and a similar case. ***
President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered police to clear all remaining blockades at French fuel depots. Police cleared protestors blockading French fuel depots on Wednesday, and youths skirmished with police as the government warned of economic damage from prolonged strikes against its pensions reform. The IWW and anarchists in general of course continue to condemn the tendencies of ochlarchy, and call for continuing strikes, demonstrations and protests, as long as the direct actions have support from a majority of the French people, and are compatible with the framework of real democracy.
Fresh blockades by French workers continued Wednesday as senators examined the contentious pension reform bill. The country's fuel crisis worsened as oil workers blocked depots despite police intervention.
With a Senate vote on the pension reform expected by the end of the week, unions tried to tighten their grip on key sectors of the economy with a ninth day of refinery strikes, go-slows by truck drivers and work stoppages at regional airports. The wave of protests has become the biggest and most persistent challenge to austerity measures and economic 'reforms' being enacted across Europe.
Backed by a majority of voters and vast majority of the people - seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, unions are trying to force Sarkozy - whose ratings are near record lows 18 months before a presidential election - to retreat on what is seen as the defining reform of his presidency. The government has stood firm through a wave of protests and strikes since the summer but the most serious test of its resolve came last week when union strikes began to target fuel supplies, transport and air travel. Police have cleared access to 21 oil depots since Friday, although a barricade reformed at Donges, western France, on Wednesday. Strikes halted operations at two of France's three liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. Public utility EDF told Reuters there was no immediate risk of LNG shortages. "We're ready to continue striking every day and go all the way,"a CGT union representative near Marseille told Reuters.
Protests have largely been peaceful and non-ochlarchical except for sporadic episodes of violence and ochlarchy in the southeastern city of Lyon and in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where clashes between youths and riot police broke out again on Wednesday. Youths in both cities burned cars and threw projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas, police said. Nearly 1,500 alleged rioters, i.e. ochlarchists/ochlarchs, have been arrested so far, 428 of them after flare-ups on Tuesday, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said, adding that police had deployed extra measures including helicopters to boost security.
The Senate is working its way through hundreds of amendments to the bill and a final vote could come late on Friday, at the weekend or be put off until Monday, Senate officials said. The legislation is by some analysts expected to be approved as the key provisions have already passed. "In a few days the pension reform will become law,"Prime Minister Francois Fillon suggested to the National Assembly. The government is betting that protests will gradually fizzle out as 10 days of school holidays start on Friday evening, but unions repeat they will not back down. "You cannot say, 'now that it's been adopted we simply swallow the law and everyone goes home'. I think we have to go on,"said Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the Force Ouvriere union.
Student protest tomorrow. Disruptions on the SNCF rail network eased with two out of three high-speed TGV trains running and regional services at around half-capacity, but fuel shortages were a major headache. The government is tapping strategic fuel reserves and says supply should be normal by the weekend, before the holidays. Elsewhere in the energy sector, striking liquefied natural gas workers blocked the unloading of an LNG tanker at the Atlantic terminal of Montoir. Students plan new protests Thursday, with a demonstration in Paris hours before the Senate, by some persons, is expected to approve the retirement measure. The administration of Jean Monnet University, in the city of Saint-Etienne, near Lyon, announced Wednesday the college would be closed through Nov. 2 following a student vote to block the campus.
Anarchist tradition. Trying to undo what the State wants dates back to an anarchist tradition of the 19th century, when unions first led a struggle against capitalism, economical plutarchy, and statism, and a refusal to align with political parties. This is the struggle of the people, grassroots organizations and labor confederations, the people seen as a class, as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, in public and private sector. Many workers feel the change would be a first step in eroding France's social benefits - which include long vacations, contracts that make it hard for employers to lay off workers and a public-subsidized health care system - in favor of "American-style capitalism."
The IWW and anarchists in general are strongly opposed to a development toward an economic-political system similar to in the USA in France. The US system has only about 42,5% libertarian degree and about 75,5 % degree of capitalism, economical plutarchy, compared to France with about 43,5 % libertarian degree and about 48,6 % degree of capitalism, as long term structural estimates, see the table above. However the very significant degree of statism in France, at about 63,4 % - i.e. political/administrative very much a top-down approach, should of course be reduced - this is very much opposed to the anarchist tradition of the people...
And if France adopt a degree of capitalism as in the USA, about 75,5 %, and continues with about 63,4 % degree of statism, the result is an ultra-authoritarian, extremist, right fascist system with about 69,7 % authoritarian degree and only 30,3 % libertarian degree, see the economic-political map above. An economic-political system with more than about 67 % authoritarian degree, i.e. more than about 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, means an extremist, ultra-authoritarian hell system for the people. This must of course be avoided!!!
21.10.2010. The struggle continues - The struggle will continue!!! Stop the tendencies of ochlarchy - i.e. in this case politically red & brown marxist extremists!!! Ochlarchy is the opposite of anarchy!!! Towards anarchy in France!!! Stop the ochlarchy - continue with the strikes, demonstrations and protests - i.e. non-ochlarchical and compatible with real democracy!!!
Strategy-meeting by the main labor confederations. The eight main French unions are meeting Thursday to discuss their strategy for continuing their opposition to government plans to raise the retirement age. The organzsations have been at the forefront of the largely peaceful and non-ochlarchical campaign to prevent the government from unilaterally imposing the new law raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. On Thursday morning Bernard Thibault, leader of the powerful CGT union, called for further days of protests. "There is no reason at all to stop,"he told RMC Radio. "There is no other alternative while the government remains intransigent.""We need to continue with massive action as soon as next week,"he added. "We will ask the unions for strong action that will allow people to stop work and go on to the streets."
Unions! Unite! says a spokesperson for IWW. The unions are in a position of considerable strength. Firstly, they have demonstrated an ability to mobilize a huge number of supporters and have the backing of some 70% of the population according to polls. Furthermore, one important precedent which continues to give the unions heart was the reversal of a 2006 law on work contracts that would have given employers greater flexibility but left new employees with less job security. That law, put forward by then Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, had been approved by the Senate but was nevertheless withdrawn after massive protests.
Holiday and ochlarchy problems? So far the government has refused to budge in the face of the anarchists' and unions' demands. Sarkozy insists that he will not back down and is determined to push through the controversial law as quickly as possible. And it may not be as easy as in the past weeks to gather demonstrators at this crucial time. The unions have the problem of the ten-day half term holiday which begins on Friday. Not only will probably less activists be available, but the continued fuel and road blockades will perhaps not go down well with families embarking on their holidays? There is also the issue of violent ochlarchists, i.e. in this case politically red & brown marxist extremists. This has perhaps also undermined the unity and credibility of the protest movement to some extent, but this issue should not be exaggerated.
Anyway the anarchists have launched a direct action to stop the ochlarchy. A.o.t the AI/IFA and AIIS have highlighted the slogan 'Stop the ochlarchy' at the index-page of www.anarchy.no. A spokesperson for AI/IFA and AIIS says this will continue as long as the marxist ochlarchy is present. But the ochlarchy is mainly a police matter. Stop or at least minimize the ochlarchy NOW!
The law-bureaucracy. France's upper house of parliament, the Senate, is busily hammering out the last amendments to the law and could be in a position to vote it in – as is expected by some analysts – by the end of the week. Once that is done, a cross-parliamentary committee made up of seven MPs and seven senators will be created in order to finalize the text. This final text will be subject to a further vote in both houses – the National Assembly and the Senate – before the end of the month. The opposition Socialists, as they are entitled, will undoubtedly demand that the law is examined by the French Constitutional Court before its adoption. The Constitution Court would have to submit its findings within a month.
Student protests and blocked high schools. Student protests have forced the government to its knees in the past. French students protested against plans to overhaul the pension system.
They organized their own protests against the proposed pension reform for the first time Thursday. The students, who previously attended the official union protests on Tuesday, fear the pension reform will worsen already high youth unemployment in France.
Several hundred secondary schools across the country and three dozen universities were hit by the strikes. "The government is trying to ruin all our prospects,"said Victor Colombani, 16-year-old students from the elite Henri IV High School and President of the National Union of students (UNL). "Extending the age of retirement means reducing almost a million jobs for young people. We call for a fairer reform that takes into account years of study and periods of forced unemployment for young people,"he told France24. Protesters temporarily blockaded Marseille's airport and have blocked high schools around the country. A march in Paris by at least 4,000 students was peaceful and non-ochlarchical, but new violence broke out in Lyon, where police used water cannon and tear gas to hold back rampaging youths, practically certain politically red & brown marxist ochlarchist extremists, hurling bottles and overturning at least one car. About two thousand ochlarchists have been arrested since October 12.
Wildcat protests blocked train lines around Paris. Protesters in cars and trucks blocked several highways around the country, from near Calais in the north to the Pyrenees in the south, according to the national road traffic center. In Marseille, hundreds of workers blocked access to the main airport for about three hours early Thursday. Passengers tugged suitcases along blocked roads as they hiked to the terminal, before police moved in to disperse protesters. Weeks of protests have left at least a quarter of the nation's gas stations on empty, blocked hundreds of ships at the Mediterranean port of Marseille and even forced Lady Gaga to cancel Paris concerts.
In the evening: The French unions call for massive strikes, according to France24 and NRK. However some analysts mean a) the Senate will vote on the pension 'reform' already tomorrow, Friday 22.10.2010, and b) most likely vote for
Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal. The French government is short-circuiting a protracted debate in the Senate on the bill raising the retirement age to 62, brushing aside some 250 amendments. Faced with widespread protests against the bill, the government is ordering Senators to vote on a package of its own design, using Article 44-3 of the Constitution that allows it to step into the parliamentary debate. Senators can still present the remaining 250 amendments - of some 1,000 - but they cannot vote on each one. Labor Minister Eric Woerth said Thursday the debate is in the third week, and "i t's time for the Senate to act."A Senate vote is expected by week's end, i.e. probably Friday. The text then goes to a parliamentary committee before returning to each chamber for a final vote next week.
But the anarchists and the unions have already indicated they will continue to strike, protest and demonstrate, i.e. there will be continued direct actions against the pension 'reform', even if the proposal becomes law, to achieve a withdrawal of the 'reform' later on. "We cannot stop now,"Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the Workers' Force union, said Thursday of the protest movement.
French unions have called for fresh general strikes on Thursday Oct. 28 next week and Nov. 6 in a bid to step up pressure on the government to withdraw its pension reform plan."The government bears full and complete responsibility for the continued mobilization, given its intransigent attitude, its failure to listen and its repeated provocations,"said a statement signed by six unions. The anarchists, including anarchosyndicalists, IWW, AI/IFA and AIIS,
fully agree!!!
22.10.2010. The struggle continues - The struggle will continue!!! Stop the tendencies of ochlarchy - i.e. in this case politically red & brown marxist extremists!!! Ochlarchy is the opposite of anarchy!!! Towards anarchy in France!!! Stop the pension 'reform'!!!
The anarchists continue the direct action to stop the ochlarchy launched 21.10.2010. A.o.t the AI/IFA and AIIS have highlighted the slogan 'Stop the ochlarchy' at the index-page of www.anarchy.no. A spokesperson for AI/IFA and AIIS has said this will continue as long as the marxist ochlarchy is present. But the ochlarchy is mainly a police matter. Stop or at least minimize the ochlarchy NOW! Stop the ochlarchy - continue with the strikes, demonstrations and protests - i.e. non-ochlarchical and compatible with real democracy:
1. Stop the unenlightened arch-plutarchist of France Nicolas Sarkozy's proposed pension 'reform' and his other proposed similar 'reforms'!
2. Do away with the relatively strong tendency of unenlightened plutarchy and economical plutarchy in general, i.e. capitalism, in France!
3. Do away with the high degree of statism, i.e. a very significant top-down approach and system political/administrative in France!
4. For a development towards anarchy in France, i.e. real democracy, similar to the systems in the anarchies of Norway and the Swiss Confederation - see (click on:) IJA 1 (37) - and further upwards on the economic-political map!
Riot police moved in to break a blockade on a key fuel depot near Paris. Early on Friday morning, CRS riot police arrived at an oil refinery at Grandpuits near Paris to break one of the many blockades that have caused huge disruption to petrol deliveries across the country. The blockades have also caused electricity shortages. The officers were enforcing the authorities' orders to force the strikers, who had been camping out outside the depot for days, to allow the refinery to restart deliveries of much-needed fuel. Known as a "requisition", the order can be issued by the authorities when they believe a strike poses a threat to public order. It compels strikers to return to work, under threat of prosecution.
But union representatives at the site vowed to challenge the police enforcement of access to the refinery's operations. Charles Foulard, CGT union representative for the Total Group's employees, told France24: "We will be taking this to the courts. Clearly we want to challenge the legality of this takeover. It is a direct obstruction of our right to strike."Union representatives at the site said at least three people had been injured in scuffles with the police and vowed to challenge the police's probably unconstitutional enforcement.
Protesters symbolically burned a coffin after the police intervention. Between 20 and 21% of petrol stations across France were empty on Friday, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo reported.
At the refineries, the unions scored a legal victory late on Friday when a court struck down a back-to-work order at the Grandpuits refinery east of Paris issued by the prefect, on the grounds that it did not respect the right to strike. On Friday, a court in Melun stepped into an escalating row over the blockade of the Grandpuits depot near Paris after riot police were sent in to dislodge strikers who were preventing deliveries of fuel. The court overturned the order by the local prefect to forcefully reopen the depot, in which at least three people were injured in scuffles with police, according to union representatives. The court agreed with strikers that the "requisition", as the order is called, went against their legal right to strike. In an unusual move, the same prefect issued a second requisition order late on Friday. A final judgment in the Grandpuits depot case could set a precedent for the dozens of fuel depots that have been sealed off by protesters across France.
Student protest. Students have called for an action Tuesday 26.10.2010.
Meanwhile, the strikes by labors are rolling...
Labor confederations in France. The oldest major labor organization, dating from 1895, is the communist-dominated Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), an affiliate of the WFTU. The Confédération Générale du Travail — Force Ouvrière (CGT–FO), was founded in 1948 as a splinter group of the CGT. Affiliated with the ICFTU/ITUC, the CGT–FO draws its membership principally from white-collar workers and civil servants. Another labor group, the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail, split from the Confédération Française de Travailleurs Chrétiens (CFTC) at a union congress in November 1964. The CFTC regrouped around those minorities wishing to continue the traditions of Christian unionism.
Among the smaller labor groups are the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles; the Fédération de l'Éducation Nationale, the Confédération des Syndicats Libres; the Confédération Française de l'Encadrement, a union of managerial and highly skilled technical personnel, Confédération Nationale du Travail - Association Internationale des Travailleurs, CNT-AIT, and of course the French section of International Workers of the World, a loose network of subscribers/networkmembers to IJA etc. in France. Although less than 10% of the workforce was unionized as of 2002, a very low figure compared to most of Europe, trade unions have significant influence in the country. Workers freely exercise their right to strike unless it is prohibited due to public safety. Many unions are members of international labor organizations. Collective bargaining is prevalent. It is illegal to discriminate against union activity.
Later: French Senate passes pension reform plan that triggered days of strikes.
Senators voted 177 for and 153 against the legislation to raise the retirement age, after the government used a special measure to speed the voting process.
The bill now needs a joint parliamentary commission to rubber stamp changes from the original text, and approval from the constitutional council, the highest constitutional authority in France. Final bill may go to President Sarkozy next week. Despite the government's action, French unions as mentioned have called for fresh strikes on October 28 and November 6. "We want these days of strikes and demonstrations to be huge,"Nadine Prigent of the CGT union told France24. "What we are saying to workers is that we can still stop these reforms."
Leftist and anarchist critics called the move a denial of democracy by an increasingly confrontational president. "No, you haven't finished with retirement. You haven't finished with the French,"said Socialist Sen. Jean-Pierre Bel, alluding to an apparently unflagging determination by unions, now joined by students, to keep protests alive - even through the upcoming week of school holidays. French unions say the minimum retirement age of 60, in place since 1982, is a hard-earned right and maintain the working class will be unfairly punished. Many fear it is also a first step to dismantling an entire network of benefits, including a.o.t. long vacations and public-subsidized health care, that make France an enviable place to work and live. Guy Fischer, a communist senator, denounced the pension overhaul as "brutal, unjust and inefficient."Like other critics, he said that under the proposal, 85 percent of costs are paid by workers, leaving companies off the hook. The legislation phases in the new system, with retirement at 62 in force in 2018. It also raises the age for retirement with full benefits from 65 to 67... if not the anarchists, the labor confederations, and other protesters manage to stop these 'reforms'.
23.10.2010. The strikes are rolling... Families hoping to get away for France's school holidays faced train delays and gas shortages Saturday as strikes against the government's pension reform stretched into a 12th straight day.
A spokesman for the CGT union, France's largest, said that work at all 12 of the country's oil refineries was frozen on Saturday morning. The French government struggled to restore fuel supplies on Saturday, but unions dug in their heels at strike-hit oil refineries.
Later, in the evening the protesters are once more taking to the streets en masse. Despite the massive direct actions against it,
final adoption of the arch-plutarchist
Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform is probably due next week, when the bill will be put to a panel representing both houses of parliament before a final vote the government expects by Wednesday.
The law has been one of the most fiercely contested reforms among austerity measures being taken by European governments.
As many as 63% of the French public surveyed in recent days said they opposed the government's reform plans. Probably more of the people, defined as a class as opposed to the bureaucracy, defined as the superiors in rank and/or income, are against the 'reform'. More information about the people vs the bureaucracy, see (click on:) Anarchist class analysis.
24.10.2010.
The strikes are rolling... More about the arch-plutarchist Nicolas Sarkozy. His ratings are in tatters and most of France loathes his pension reform, but President Nicolas Sarkozy will most likely try to turn the page swiftly with a cabinet reshuffle and some image-boosting initiatives as G20 president, however probably in vain. Facing a tough 2012 election battle to win a second term, Sarkozy will perhaps score points internationally, with financial markets and in his economical plutarchist policy based on his UMP party, for standing up to unions to push through a 'reform' of the generous pensions system. But he will probably not score points vis-a-vis a the French people. The bill to make people work two extra years for their pensions should be signed into law this week after Senate approval on Friday, ending a historic libertarian, including socialist, symbol of retirement at 60.
Unions vow to continue the fight and have called for strikes and demonstrations at least in the next two weeks. A single spark such as an incident of police brutality could still reignite a national conflagration. Sarkozy has also told members of parliament he wants to look at a fiscal reform in the spring that is expected to focus on ending widely criticized tax benefits for the wealthy which he enacted to reward core supporters as soon as he took office. The so-called "tax shield"which ensures that no one pays more than 50 percent of their income to the treasury helped earn Sarkozy the damaging label of president of the rich, a.k.a. the arch-plutarchist, in a deeply egalitarian country which abhors the flaunting of wealth. "He's so low in the polls that he can't go much lower. In a sense it's an advantage,"was the ironic remark of political analyst Stephen Ekovich at the American University of Paris.
Sarkozy will probably try a burst of diplomacy with verbal outreach to the unions and promising a tax reform to try to draw a line under a long series of protests and oil refinery and transport strikes that have disrupted travel and dried up a quarter of petrol pumps across the country. Some libertarian, including socialist, false rhetoric and "pie in the sky"talk to try to fool the people, will probably not work for Sarkozy, for his main policy will still be that of the arch-plutarchist. Hurt by a funding scandal involving his UMP party and stung by European criticism of his mass expulsion of Roma migrants, Sarkozy's ratings dipped below 30 percent in one recent poll. Two-thirds of voters oppose his move to lift the minimum retirement age by two years to 62 and the street protests of recent weeks suggest Sarkozy will have a hard time reconquering public support.
Yet the mercurial arch-plutarchist president is known for bouncing back from adversity. But probably not this time. IWW-analysts expect him to focus on populist crowd-pleasing initiatives aimed at both far-right and populist/fascist voters for the last 18 months of his term. Nationalist gestures might include fighting for EU farm funds or more immigrant-targeted legislation like his law banning burqas. Sarkozy may perhaps also glean more support from far-right and populist/fascist voters for having taken a firm stance against strikers blocking fuel depots and youths who went on the rampage in sporadic riots, but there are probably not so many right-liberalists, ultra-conservatives and populist/right-fascists in France... Hopefully we can say goodbye to unenlightened arch-plutarchist Nicolas Sarkozy at the next presidential election in France!
25.10.2010. The protests continue rolling... French authorities warned Monday that strikes against pension reform have cost up to three billion euros so far and threaten to derail France's still fragile economic recovery.
"Today, we shouldn't be weighing down this recovery with campaigns that are painful for the French economy and very painful for a certain number of small and medium-sized businesses,"Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday. Government spokesman Raymond Soubie told Europe 1 television Sunday that the President fully expects the law to be entered into the statute books by November 15. However as mentioned unions are already planning two more major days of action in the coming weeks, and students will protest tomorrow. "Taking into account the large the costs, it is time for the unenlightened arch-plutarchist Nicolas Sarkozy to drop his authoritarian pension reform plans, the sooner the better,"says a spokesperson for IWW, French section.
26.10.2010: Day of student protests. The IWW calls on all the people of France to join in the student protests... Demonstrate with dignity - not ochlarchy!!!.
At the Grandpuits refinery near Paris, workers vowed to continue their blockade, "until Christmas if necessary."98 percent want to keep on striking. The decision taken by other refineries to return to work does not change a thing, that it is merely symbolic.
Sarkozy, who believes that the passing of the bill into law is "a victory for France and the French"has seen his personal approval rate plummet to 30 percent during the protests, according to an IFOP survey. Workers at five of the country's 12 oil refineries were back on the job Tuesday, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said. But that did not mean an end to fuel shortages. Strikes continued at all six of oil giant Total SA's French refineries, and the plants going back to work will need a few days to fully resume operations. Crude oil coming in for processing was stuck on dozens of anchored ships, waiting to be unloaded.
The opposition including anarchists accuses the unenlightened arch-plutarchist Nicolas Sarkozy of making workers pay more while protecting the rich and the world of finance. Meanwhile,
the French Senate approved the pension reform bill, bringing the draft one step closer to law, despite weeks of nationwide protest against the reform.
The Senate gave its final 177-151 vote approval for Sarkozy's plan.
The text will come before the National Assembly on Wednesday for a vote.
There was a large demonstration Tuesday with students with megaphones chanting outside the 17th-century Senate building on the edge of Paris' Luxembourg Gardens as riot police stood by.
Students also had street campaigns with marches in major cities. Some of the earlier youth demonstrations have had a violent - ochlarchical - edge, and the Interior Minister said 2,554 protesters were detained in the past two weeks. However there were no reports of ochlarchy Tuesday, and the demonstrations were reported in both domestic and international newsmedia.
27.10.2010. IWW once more calls for international solidarity world wide; connected to the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10 and 06.11 2010. The whole network of the Anarchist International, i.e. more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, is mobilized and supports IWW's direct action based on general consent, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. Meanwhile, France's parliament has given final approval to a bill to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, a reform that as mentioned has sparked weeks of strikes and street protests. The National Assembly approved the final text of the bill in a 336-233 vote Wednesday, marking its final hurdle in parliament. The unenlightened arch-plutarchist and president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is not expected to sign it for several weeks.
Sarkozy must sign off on the law and publish it in the official gazette, which a presidential advisor as mentioned has said will happen around November 15.
Socialists vowed to take the law before the Constitutional Court. The vote comes as two straight weeks of pension strikes seem to be losing some of the momentum. Still, unions hope to revive the movement Thursday with a General Strike and nationwide street demonstrations expected to cause new hassles for air travelers.
28.10.2010. General strike and nationwide protests. Anarchists world wide sent protest resolution to Sarko. The union-led protests still enjoyed the support of about two-thirds of French people. Strikes and protests follow adoption of pension reform.
French unions are holding another day of strikes and protests against the pension reform, a day after the lower house of parliament gave approval to a controversial bill that raises the legal retirement age from 60 to 62.
Further strikes disrupted rail and air transport in France on Thursday. Thursday marked the seventh day of general strikes and protests called by the unions over the plans to make people work two years longer for a pension, all but one of them since the start of September. Union spokesmen noted the bill has yet to be signed onto the statute books. Either way, the damage caused by the government's failure to heed their demands would not vanish, they said.
"This will leave deep scars,"Jean-Claude Mailly, spokesperson of the Force Ouvriere union, said on France 2 TV, acknowledging at the same time that the protest movement was starting to show "a little fatigue". "No law can decree an end to the union struggle,"Bernard Thibault, spokesperson of the CGT union told Europe 1 radio. As a day of further protest rallies kicked off in cities such as Marseille, before one in Paris in the afternoon, a CSA opinion survey showed the union-led protests still enjoyed the support of about two-thirds of French people.
A separate month-old strike at the port of Fos-Lavera near the southern city of Marseille may now become the government's main focus. It is starving many French refineries of crude oil even after workers at several of them voted to resume work after weeks of work stoppage. The bill got the final vote of approval in parliament on Wednesday. It still needs to be approved by the constitutional council where a last-minute challenge by the opposition Socialists could mean a delay of a few days but is not expected to overturn it. Petrol station shortages have eased after the government cleared fuel depot blockades and increased imports.
Later in Paris, demonstrators waved union flags and set off flares, while in southern Marseille, they beat drums and blew whistles. Past demonstrations have drawn more than a million protesters into the streets: This time, the Interior Ministry put the figure at 560,000 nationwide. The hard-line CGT union contested that number, putting turnout at 2 million. "It's true you could say the anti-reform movement is slowing down, but you need to ask why,"Serba Germain, a 67-year-old retired police officer marching in Marseille, told Associated Press Television News. "People are disappointed, they are frustrated"because the government hasn't listened. Unions, anarchists in general and opposition parties urged Sarkozy not to sign the law, which polls show is unpopular. He is as mentioned expected to do so by mid-November, after it is cleared by France's constitutional watchdog.
Socialist leader Martine Aubry urged Sarkozy to listen to the people. "We will fight until the end,"she said. But Sarkozy has refused to back down, even amid two weeks of strikes that canceled trains, shut down oil refineries and left drivers struggling to find gasoline. A small number of trains were canceled Thursday, but the problem was bigger for airlines. A third of flights at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport and half of those at the city's smaller Orly were canceled. Flights were expected to run as normal Friday. Though the strikes are tapering a bit off, the fuel shortages they caused are still a problem. One in five gas stations remain empty or short of gas because of the refinery strike, said the national petroleum industry body.
Striking dock workers have exacerbated the shortages. Oil tankers are lined up by the dozens in the Mediterranean off the port of Marseille, waiting to unload. The Normandy port of Le Havre faces a similar situation. Dock workers have been protesting for a month, partly over the pension plan, though their central concern is port reform. Unions see retirement at 60 as a cornerstone of France's generous social benefit system, but the government falsely postulates that the entire pension system is in jeopardy without the reform because French people are living longer - an average of nearly 85 years for women and 78 for men. IWW however declares that by taxing the relatively rich and the bureaucracy in general sufficiently more, financing the present pension system also in the future will be no problem.
IWW continued the international world wide solidarity action, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. The Anarchist International world wide, the whole network, supported this direct action of IWW, and sent a protest resolution to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, i.e. from more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, see (click on:) Solidarity action. This resolution was also sent to international newsmedia and mandated persons world wide, and anarchists & syndicalists, etc... There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy"of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
29.10.2010. The struggle continues and will continue... Next main step is general strike Saturday 06.11 2010. However
workers at all 12 of France's oil refineries have voted to end a two-week strike over pension reform that provoked fuel shortages across the country. Many of the last strikers holding out against President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform returned to work Friday, leaving France with a deep social malaise. Thursday's rallies, the ninth one-day protest and general strike in two months, saw hundreds of thousands demonstrating against the law raising minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 after parliament on Wednesday passed the measure. "Everyone is proud of the movement,"said Dimitri Guiller, a CFDT union official at the northwestern Donges refinery, the first to go on strike on October 12 and the last where unions decided to return to work. "It's a pride that the government can't take away from us,"he said. Despite worker willingness several refineries were unable to operate because of a lack of crude, although the CGT union later announced the end of a strike that started September 27 at the key oil terminal at Fos-Lavera near Marseilles.
Around 80 ships waiting off the southern French coast to unload crude should now be able to do so.
Meanwhile, fuel supplies are returning to normal, the government said, with around 85 percent of filling stations supplied, while striking rubbish collectors in the southern city of Toulouse also went back to work.
Some workers refused to be bowed, with 300 strikers in the south of France blockading two logistics centres around Aix-en-Provence for several hours early Friday.
As indicated, at least one more day of action is planned on November 6 despite parliament approving Sarkozy's law and his aides say he intends to sign it into law on or around November 15.
France's Socialist opposition and anarchists, which accuse the government of forcing ordinary workers to work longer to compensate for the failures of high finance, have demanded that the president stay his pen.
Unions say that the law was forced through parliament by the president without consultation, and the Socialists are to contest its legality before the Constitutional Court next week. IWW continues the direct action "Towards anarchy in France 2010"...
30.10.2010.
Six labor unions at Air France have called for a strike on Nov. 4 against Sarkozy's pension reform. Also, French airline staff unions called on Saturday for a four-day strike starting Nov. 5 in protest at new legislation that will reduce some discounts on plane tickets. The legislation, unrelated to President Nicolas Sarkozy's recently approved pension reform, would mean airline personnel will have to pay tax on discounted plane tickets -- and other perks such as cut-price hotel rooms -- not provided by their direct employer, unions said. Both the SNPNC flight attendant union and the SNPL France pilots' union called for a strike from Nov. 5 to Nov. 8. The relevant article of law has already been approved but the government would still be able to amend it before the legislation reaches the French Senate, the SNPL union said. The SNPNC represents 25 percent of flight attendants at Air France and also has an "i mportant presence"at other French airlines, a union official said.
01.11.2010. The news-station France24 has published a comment by International Workers of the World. See (click on:) http://www.france24.com/en/20101026-france-students-called-protest-pensions-bill-reaches-final-stage-legislation-transport-refineries-sarkozy. The comment is titled "The campaign 'Towards anarchy in France 2010", and the text is "The International Workers of the World, IWW, in general and the French section, have a campaign "Towards anarchy in France"i n relation to the struggle against Zarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist of France, and his pension 'reform', see http://www.anarchy.no/iwwai.html. There are also information about the situation in France in general, and comments to FRANCE24's news and comments, and the IWW says a clear NO, to ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, at the protests."
The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist of France, and Zarko, the first czar, tsar, tzar (zär, tsär) of France; i.e. a male monarch or emperor, especially one of the emperors who ruled Russia until the revolution of 1917, but now in France... Napoleon may relatively be seen as a democrat compared to Zarko...
Meanwhile, Sarkozy and embassies were the targets of a letter bomb plot by the Greek marxist red & brown ultra-authoritarian far left extremist ochlarchy and terrorist group Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, a.k.a. Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire and Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, see (click on:) Greek revolt - marxist riots and terrorism for more information. The anarchists condemn the terrorist attack!
By the way, the Greek police falsely postulates that Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire is an anarchist group, a lie that France24 also publishes, quoting: "Police said both suspects arrested Monday were Greek, and one was suspected of belonging to Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire, a domestic anarchist group that has carried out dozens of crude bomb and arson attacks."... and both the Greek police and France24 get Brown Cards from IAT-APT. See (click on:) Greek revolt - marxist riots and terrorism for more information.
06.11.2010. General strike and nationwide protests. Anarchists world wide sent a protest resolution to Sarko, 'for more efficiency and fairness, i.e. towards anarchy'. French unions are holding another nationwide day of strikes and protests against the pension reform, the 8th in line since September.
Reaffirming its "determination to face a government reform which continues to be unfair, ineffective,"the unions called for a new "nationwide mobilization during the week of November 22 to 26"whose terms and content will be determined at a meeting of 8 November.
Unions, as mentioned, see retirement at 60 as a cornerstone of France's generous social benefit system, but the government falsely postulates that the entire pension system is in jeopardy without the reform because French people are living longer - an average of nearly 85 years for women and 78 for men. IWW however declares that by taxing the relatively rich and the bureaucracy in general sufficiently more, financing the present pension system also in the future will be no problem.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the road today despite rain and bad weather in general.
The French interior ministry first estimated the number of protesters to
some 142,000, later to
375,000,
but the French authorities are probably not very objective in this matter.
The so called pension 'reform', now awaiting what is expected to be a hitch-free clearance from France's Constitutional Council before Sarkozy can sign it into law, will raise minimum and fully pensionable retirement ages by two years, to 62 and 67 respectively, while it is still opposed by between two-thirds and three-quarters of French people according to opinion polls. Is this democracy? NO! Is this real democracy? Far from it!! France has in this case seen isolated more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, although probably the system seen all in all, and estimated, say, as a moving average over some time, has a less authoritarian degree. But the system is probably for the time being heading in the wrong direction, towards higher authoritarian degree, and not towards anarchy. But continued protests, for more efficiency and fairness, i.e. towards anarchy, as broad as possible and over long time - via elections and direct actions, can turn the system in libertarian direction... The struggle continues and will continue...
There are indications that more unions will join the IWW in a broader struggle for more efficiency and fairness, i.e. towards anarchy. IWW continued the international world wide solidarity action, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. The Anarchist International world wide, the whole network, supported this direct action of IWW, and sent an updated protest resolution to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, i.e. from more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, see (click on:) Solidarity action. This resolution was also sent to international newsmedia and mandated persons world wide, and anarchists & syndicalists, etc... There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy"of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
08.11.2010.The struggle continues and will continue... General strike and other actions 23.11.2010.
Déclaration commune des organisations syndicales CFDT, CGT, FSU, Solidaires,
UNSA
lundi 8 novembre 2010. Le mouvement social est légitime et conforté. Après plusieurs semaines de mobilisation et malgré les moyens déployés par
le gouvernement pour tenter d'accréditer l'idée que « la page retraite » est
tournée, ce sont 1,2 million de salariés qui ont manifesté le 6 novembre
dans 243 villes contre cette réforme des retraites injuste et inefficace.
Si chacun a conscience que la loi sur les retraites est susceptible d'être
promulguée dans les prochains jours, l'heure n'est pas à la résignation. Les
organisations syndicales continueront d'agir pour la réduction des
inégalités, une véritable reconnaissance de la pénibilité et d'autres
alternatives pour le financement du système de retraites par répartition.
Elles réaffirment leur attachement au maintien de l'âge légal de départ en
retraite à 60 ans et de l'âge du taux plein à 65 ans. Elles constatent que la situation économique et sociale reste très dégradée
et toujours préoccupante pour les salariés, les retraités, les chômeurs et
les jeunes qui subissent toujours durement les conséquences d'une crise qui
dure.
Les organisations syndicales considèrent que la mobilisation d'un niveau
exceptionnel depuis plusieurs mois a mis en lumière l'insatisfaction criante
des salariés et leurs revendications en matière d'emploi, de salaires, de
conditions de travail, d'inégalité entre les femmes et les hommes, de
fiscalité et de partage des richesses. Elles décident d'approfondir leurs
analyses et propositions sur ces questions afin d'interpeller le
gouvernement et le patronat.
Les organisations syndicales décident de poursuivre la mobilisation dans l'unité
en faisant du 23 novembre une journée nationale interprofessionnelle de
mobilisation par des actions multiformes. Ces actions doivent répondre aux
préoccupations des salariés et permettre la participation du plus grand
nombre. Elles demandent aux organisations territoriales et professionnelles
d'en préciser les modalités (rassemblements, manifestations, meetings,
arrêts de travail.). Des initiatives dans les territoires et les entreprises sont déjà prévues.
Les organisations syndicales veilleront à assurer leurs réussites.
Les organisations syndicales s'engagent dès à présent à participer
activement à la journée d'action Européenne du 15 décembre pour s'opposer
aux plans d'austérité qui se multiplient en Europe. Les organisations se reverront le 29 novembre 2010. - Le 8 novembre 2010
English abstract: The social movement is legitimate and backed up [by a majority of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income]. 1.2 million workers demonstrated on November 6 in 243 cities against
this unfair and inefficient pension reform...
Trade unions believe that this mobilization at an exceptional level for
several months has highlighted the glaring employee dissatisfaction and
demands for employment, wages, working conditions, [less] inequality between women
and men, tax and wealth-sharing. They decided to deepen their analysis and
proposals on these issues in order to challenge the government and
employers.
The unions decided to continue the common mobilization by making
November 23 a national day of mobilization through inter-action forms. These
actions must address the concerns of employees and ensure the participation
of many. They ask the territorial and professional organizations to specify
the terms (rallies, demonstrations, meetings, work stoppages [General Strike]...).
The IWW and its French section mostly agree with this Declaration, and once more call for a movement of the French economic-political system in libertarian direction, for more fairness and efficiency, i.e. a movement of the system towards anarchy, less statism and capitalism, i.e. economical plutarchy; and similar in the other the EU-countries. IWW once more calls for international solidarity world wide; connected to the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10 and 06 & 23.11 2010. The whole network of the Anarchist International, i.e. more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, is mobilized and supports IWW's direct action, "Towards anarchy in France", based on general consent, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated.
09.11.2010.
Constitutional court clears way to sign pension reform into law. France's Constitutional Council approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension bill on Tuesday, clearing the last hurdle to a reform that will raise the retirement age by two years. Despite a late challenge by the opposition Socialist party, the council ruled that the proposed pension law does not breach constitutional rules.
Millions have protested the bill.
10.11.2010.
Controversial bill to raise retirement age becomes law. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 has become law after months of protests by unions etc. The law was published in the government's Journal Official on Wednesday, meaning Sarkozy has signed it and it has formally gone into effect. The constitutional watchdog approved the plan a day earlier, and France's parliament gave the measure its backing on Oct. 27. The reform sparked weeks of street demonstrations and nationwide strikes that caused gasoline shortages and havoc for travelers, and international solidarity actions. The opposition Socialist party, anarchists and syndicalists have opposed the conservative government's measure. The struggle continues and will continue... remember the general strike and other actions 23.11.2010, see the report of 08.11.2010.
14.11.2010.
A monarch changes court. New cabinet unveiled as Sarkozy eyes 2012 polls. A new French cabinet was appointed under reappointed Prime Minister François Fillon on Sunday. The reshuffle is being viewed as President Sarkozy's last try to reinvigorate his struggling administration ahead of the presidential elections in 2012.
The new cabinet is now mainly packed with populist right wingers, while the majority of more leftist ministers have not survived. The government overhaul was mooted back in March - after Sarkozy's ruling UMP suffered a humiliating drubbing in regional elections - as a way of trying to tell voters that he understood their concerns. It appears that Sarkozy is looking to solidify support within the 'grassroots' of the UMP ahead of the crunch 2012 polls. Sarkozy's poll ratings have plummeted in recent months and the reshuffle is probably the president's last attempt to seize control of the agenda before the 2012 vote.
Sarkozy's government has taken a sharp swerve to the right in recent months on law and order and immigration issues, sparking international outrage with the expulsions of Roma (gypsies) back to their homelands in Eastern Europe. Voters have also baulked at Sarkozy's domineering manner, and the media have dubbed him the 'bling-bling' president for his luxury lifestyle. Furthermore, many were angered by the austerity measures introduced by the government. The law raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 resulted in mass protests and strikes, also general strikes, across France. The battle is not over. The policy of this new cabinet will be tested when the country heads to the polls in 2012.
19.11.2010. Towards anarchy in France. First the action "Towards anarchy in France"was limited to 2010, the action was titled "Towards anarchy in France 2010", but 19.11.2010 this time limit was dropped, as it is clear more time is needed to get significant results. The above resolutions and reports are updated accordingly.
23.11.2010. More modest general strike and nationwide protests. Today's actions represented a more modest mobilization against the pension reform etc., and with sporadic small strikes all over France. This new action day had a "multifaceted"character with initiatives decided locally. In Paris, the spokesperson of the CGT, Bernard Thibault, came to reiterate that this was no time to quit: "We keep the goal of preventing the practical implementation"of the law on pensions from 1 July 2011, he said, making "the challenge, we will have the opportunity in the weeks and months coming to hear again about the pensions."
With this day of action, the unions also wanted to place in the center of the debate issues of employment, wages and working conditions. The unions CFDT, CGT, FSU, Solidaires and
UNSA will continue to meet - next meeting November 29 - to update their joint platform. In Paris, between 9 and 10,000 demonstrators, mainly of CGT - 3200 according to the police - marched from the Place de l'Opera to the Exchange (Bourse). "Retirement at age 60! Sarkozy's reform, we still do not want!"they chanted. According to the Interior Ministry, 27,000 people protested at mid-day on the whole territory. As usual this is probably a too low estimate.
IWW and its French section, continue a broader struggle for more efficiency and fairness, i.e. towards anarchy in France. This struggle will continue in 2011 and may be more. IWW continued the international world wide solidarity action, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. The Anarchist International world wide, the whole network, supported this direct action of IWW, and sent an updated protest resolution to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, i.e. from more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, see (click on:) Solidarity action. This resolution was also sent to international newsmedia and mandated persons world wide, and anarchists & syndicalists, etc... There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy"of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
03.12.2010. "No to austerity for the many and bonuses for a happy few". General strikes and nationwide protests all over Europe, including in France 15.12.2010. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Workers of the World (IWW), are calling for a decentralized day of action on 15 December: to protest against austerity measures and against bonuses granted to traders, which have risen spectacularly; in short against the unenlightened plutarchy. Many countries have already been and continue to be subjected to austerity plans. Labor confederations' protest actions are being organized across Europe in reaction to these measures, which are damaging to the economy and citizens alike. The ETUC and IWW affiliates will organize a range of activities: demonstrations, work stoppages, general strike and so on, in short direct actions.
The French section of IWW calls for such actions in France 15.12.2010 within a decentralized framework, i.e. all workers as they see fit: a general strike happening, with international support. By the way, CFDT, CGT, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA met on 29 November to learn from the
mobilization of 23 November. These unions decided to continue their meetings to sustain the momentum created by the
mobilization and the crisis intensified with the pensions issue; and to call on governments and parliamentarians (national and European) as a
part of the European Day of Action 15.12.2010.
They will hold a new meeting on December 13. Join in the general strike happening in France 15.12.2010!!!
15.12.2010. A modest general strike happening in France. Anarchists and others protest over spending cuts and against the unenlightened plutarchy. There were direct actions all over France and significant demonstrations in
dozens of cities. Union members, anarchists and others, took to the streets
of Paris to voice their disgust at tough spending cuts being made by
governments throughout Europe.
Organizers said some 2000 protesters rallied outside the French finance
ministry against moves to slash wages and pensions. Protesters in Santa
Claus
costume and with a large balloon made the demonstration a real
happening. A spokesperson at the rally underlined that the austerity
measures were done in "an authoritarian way". France is currently running a
record public deficit of 7.7 percent of GDP, pushing up its borrowing costs.
The government wants to reduce that to six percent by next year with a
clampdown on public spending. But workers say they are being forced to pay
for mistakes made by the political elite and those working in the financial
sector. The fight against the unenlightened plutarchy and Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, in France continues!!!
IWW and its French section, continue a broader struggle for more efficiency and fairness, i.e. towards anarchy in France. This struggle will continue in 2011 and may be more. IWW continued the international world wide solidarity action, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. The Anarchist International world wide, the whole network, supported this direct action of IWW, and sent an updated protest resolution to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, i.e. from more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, see (click on:) Solidarity action. This resolution was also sent to international newsmedia and mandated persons world wide, and anarchists & syndicalists, etc... There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy"of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
17.12.2010. The IWW and its French section are planning new direct actions for more efficiency and fairness, i.e. towards anarchy in France... 2011, 2012, 2013 and more!!!
20-21.12.2010. Non aux Big Brother lois securitaires! No to Big Brother security laws! IWW's fellows
in Confédération Nationale du Travail - Association Internationale des Travailleurs - Union Locale de Bordeaux, have sent us the picture below and written information about this direct action against Big Brother Sarko and his security laws. The direct action is supported by IWW.
01.01.2011. New Year note: The campaign "Towards anarchy in France"continues in 2011 via direct actions, included mass actions, and via elections, within the framework of and/or compatible with real democracy. In the longer run both glimpses of anarchy and a movement of the French system in libertarian direction, may happen. The significant protests where a.o.t. millions took to the streets may indicate that the French system may be set on the road towards anarchy - in the long run. The significant protests where a.o.t. millions took to the streets indicate that the French people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, may have jumped on "the bicycles of change", but the bicycles have not yet started to roll on the road towards anarchy in France, an economical-political "Tour de France"where anarchy is the aim. And there are of course obstacles, a.o.t. the Sarko-regime has managed to "sabotage the bicycles"so far. The anarchists -- included anarcho-syndicalists -- however, work to get the race started... 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,..., Highway to Anarchy!
10-18 and more.01.2011. The fight against Big Brother security laws in France continues... Action directe en France, Toulouse 13...01.2011 - Campement autogéré anti-LOPPSI, sans violence et sans drogue - Direct action in France, Toulouse - Selfadministered anti-LOPPSI camp, without violence and drugs 13...01.2011 - We call on all fellows to join in! More information about the camp (in French) click on: Campement autogéré anti-LOPPSI - Selfadministered anti-LOPPSI camp (Wordfile). For more information about LOPPSI 2 (in French) click on: Les principales dispositions de la LOPPSI 2 - The main provisions of the LOPPSI 2 (PDF-file). To see a leaflet titled "A BAS LOPPSI II", "DOWN WITH LOPPSI II", used at a direct action 08.01.2010 - Click here: A BAS LOPPSI II - DOWN WITH LOPPSI II (PDF-file). For more information send an e-mail to Action Mobilisation (click here =>) action_mobilisation_a@hotmail.fr or
toulouse@antiloppsi2.net. The Website of this direct action is http://toulouse.antiloppsi2.net.
Primus motor of the campaign, E. Castandet, has 12.01.2011 sent IWW and its French section the picture below indicating the plan for the anti-LOPPSI camp in Toulouse.
The LOPPSI 2 law will be debated in the French Senate from January 18, 2011.
A national anti-LOPPSI campaign is scheduled from January 15, 2011.
A press conference will be held at 15.00 local time at Place du Capitole in Toulouse, January 15, 2011.
Here begins a great camp, sustainable, inclusive, mobile and strong, composed of a dozen collective structures: soup kitchens, assemblies, dormitories, press ... to inform the public about the conditions of this draconian law, which is discriminatory and punitive. 13.01.2011 the anti-LOPPSI direct action arranged a general assembly in Toulouse, deciding details of the campaign.
.
E. Castandet 17.01.2011 sent a newsletter to IWW and its French section with the following information: "Le campement est à la prairie des filtres. D'autres structures arrivent aujourd'hui.
Viendez boire du thé, du café, manger plein de bonnes choses, vous informez, préparer des actions, des diffusions, des ateliers, ...
Bises!"; and 18.01.2011: "Action mardi 18 - 14h au campement.
Salut à tout le monde,
l'action de mardi portera sur la vidéo surveillance!!!
Venez dès 10 pour préparer les accessoires avec nous, ou pour tout le reste!
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiises...
l'analyse du CLEJ et du SYNDICAT DE LA MAGISTRATURE:
LOPPSI II - Synthese en 24 points."
In a e-mail titled 'Action 22-01 à partir de 12h au monument de la résistance"sent 21.01.2011 to IWW and its French section, activists are urged to use the official e-mail address of the anti-LOPPSI campaign, toulouse@antiloppsi2.net, and not action_mobilisation_a@hotmail.fr in the future. A leaflet named Changer les choses - Make a difference (in French) was added as
a Word-file attachment, and the message in the e-mail was the following: Attention voici la boîte mail officielle, qui remplace action mobilisation! -
Par ailleurs, nous demandons des communiqués de soutien face à
l'augmentation des coups de fils à la mairie de quartier quant à la
"légitimité"de notre campement... la mairie est cependant favorable à
notre mouvement sur le fond, le maire l'a d'ailleurs publiquement
déclaré en conseil municipal.
Sinon, le planning devient de plus en plus dense, avec concerts au camp dès demain aprem !!!
@ demain!
APPEL A RASSEMBLEMENT -
Samedi 22 janvier 2011 à 12h00
au monument de la Résistance en association avec le
CNR (Conseil National de la Résistance).
Communiqué du CNR Midi Pyrénées «Nous prenons acte le 17 janvier 2011 de l'installation du campement
à Toulouse pour protester contre l'adoption à l'assemblée nationale de
la LOPPSI 2 (Loi d'Orientation et de Programmation pour la Performance
de la Sécurité Intérieure).
A force de stigmatisations le gouvernement actuel accentue les
inégalités grandissantes entre nos concitoyens.
Il remet dangereusement en question les principes fondateurs de notre
république que sont la liberté, l'égalité et la fraternité. Cette loi est liberticide et destructrice de nos valeurs républicaines.
Depuis ces 30 dernières années nos dirigeants ne cessent de rogner sur
les libertés sans que cela ne profite pour autant au «bien être du
Peuple et au développement du bien commun».
Malgré les nombreuses protestations collectives et individuelles désormais quotidiennes, ils organisent à leur profit la précarité et
le contrôle social de la population au détriment de l'intérêt général
et du bien être de l'humanité.
Par cet arsenal législatif sécuritaire il participe à la destruction
des idéaux du programme du CNR de 44: «les jours heureux» qui
faisait notre «liant social» jusqu'alors.
Pour défendre ces idéaux gravement menacés et construire une
alternative politique à la hauteur des enjeux actuels, nous appelons
le peuple à rejoindre la résistance.
Pour cela, nous vous invitons localement à rejoindre le campement de
Toulouse à la prairie des Filtres. Nous invitons les organisations syndicales, politiques, associatives,
les collectifs à se rencontrer pour coordonner leurs actions et
implanter d'autres campements sur le territoire national.
Nous invitons tous les résistants à prendre contact avec le
correspondant du CNR le plus proche de chez vous pour organiser de
manière concertée la solidarité et défendre ainsi les valeurs
humanistes et démocratiques du programme du CNR de 44.
Nous appelons chacun-e qui se reconnaît dans ces valeurs à rejoindre
la résistance.»
Tous les occupants du camp se joignent à cet appel et viendront
nombreux au monument de la résistance. Nous appelons l'ensemble de la
population à faire de même. «Créer c'est résister. Résister, c'est créer -
FAITES DE LA RESISTANCE!» Dimanche 23 janvier: 15h30 débat public loppsi2; convergence des
luttes au campement. The fight against Big Brother security laws in France continues... Follow the updates regarding this direct action at http://toulouse.antiloppsi2.net.
28.04.2011. International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers! Joint IWW, ITUC, AIT/IWA resolutions. Gathering in Bordeaux arranged by IWW's French fellows CNT/AIT.
International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, April 28, has been organized worldwide by workers' confederations and the labor movement in general since 1996. This year International Workers of the World joins the resolutions of our fellows in the France, CNT-AIT/IWA and ITUC in this connection. There is also a gathering in
Bordeaux arranged by the local union of the French CNT-AIT/IWA. Our fellows in CNT has also sent the IWW-secretariate a pdf-version of the resolution, see Tract28Avril - Click here! CNT's resolution and gathering are also a part of the general struggle against the unenlightened plutarchy and for Anarchy world wide, and of course in France. CNT's resolution and call for action, translated by IWW, are the following:
ACCIDENTS = TERRORISM BY EMPLOYERS
As recalled by the ILO "the numbers of accidents are higher than the numbers of wounded and dead of contemporary wars."Work kills more people than wars: 6000 people per day worldwide. About 270 million occupational accidents worldwide are recorded each year of which 350 000 are fatal. "The work injures, maims, sickens and, too often kills. The International Labour Office estimates that each year more than 2 million people are killed at work. The organization's experts say the statistics are well below the reality, given the lack of information and reports in many countries."- Quote of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). For France, official figures for 2008 are 703 976 accidents resulting in absence from work for employees, and 44,037 of those accidents resulted in permanent disability. However, the most terrible of these data is 569 deaths. These figures are understated because all workplace accidents are not taken into account, in particular those relating to agriculture. Each accident preventable and almost all are an attack against the working class. We consider that we are going through a real war against our class led to their greatest advantage, by employers with the cooperation of States.
April 28 is the international day of victims by work of labor on which the AIT/IWA (including its French section of CNT-AIT) participates.
RETIREMENT = ALSO TERRORISM!
Having built the precariousness as a rule, with its accompanying misery and death, intensified after work, after forcing workers to work more for more pets rats, we have to work longer. They want us to toil until death this garbage, not to lose their advantage on our sweat! "Work longer or you 'll have a miserable retirement"they say, here it is their claim to these terrorist killers of MEDEF, government and elsewhere! They cite the words of experts, economists and even trade unionists, parasites that are only good at explaining why they were wrong ...
TERRORISM AND ECONOMIC STATUS: ANARCHY AS AIM
So back to the old methods that work: direct action, the management of the struggles by those who takes them, and revocable the specific mandates entrusted by the general assembly. The anti-authoritarianism.
So does the AIT/IWA and its French section, the CNT-AIT who lay claim to the anarcho-syndicalism.
For let us never forget: more work means less time for our life. Less time to spend with loved ones, less time to think, act, learn, share. There are other social organizations possible that would achieve universal opulence in freedom, equality and fraternity, by bringing the work to its rightful and essential place:
FROM EACH ACCORDING TO ABILITY/CAPACITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS! THE BOSSES NEEDS YOU BUT YOU, YOU DON'T NOT NEED THEM.
Call to rally for International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers.
WORK KILLS MORE PEOPLE THAN WARS!
To mark the International Day of Commemoration of Dead and Injured Workers, the Local Union at Bordeaux of the CNT-AIT/IWA invites all injured and all who wish to come and express their anger at the actual war waged against our class by bosses and states.
THE WORK: THE BOSSES ARE LIVING - THE EMPLOYEES ARE DYING .
Every day, worldwide, thousands of workers are dying in complete anonymity for poverty wages while bosses, with murderous power, always put more in their pockets. With the ever more infernal pace that we are facing in the race for profits, they have their banknotes while we count our dead!
WE WILL NO LONGER DIE FOR CAPITALISM/ECONOMICAL PLUTARCHY!
GATHERING: Thursday, April 28 at 18:30. Before the commemorative plate fixed on the House of Ecocitizen, Quai Richelieu, Bordeaux.
CNT-AIT - Union Local Bordeaux
ACCIDENTS DU TRAVAIL = TERRORISME PATRONAL
Comme le rappelle l'OIT «les chiffres des accidents du travail sont supérieurs aux nombres de blessés et de morts des guerres contemporaines.»
Le travail tue plus que les guerres: 6 000 personnes par jour dans le monde. Près de 270 millions d'accidents du travail à travers le monde sont enregistrés chaque année dont 350 000 sont mortels. «Le travail blesse, mutile, rend malade et, encore trop souvent, tue. Le Bureau International du Travail estime que chaque année plus de 2 millions de personnes trouvent la mort au travail. Les experts de l'Organisation disent que les statistiques sont bien en deçà de la réalité, notant la carence d'information et de rapports dans bien des pays » - Citation de l'Organisation Internationale du Travail (OIT). Pour la France, les chiffres officiels pour l'année 2008 sont de 703 976 accidents de travail ayant entraîné un arrêt de travail pour les salariés, et 44 037 de ces accidents ont conduit à une invalidité permanente. Cependant, la plus terrible des données reste ces 569 décès.
Ces chiffres sont sous-évalués car tous les accidents de travail ne sont pas pris en compte, notamment ceux relevant de l'agriculture. Chaque accident du travail évitable -et presque tous le sont- est une attaque contre la classe des travailleurs.
Nous considérons que nous sommes en train de vivre une véritable guerre contre notre classe menée, pour leur plus grand profit, par les patrons avec la collaboration des États.
Le 28 avril est la journée internationale des travailleurs victimes du travail à laquelle l'AIT (dont sa section française la CNT-AIT) participe.
LA RETRAITE = ENCORE DU TERRORISME!
Après avoir érigée la précarité comme règle, avec son cortège de misères et de morts, après avoir intensifié le travail, après avoir obligé les travailleurs à travailler plus pour plus de pets de rats, nous sommes obligés de travailler plus longtemps. Ils veulent nous faire trimer jusqu'à la mort ces ordures, pour ne rien perdre de leur profit sur notre sueur ! « Travaillez plus longtemps ou vous aurez une retraite de miséreux » qu'ils disent, la voilà leur revendication terroriste à ces assassins du MEDEF, du gouvernement et d'ailleurs ! Ils citent des paroles d'experts, économistes voire syndicalistes, parasites qui ne sont bons qu'à expliquer pourquoi ils se sont trompés
CONTRE LE TERRORISME ÉCONOMIQUE ET D'ÉTAT : L'ANARCHIE COMME BUT
Revenons donc aux bonnes vieilles méthodes qui marchent : l'action directe, la gestion des luttes par ceux qui les mènent, les mandats précis et révocables confiés par des assemblées générales. L'anti-autoritarisme.
C'est ce que propose l'AIT et sa section française, la CNT-AIT qui se revendiquent de l'anarchosyndicalisme.
Car n'oublions jamais : davantage de travail, c'est moins de temps pour sa vie. Moins de temps à consacrer à ceux qu'on aime, moins de temps pour réfléchir, pour agir, découvrir, apprendre, partager. Il y a d'autres organisations sociales possibles qui permettraient d'obtenir une opulence universelle dans la liberté, l'égalité et la fraternité, en mettant le travail à sa juste et indispensable place :
DE CHACUN SELON SES MOYENS, À CHACUN SELON SES BESOINS ! LE PATRON A BESOIN DE TOI, MAIS TOI, TU N'AS PAS BESOIN DE LUI.
Appel à rassemblement pour la Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleurs morts et blessés au travail.
LE TRAVAIL TUE PLUS QUE LES GUERRES!
À l'occasion de la journée internationale de commémoration des travailleurs morts et blessés au travail, l'Union Locale de Bordeaux de la CNT-AIT invite toutes celles et tous ceux qui le désirent à venir exprimer leur colère face à cette véritable guerre que mènent patrons et états contre notre classe.
LE TRAVAIL: LES PATRONS EN VIVENT, LES SALARIÉS EN CRÈVENT.
Tous les jours, partout dans le monde, des milliers de travailleurs crèvent dans l'anonymat le plus complet pour des salaires de misère pendant que les patrons, meurtriers en puissance, s'en mettent toujours plus dans les poches. Avec les cadences toujours plus infernales que nous impose la course au profit, ils comptent leurs billets pendant qu'on compte nos morts!
NOUS NE VOULONS PLUS MOURIR POUR LE CAPITALISME!
RASSEMBLEMENT LE JEUDI 28 AVRIL à 18h30
Devant la plaque commémorative fixée sur la Maison Ecocitoyenne, quai Richelieu.
CNT-AIT Union Locale de Bordeaux
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION- ITUC: April 28: Anti-regulation agenda of business groups threatens health and safety at work.
International trade unions are warning of the potentially devastating effect of business lobbying to weaken protection for worker's health and safety as workers across the world take part in the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers today. "Business groups and companies in a succession of countries, including some of the world's largest economies, are pushing to reduce protection from hazards at work. If they succeed, more lives will be lost and the toll of work-related injury and illness will increase. Trade unions are challenging the rigged statistics and bogus arguments that are being put forward by business interests that care more about profit than the lives of the people who work for them,"said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
"Consider the devastation wrought a year ago by the Deepwater Horizon disaster,"added Burrow. "Eleven lives lost, environmental devastation and economic costs to the economy in the billions - all down to an appalling disregard for safety aided and abetted by an absence of effective regulation and official oversight. Lessons from this and other disasters like the Fukushima complex in Japan show how critically important regulation and enforcement is. Added to this, 'slow burn' disasters like asbestos mean today's failures to regulate can have a deadly legacy spanning two generations and killing millions."
While accidents at work kill hundreds of thousands each year, this total is dwarfed by the number of deaths from occupational diseases such as work-related cancers. The World Health Organisation estimates the annual toll from asbestos-related diseases alone at 107,000 deaths a year.
"There is plenty of evidence to show the importance and value of proper regulation and enforcement. Lives are saved, and the huge economic costs of occupational accidents and disease are reduced. Studies indicate that possibly more than 20 per cent of major killers worldwide, including cancers, heart and respiratory disease, are related to work. All these are preventable,"said Burrow.
The ITUC focus for International Workers' Memorial Day is on the crucial role played by trade unions, strong regulation and effective enforcement in securing safer workplaces."Harnessing the on-the-ground knowledge of workers, backed by their unions, is crucial for preventing death and illness. Protection, including through respect for workers' rights to trade union representation, should be expanded and not curtailed in an outbreak of deregulatory fever. Removing or weakening regulations, and depriving workers of union protection costs lives. We need to focus on the burden that poor protection places on families and the public purse - not on some imaginary 'regulatory burden' on business,"Burrow concluded.
To hear the April 28 RadioLabour interview with the ITUC's Anabella Rosemberg: Radiolabour: Rosemberg 28.04.2011.
The ITUC represents 175 million workers in 151 countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates.
Ad the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10, 06 & 23.11 & 15.10.2010 and more: Join in the international world wide solidarity direct action!!! See the report of 19.10.2010
06.05.2012.
New president in France. Socialist François Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy to become France's next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world. Sarkozy conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, saying he had called Hollande to wish him "good luck"as the country's new leader. Exuberant crowds filled the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution, to celebrate Hollande's victory. He will be France's first leftist chief of state since François Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995. No significant changes in the system's fundamental parameters are expected, see table above in the Introduction.
31.03.2016. Hundreds of thousands of workers and students took to the streets of French cities on Thursday 31.03.2016, braving heavy rain to protest against proposed labour changes. The demonstrations - which led to scores of arrests as youths and police clashed in a number of cities - were part of a nationwide strike against changes that could alter France's 35-hour working week and make it easier to hire and fire employees. Official figures said 390,000 people took part in the protests, while unions put the figure at 1.2 million. The IWW supports the protest, but condemns the ochlarchy.
28.04.2016. Ochlarchy in France. Twenty-four police officers have been injured, three of them seriously, during protests against a proposed labour law change in France. More than 100 protesters were arrested as tens of thousands gathered on the streets of major cities. Some burned tyres and threw bottles and stones at police. The IWW supports the protest, but condemns the ochlarchy.
01.05.2016. More ochlarchy in France. Clashes have broken out between French police and demonstrators during a May Day parade in Paris. Trade unions used the traditional march to protest against a proposed labour law to be discussed by parliament. Police responded with tear gas when youths began throwing missiles, bringing the march to a standstill. France has seen two months of unrest over the reforms. Several police officers were injured during countrywide protests on Thursday. The proposed law, to be debated in parliament on Tuesday, would remove some of the protection workers enjoy against being laid off, in an attempt to encourage businesses to hire more people. The socialist government says its aim is to combat chronic unemployment, but opponents say it will let employers bypass workers' rights on pay, rest time and overtime rates. The IWW supports the protest, but condemns the ochlarchy.
10-11.05.2016. Even more ochlarchy in France. Fierce protests have broken out across France after the government forced through controversial labour reforms. Nantes saw clashes between protesters and security forces. In Paris police fired rubber pellets on demonstrators outside the National Assembly. Earlier, the cabinet approved using special powers to pass the changes without parliamentary approval. The government says the reforms are essential to help cut high levels of unemployment. The changes make it easier for employers to hire and fire but opponents fear they will also enable employers to bypass workers' rights on pay, overtime and breaks. President Francois Hollande has faced months of resistance to the bill from students, unions and even members of his own Socialist Party. The IWW supports the protest, but condemns the ochlarchy.
26.05.2016. Continued ochlarchy in France. France has been hit by another day of strikes and protests against controversial labour reforms. Public transport, oil refineries and fuel supplies, nuclear power stations, all continued to be disrupted on Thursday. The state rail company SNCF said fewer trains were affected than during a similar strike last week. Estimates for the number of protesters on the streets mirrored the gap between the government and its opponents: 19,000 in Paris said the authorities; 100,000 was the unions’ figure. Prime Minister Manuel Valls has insisted the government will not withdrawn the law and will break up the blockades. He has hinted there could be some tweaks to the reforms but not on any of its key measures. The government hopes that giving companies more flexibility over rigid employment regulations – in areas such as overtime pay, leave and the 35-hour week – will encourage firms to recruit, reducing high unemployment. It has been described as President Hollande’s last throw of the dice before next year’s elections. Opponents doubt the changes will bring the required employment boost and fear more job insecurity. Six unions back the communist CGT, the main union organising the protests.
Several more arrests were reported as again clashes broke out in Paris and other cities. The IWW supports the protest, but condemns the ochlarchy.
15.09.2016. Soon end of ochlarchy in France? Unions in France have vowed to keep fighting the country’s new labour law, but admitted on Thursday that dwindling support meant months of street protests were now ending. In the French capital, around 40,000 people rallied according to the hardline communist CGT union. The strike was part of a day of nationwide action against the now adopted legislation. In addition to Paris, Marseille and several other French cities saw protests. The new law, forced through parliament in July, aims to help France’s rigid labour market become more flexible by making it easier for firms to hire and fire. But Unions say it damages hard-won worker rights. While the demonstrations generally passed off peacefully, in the western city of Nantes sporadic violence broke out between some protesters and riot police. Despite fading support for street action, union leaders say they intend to challenge so called application decrees – documents which will spell out exactly how the new labour law applies on the ground. The IWW supports the protest, but condemns the ochlarchy.
23.04.2017. Ad French Presidential election. No to Le Pen, vote for Macron on 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority 23.04.2017, a run-off election between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! and Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN), will be held on 7 May 2017. Update 08.05.2017. Macron won with a large margin...
12.09.2017. Riot police clashed with hooded youths (ochlarchists) on the fringe of a protest in central Paris against French President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms to loosen labour regulations. Police fired water canons and could be seen dragging several demonstrators behind their lines. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy and the ochlarchists. In the first big test of Emmanuel Macron's presidency, protests have begun in cities across France against changes to the country's labour laws. Some 4,000 strikes have been called too, but two of the biggest unions have distanced themselves from the action. Marches were due in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes and the other main cities. However, President Macron missed the disruption, as he travelled to the Caribbean, to see the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma.
10.10.2017. Millions of public sector workers in France are taking part in a nationwide one-day strike in protest at President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms. The action has closed schools and disrupted train services and about a third of flights have been cancelled. The French government plans to cut 120,000 public sector jobs in France over the next five years. Last month, thousands of people demonstrated in Paris at Mr Macron's overhaul of France's labour laws.
26.05.2018. Tens of thousands of people have again protested across France over President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms. In Paris there were around forty arrests after protesters, marxist ochlarchists, clashed with police. The protests were called by 60 unions, political parties and associations. One union put the turnout at around eighty thousand whilst the police estimated twenty one thousand. But however large the protests Macron says he won't be surrender. And some of his reforms - such as getting rid of job-for-life contracts at the state owned SNCF railways - are supported by most of France, polls reveal. Also on Saturday 26.05.2018 in Lyon, an anti-Macron protest, with some anarchists and many others, merged peacefully with an anti-Nazi one, and no arrests were reported. Unions representing nearly six million public sector workers held strikes last week and more are expected.
01.12.2018. Paris turns into battle ground in "Yellow Vest"protest. Brown Card to Al Jazeera for falsely reporting that "anarchists"were rioting in Paris. Bins were set on fire and tear gas was fired in Paris on Saturday 01.12.2018 as the “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests) movement started their third weekend of nationwide unrest. Police said more than 265 people were arrested and almost 100 were injured in the French capital as protesters burned cars, smashed shop windows, looted, and hurled projectiles at riot police. Protesters sat down under the Arc de Triomphe and sang the national anthem La Marseillaise and chanted for French President Emmanuel Macron to resign.
Police fired stun grenades, tear gas, and water cannon at the Champs-Elysees boulevard and multiple sites across the city including Opera and Place de la Bastille, while shops such as Chanel, Dior, and Apple were targeted. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe condemned the "great violence"and told reporters he was "shocked by the attacks on the symbols of France". Saturday 01.12.2018 marks the third weekend of national protests by "Yellow Vest"activists who want President Emmanuel Macron to reverse his decision to increase environmental taxes on fuel. The nationwide movement has been ongoing for more than two weeks with protesters setting up road blockages throughout the country, significantly slowing down traffic and the delivery of goods. There is no political group affiliated to the movement, despite fears that far-right and far-left movements would try to infiltrate. Despite widespread public support for "yellow vests"— who take their name from the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France must carry in their vehicles — Macron is holding firm. His approval rating has tumbled to just 26%, according to a recent Ipsos poll. Macron has been dubbed the "President of the rich"and out of touch with working-class voters.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Argentina, Macron said that the violence and vandalism in Paris could not be justified and had nothing to do with a peaceful expression of legitimate anger. “No cause justifies that security forces are attacked, shops pillaged, public or private buildings set on fire, pedestrians or journalists threatened or that the Arc de Triomphe is sullied,” he said. The “gilets jaunes” protests spread across the country, from Charleville Mezieres in the northeast to Marseille in the south. 02.12.2018 Al Jazeera falsely reported that the riots were done by "anarchists", and Al Jazeera gets a Brown Card from IAT-APT for this false reporting and breaking of the Oslo Convention. Later Paris police said 412 people were arrested on Saturday during the worst clashes for years in the capital and 378 remained in custody. A total of 263 people were injured nationwide, with 133 injured in the capital, including 23 members of the security forces. Overnight a motorist died after crashing a van into traffic which had built up due to a "yellow vest"demo in Arles, southern France, a local prosecutor said Sunday 02.12.2018. Three people have now died in incidents linked to the protests.
The anarchists condemn the violence and ochlarchy. Ad so called "anarchist"rioters in Paris ... The so called "anarchists"are in reality marxist ochlarchists... It is a fact that socialists (anti-capitalists) are divided in two camps, marxists and anarchists. It is also a fact that all authoritarian socialists are marxists, not anarchists. It is a fact that ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined) is authoritarian. Thus it is a fact that anti-capitalist (socialist) ochlarchists are marxists, not anarchists, regardless of what they may call themselves or flag. The media and other persons should always report the facts in such cases, not falsely calling anti-capitalist ochlarchists anarchists.
04.12.2018. France will suspend controversial fuel tax increases that have sparked weeks of demonstrations by the 'gilets jaunes' (yellow vests) movement. The u-turn, announced by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday 04.12.2018 afternoon, follows a weekend of violent protests in Paris that led to hundreds of arrests and more than 100 people injured. "We must change something", said Philippe — as he confirmed the government will suspend the increase of fuel taxes for six months. Benjamin Cauchy, one of the key figures of the “gilet jaunes” movement, said the move was a first step. But, he added, the French don’t want crumbs “they want the whole baguette”. Cauchy also called for a new redistribution of wealth in France and regular referendums on key societal issues. Others from the movement were more critical. Laetitia Dewall, a spokeswoman for the “gilet jaunes” from a region north of Paris, said the six-month moratorium “was peanuts”.
05.12.2018. French government to abandon fuel tax hike previously suspended for six months. The French government has fully abandoned the fuel tax hike that was previously suspended for six months. The increase in fuel tax has been heavily protested by the "Yellow Vest"movement for the last three weeks. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told lawmakers on Wednesday 05.12.2018: "The government is ready for dialogue and is showing it because this tax increase has been dropped from the 2019 budget bill". However, the Prime Minister did not make clear if the increased fuel tax would be added to the 2019 budget at a later date.
06.12.2018. France boosts security amid fear of new 'yellow vest' protest riots. Officials warned that "major violence"could hit Paris as "yellow vest"protesters plan to gather again this weekend. Teens have also blocked hundreds of schools, while several unions called for solidarity strikes. The political crisis engulfing French President Emmanuel Macron's government showed no signs of abating on Thursday 06.12.2018, as public anger continues to grow despite the scrapping of a controversial fuel tax hike. Authorities across France are bracing for another weekend of "yellow vest"protests. Three weeks of protests have led to four deaths and left hundreds injured.
Some 89,000 security personnel will be deployed across the country on Saturday 08.12.2018 ahead of the fourth weekend of planned rallies, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Thursday 06.12.2018. About 8,000 officers will be in Paris where armored vehicles will be on the streets for the first time since 2005 when riots broke out in the capital's suburbs. "We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means to not give them a free rein,"Philippe said during an interview on TF1 national evening news.
Authorities are concerned that far-right and far-left agitators are hijacking the protests to incite further violence. One French presidential source told news agency AFP that they fear "major violence"could hit the capital this weekend. Shops and restaurants on the Champs-Elysees were urged to close this weekend over concerns of renewed rioting, according to notices seen by the AFP. The Eiffel Tower will also be closed on Saturday 08.12.2018. Half of this weekend's scheduled French league football matches have been canceled due to security concerns.
Teens protest education reforms. On Thursday 06.12.2018, students blocked some 200 French high schools to protest education reforms. They demanded an end to testing overhauls and a controversial new online platform for allocating university placements, local media reported. Some of the protests grew violent, with masked demonstrators throwing Molotov cocktails and setting fire to trash cans. A car was also set on fire in the western city of Nantes.
Although the "yellow vests"do not have formal leaders and are not affiliated with any labor union or political party, several French unions have called for strikes to coincide with the demonstrations. The CGT trade union called on its energy workers to stage a 48-hour walkout on December 13, adding that they wanted to join the "yellow vests." France's main farmers' union said on Wednesday 05.12.2018 that its members would stage demonstrations every day next week. Two truck driver unions also called for an indefinite sympathy strike starting from Sunday night. The anarcho-syndicalist International Workers of the World supports the strikes.
07.12.2018. Yellow vests: France protests 'created a monster', says minister. Anti-government protests in France have "created a monster", France's Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has said. And he is warning that "radical elements"could infiltrate planned "yellow vest"protests at the weekend. The protests were initially against a rise in environmental fuel taxes but have spread to take in other issues, including education reforms. Some of their demands now include a return of the tax on wealth, an increase of the minimum wage and higher taxes for multinationals. Mr Castaner said "large-scale security measures"would be put in place this weekend. As mentioned across France, 89,000 police officers will be on duty and armoured vehicles will be deployed in the capital, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced. The government has said it is scrapping the unpopular fuel tax increases in its budget - but discontent with the government has spread and protests have erupted over other issues.
Further protests have been reported in the east of country. One student has been injured following a demonstration in the town of Montbéliard, about 13km from the border with Switzerland, local media report. A police officer was seriously injured at a student protest in Mulhouse, according to French broadcaster BFMTV. The AFP news agency reports that authorities seized 28 Molotov cocktails and 3 homemade bombs from "yellow vest"protesters in the south of the country. There has also been widespread anger at images showing how police made high school students kneel and put their hands behind their heads following clashes on Thursday 06.12.2018 in Mantes-la-Jolie, to the west of Paris. On Friday 07.12.2018, hundreds of students in Paris took to the streets a day early as a preview of Saturday’s protests after footage emerged of students on their knees in front of police with hands tied. The students in Paris climbed on the statue of Marianne, representing liberty and reason, with some also defacing the monument with anti-Macron slogans.
What has the government said? Mr Castaner told reporters that the past three weeks of demonstrations had "created a monster that escaped from its creators."He said authorities would respond with "firmness". He went on: "I will have no tolerance of those who capitalize on the distress of our citizens."An official with the interior ministry told AFP news agency authorities were braced for "significant violence"on Saturday, with activists from both the far right and far left planning to converge on the capital. In an interview with TV channel TF1, Mr Philippe, the Prime Minister, said 8,000 police would be deployed in Paris as well as a dozen armoured vehicles. He repeated an appeal for calm but added: "We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means not to give them a free rein."Earlier, Mr Philippe suggested there might be further concessions to protesters, telling the Senate that the government was open to new measures to help the lowest-paid workers. Last week, the movement - despite a lack of central leadership - issued more than 40 demands to government. Among them were a minimum pension, widespread changes to the tax system, and a reduction in the retirement age. Macron’s eco-agenda as a whole is far from over: “The citizen and parliamentary debate of the coming weeks and months will have to find solutions and funding that will meet the challenges of the ecological transition, solutions that must preserve the purchasing power of our fellow citizens.”
Who are the Yellow vests? It began as a movement among a few people in lower middle-class rural France protesting a new eco-tax on fuel they felt would push their budgets over the edge. But as France locks down in preparation for a possible fourth weekend of violent protests, the movement of "gilet jaunes,"as mentioned named after the yellow high-visibility jackets French motorists must carry in their vehicles, has morphed into a movement of many political tendencies, also with extremist groups as marxist ochlarchists and right wing extremists jumping on the bandwagon. The demands have also expanded, with even students taking part, calling for changes to the French high school examinations and university entrance procedures. Also among the protesters are anarchists, elements of the anti-immigration populists and hard-core fascists. There are even groups on social media claiming to be environmental "yellow jackets,"a direct contradiction of the original protesters' demands to scrap a new eco-tax. Ad the situation in France - Anarchists are the progressive middle, not far left or right in politics - and not extremists!
08.12.2018. Yellow vest movement: France braced for 'ultra-violent' protests. France is braced for renewed anti-government protests, as mentioned with nearly 90,000 security personnel on the streets. Some 8,000 officers and 12 armoured vehicles will be deployed in Paris alone, where shops have been boarded up and sites like the Eiffel Tower closed. The "yellow vest"movement began three weeks ago in opposition to a rise in fuel tax but ministers say it has been hijacked by "ultra-violent"protesters. Last week saw hundreds arrested and scores injured in violence in Paris. They were some of the worst street clashes seen in the capital for decades.
What is likely this weekend? The authorities are certainly not underestimating the threat. There were 65,000 security officers across the country last weekend and that has been increased to 89,000, even though Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he expected fewer protesters than last weekend, perhaps about 10,000 nationwide. He said: "10,000 is not the people, it's not France."The security forces will want to prevent a repeat in the capital, where the Arc de Triomphe was vandalised, police were attacked and cars overturned and burned last weekend. Mr Castaner has vowed "zero tolerance"towards violence. He said: "According to the information we have, some radicalized and rebellious people will try to get mobilized. Some ultra-violent people want to take part."The barricade-smashing armoured vehicles have not been seen in the Paris area since riots erupted in poor suburbs in 2005.
Early in the morning the Yellow vests demonstrators are preparing street protests, gathering around France... Hundreds detained in Paris as France braces for new anti-Macron riots. Paris police detained nearly 300 people Saturday morning ahead of fresh anti-government "yellow vest"protests which authorities fear could turn violent. Clad in their luminous road safety jackets, dozens of demonstrators -- who accuse President Emmanuel Macron of only looking out for the rich -- gathered at dawn on the Champs-Elysees, the scene last Saturday of the worst rioting in Paris for decades. "We had to come to Paris to be heard,"said protester Herve Benoit, arriving with three friends from the Dordogne in western France. He called on the government to boost people's spending power and increase taxes on the wealthiest. By 8.40 am (0740 GMT) police had already detained 278 people. Some 8,000 police were deployed, carrying out checks on people arriving at train stations and at protest hotspots such as the Champs-Elysees and Bastille monument. A source close to the operation told AFP that at least 34 people were arrested for carrying masks, hammers, slingshots and rocks that could be used to attack police. Paris streets appear to be quieter than on previous Saturdays. About 1,000 people gathered on the Champs-Elysées and marched a short distance to a police cordon where they stopped. There have been a few confrontations, but unlike last week no tear gas and no fighting yet.
At noon about 5,000 people gathered on the Champs-Elysées and marched a short distance to a police cordon where they stopped. There have been a few confrontations, with police firing tear gas at protesters in a side street as tensions flared. Meanwhile on the outskirts of Paris, protesters blocked Porte Maillot, one of the main access points. Attempts have also been made to block the outer ring road. More hotspots are possible on the periphery, where it is harder for police to filter protesters. Police have already detained 481 people in Paris, with 211 held in custody. Al-Jazeera falsely reports: “Violence and anarchy. Authorities say the protests have been hijacked by ... anarchist elements bent on violence and stirring up social unrest, in a direct affront to Macron and the security forces. An Elysee official has said intelligence suggested that some protesters would come to the capital "to vandalise and to kill",” mixing up anarchists with marxist ochlarchists, and the International Anarchist Tribunal (IAT-APT) hands out a Brown Card to Al-Jazeera for this false reporting and breaking of the Oslo Convention.
Laurent Nunez, a junior interior minister, said 31,000 people were taking part in Saturday's demonstrations, of which 8,000 were in or around Paris. As mentioned up to 5,000 are on the Champs-Elysées. The ministry said similar protests last Saturday drew 136,000 people countrywide. There have been a few confrontations, with police firing tear gas at protesters. Bins have been set on fire on the Champs-Elysées and water cannon deployed on a street east of the city centre. TV pictures have shown what appear to be far-right groups setting up barricades, and there are reports of a tense standoff near the Arc de Triomphe involving marxist ochlarchists, falsely called "anarchists"by some of the media. Demonstrations are being held in several other cities including Lyon, Marseille and Grenoble, where a local leader of the yellow vests is reported to have been arrested. They have even spread to Belgium. Police estimate around 1,000 protesters faced riot squads that used water cannons and tear gas in an attempt to deter them from European Union and government buildings. A spokesperson from Brussel's police said about 400 were detained mainly for the possession of objects such as fireworks. In the Netherlands, a protest was held outside parliament in The Hague, with an estimated 100 participants. Protests against climate change are also expected in some French cities including Paris.
Different police tactics. At the top end of the Champs-Elysées, near the Arc de Triomphe, there are sporadic upsurges of tension, when riot police move out from their positions to retake ground and push back the more aggressive of the protesters. There are occasional projectiles being thrown at the police, and some tear gas - but so far the disorder is contained, and nothing like on the scale of last Saturday. The police are using different tactics - they're much more mobile and are using snatch squads to seize identified troublemakers. As the day moves on, the government must be hoping that this comparatively restrained level of trouble remains the norm. Police have stopped more than 500 people in Paris, of whom at least 272 are in custody. Many of the arrested have been of people journeying to, rather than at, the scene of the protests - and found to be carrying projectiles. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the numbers of arrests were greater than during the whole of the previous weekend. "We will ensure that the rest of Saturday unfolds in the best possible conditions,"he said. Officers fired rubber bullets and hundreds of canisters of tear gas at the demonstrators, some of whom had set several vehicles on fire. At least 30 people were reported wounded, including three police officers.
In the afternoon tear gas, mass arrests as new Yellow Vest protests spread in Paris. Paris police detained nearly 700 people as fresh anti-government Yellow Vest protests hit the capital, with similar protests taking place all over France. There have been a number of confrontations in Paris. Some protesters have been seen smashing shop fronts, painting walls with graffiti and setting fire to cars. Video footage showed one demonstrator being hit in the torso with a rubber bullet while standing in front of a line of police with his hands up. At least three members of the press were also hit. The situation remains tense on the Champs-Élysées - where the daytime action was centred - and a high level of tear gas is still in the air. 'Green vests': Paris climate marchers spot overlap with 'yellow' comrades. Several thousand people demonstrated in Paris on Saturday in a “March for the Climate” largely overshadowed by violent clashes taking place elsewhere in the French capital. “Yellow vests, green vests, we are all angry”, the Paris crowd chanted. As the sun set, different groups of protesters were converging on Place de la République.
In the evening police restore calm to Paris's Champs-Élysées after the day's Yellow Vest protests. At least 55 people have been injured, including three police officers. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said 135 people were wounded in Saturday's protests across France, including 17 police officers and 118 protesters. Castaner said 1,385 people were taken in for questioning and 974 were in custody. Some 125,000 joined in Saturday's protests across France, the interior minister said, with about 10,000 in Paris.
09.12.2018. Yellow vest protests: France's Édouard Philippe seeks 'unity' after unrest. French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has vowed to "restore national unity"after violence broke out during a fourth consecutive weekend of protests. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday - the latest day of "yellow vest"demonstrations against environmental fuel tax rises and high living costs. Discussions with peaceful protesters "must continue", Mr Philippe said. He added: "No tax should jeopardise our national unity. We must now rebuild that national unity through dialogue, through work, and by coming together."He said President Emmanuel Macron - who many protesters want to stand down - would soon "put forward measures to foster this dialogue". French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner praised police - who had been deployed in force - for containing much of the unrest.
Protest timeline:
- 17 November: 282,000 protesters - one dead, 409 wounded - 73 in custody
- 24 November: 166,000 protesters - 84 wounded - 307 in custody
- 1 December: 136,000 protesters - 263 wounded - 630 in custody
- 8 December : 125,000 protesters - 118 wounded - 974 in custody
What next for Macron: The French government is relieved that its worst forebodings about the protests did not come to pass. There was certainly some violence in Paris, but it was not on the scale of the week before. The new tactics of the police - record numbers of officers deployed, moving quickly to occupy the ground and not hesitating to make arrests - paid off. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the escalation of violence had been stopped. It is a relief for President Macron - but not much more. He must know that the moment will be thrown away if he does not move in quickly now with ideas that go some way to satisfying the more moderate of the yellow vests. The time is for dialogue, the government says, and the president will make an address to the nation early this week. The question is will he give the protesters what they want, which is something very simple: more money in their pockets. Does he think France can afford to economically?
Brown Cards to the French government and France 24. 09.12.2018 France 24 reports: "The [French] government had vowed "zero tolerance"for anarchist, far-right or other trouble-makers [ochlarchists] seeking to wreak further havoc at protests that have sparked the deepest crisis of Macron's presidency."Ad so called "anarchist trouble-makers"i n France. The so called "anarchist trouble-makers"are in reality marxist ochlarchists. It is a fact that socialists are divided in two camps, marxists and anarchists. It is also a fact that all authoritarian socialists are marxists, not anarchists. It is a fact that ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined) is authoritarian. Thus it is a fact that socialist ochlarchists are marxists, not anarchists, regardless of what they may call themselves or flag. The media and other persons should always report the facts in such cases, not falsely calling marxist ochlarchists anarchists. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy. The French government and France 24 are mixing up anarchists with marxist ochlarchists, and the International Anarchist Tribunal (IAT-APT) hands out Brown Cards to the French government and France 24 for this false statement and breaking of the Oslo Convention.
The gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protests will have an “important impact” on the French economy, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire told Euronews on Sunday 09.12.2018. “I’m not in a situation to make a clear assessment of the level of impact but I can tell you it will be an important one on the attractiveness of France,” he told Euronews’ Emmanuelle Saliba as he walked around vandalised shops and visited small business owners in Paris. On Saturday, protesters wrecked restaurants and shops in some of Paris’ trendiest neighborhoods. Retailers lost around one billion euros in revenue since the protests started in mid-November and shares in tourism-related activities dropped to their worst week in months, said Reuters. Le Maire added that it was important that the government support small and medium business owners (SMEs) that were hit by the protests.
10.12.2018. France yellow vest protests: Macron promises wage rise. France's President Emmanuel Macron has promised a minimum wage rise and tax concessions in response to weeks of violent protests. France has seen four weekends of violent protests against fuel tax rises, living costs and other issues. Speaking in a televised address to the nation, Mr Macron said that the anger of protesters was "deep, and in many ways legitimate". The minimum wage would increase by 100 euros per month from 2019, he said. A planned tax increase for low-income pensioners would be cancelled, while employers would be asked to pay a tax-free end of year bonus to employees, he added. Mr. Macron, who has until now kept a low profile during the protests, acknowledged that many people were unhappy with living conditions and felt they "had not been listened to". He said that over the last 40 years there had been "a malaise"of "villages and neighborhoods where public services have been diminishing, where living conditions had deteriorated". There were many "people whose status in society had not been sufficiently well recognized. In a cowardly way, we had got used to it and everything seemed to suggest that we had forgotten them". "I assume my share of the situation - I may have given you the feeling I have other concerns and priorities. I know some of you have been hurt by my words,"he added. Mr Macron, a former banker, has previously been criticized for being out of touch and not listening to the struggles of ordinary people. However, Macron refused to reinstate a tax on the wealthy, saying "this would weaken us, we need to create jobs". The minimum wage will as mentioned be increased by 100 € a month - and the cost of this increase will be met by the government rather than employers. Government minister Olivier Dussopt told broadcaster BFMTV the total cost of all the measures is likely to be between €8bn and €10bn.
11.12.2018. French student union calls for a "Black Tuesday"against Macron's education policies. Student union UNL is calling for mass protests in high schools and universities today and regrets that the government is "blind and deaf"to their concerns. An act of terrorism happened in Strasbourg in the evening. The anarchists condemn the terrorism.
12.12.2018. Strasbourg Christmas market shooting update. The shooting at the Christmas market in Strasbourg has made 16 victims: 3 people were killed and 13 injured, including 8 seriously, according to an update on the situation from the prefecture of the Great East region and the Bas-Rhin department. The Strasbourg gunman yelled "Allahu Akbar"("God is greatest"i n Arabic) as he opened fire on people enjoying an evening out at a Christmas market, the Paris public prosecutor told reporters.
13.12.2018. The suspect in the Strasbourg shooting that left three dead and 13 injured has been killed by police, French authorities said Thursday 13.12.2018. The announcement of the death of 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt comes after an intense manhunt involving hundreds of officers since the shooting Tuesday night outside the city's Christmas Market. French security forces were trying to catch the Chekatt dead or alive, an official said earlier Thursday 13.12.2018. Amaq, the media arm of the so-called Islamic State group, described Chekatt as one of its "soldiers", without providing evidence.
14.12.2018. A fourth person has died as a result of the Strasbourg shootings, the Paris prosecutor has announced. Twelve other people were injured, four of those were still hospitalized as of Friday morning, said the prosecutor.
France's 'gilets jaunes' are ready for more protests Saturday. Elements of France's "gilets jaunes"("yellow vests") movement are using social media to call for more protests Saturday 15.12.2018. The government insists that if protesters turn out in the same numbers as the previous weekend they are ready for them. Many protesters plan to turn out this weekend and the French authorities are taking no chances. Michel Delpuech, the head of police for Paris and its region, said on Friday 14.12.2018 that police forces will be deployed in the same numbers as last week to adapt to any violent clashes. The anarchists are ready for a new protest without ochlarchy Saturday. The anarchists demonstrate for less economic and political/administrative rank differences and more efficiency (also environmental) - in short real democracy, i.e. anarchy, in the French economic-political system.
15.12.2018. France prepares for fifth wave of Yellow Vest protests. France will deploy tens of thousands of police nationwide and around 8,000 in Paris on Saturday 15.12.2018 to handle a fifth weekend of Yellow Vest protests, although the movement appears to be losing steam after concessions by President Emmanuel Macron. In the morning the protesters were taking to the streets. Yellow Vest demonstrators began gathering on the Champs-Elysees in Paris for protests in defiance of calls by the French government to stay home. The last three Saturdays have been marked by ochlarchy, violent demonstrations, with burning barricades, pillaging and clashes with police in cities across France. The "yellow vests"have made dozens of demands of the government but have no agreed programme or nominated leaders, making the task of negotiating with them difficult.
Later thousands of protesters took to the streets of French cities in nationwide demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron's government. In Paris, police were out in force to contain possible outbursts of violence. The Interior Minister said around 69,000 police officers were active on Saturday 15.12.2018, with a reinforced presence in the cities of Toulouse, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne. A police source told Reuters some 16,000 protesters had been counted in France, excluding Paris, by 1100 GMT, compared to 22,000 at the same time on December 8. Police officials said 85 had been arrested by around midday. Seven people have died in the "gilets jaunes"(yellow vest) protests so far, the latest in an accident resulting from a blockade by protesters on Friday 14.12.2018.
In the evening. Overall fewer protesters turned up - 66,000 altogether, officials said, compared to 125,000 last Saturday. This includes Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes, Toulouse and others. Police have stopped and questioned 168 people in the capital (compared to more than 500 a week ago), detaining 115. Ochlarchy - scuffles broke out on the Champs-Elysées several times during the day, with police using tear gas and water cannon. However, as night fell, the iconic boulevard was reopened to traffic. In Bordeaux, more than 4,500 protesters took to the streets. Police had to use water cannon to disperse them. A similar number protested in Toulouse. In Nantes, some 1,200 protesters saw rounds of tear gas fired at them. Similar scenes occurred in Avignon and Besançon. In Calais, a group of "yellow vests"blocked the access road to the port. Some anarchists participated in the protests and demonstrated for real democracy, i.e. anarchy, in France - but they were not involved in the ochlarchy. The scuffles were mainly done by marxist ochlarchists, associated with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy.
16.12.2018. Yellow Vest protest: the clean up. Paris was getting back to what it does so well on Sunday 16.12.2018 after another Saturday of protests by the Gilets Jaunes, or yellow vests. The visitors were back and the wooden boards were coming off the windows of the shops. Although the number of demonstrators was down the businesses had taken no chances after the violence of recent weeks. More about the terrorist attack. Residents of Strasbourg gathered on Sunday16.12.2018 at a memorial ceremony for the victims of a deadly shooting near the city’s famous Christmas market earlier this week, as officials said a fifth victim had died of injuries sustained in the attack.
22.12.20118. 'Gilets jaunes': Protesters threaten to storm Euronews HQ in Lyon. Protesters from the "gilets jaunes"(yellow vests) movement attempted to enter Euronews' headquarters in Lyon, France, on Saturday 22.12.2018 afternoon. They told a Euronews journalist by telephone that they wanted to enter the building to "put right the lies spread by the media". "We will be back and we will storm the building,"they added. The protesters arrived at the main doors of the building in the Confluence neighborhood around 3 pm but did not gain access. They waited in front of the establishment for around an hour before walking away. Yellow vests protesters also obstructed the main entrance to the nearby Confluence shopping centre. Police set up a roadblock in the area. Social media users reported seeing a helicopter over the city. There were reports of protests throughout Lyon, including in Bellecour square — one of the main squares in the city centre.
'Yellow Vest protests': Death toll climbs to ten but demonstrations subside across France. Small demonstrations by "yellow-vest"protesters have been seen throughout France for a sixth consecutive Saturday, but not on the scale of the ones seen in recent weeks. Numbers are down around France and with the exception of a couple of hotspots, protests have mostly been peaceful as the Christmas holiday season hits its stride. A man died in France when his car struck a roadblock set up by 'yellow vest' protesters in Perpignan on Friday 21.12.2018 evening. However, protesters changed tactics on Saturday 22.12.2018 for the day of action in Paris. Initially, Paris was quiet as turnout was much lower, but then pop-up protests began, catching the police on the hop, at the Louvre, around the statue of Jeanne d'Arc, or in Montmartre. No group numbered more than a few hundred, all streets remained open and fewer shops were boarded up. The Avenue Champs Elysees, the scene of pitched street battles in recent weeks, was busy with shoppers and tourists outnumbering the few Yellow Vests present. Outside Paris, a planned demonstration at the palace of Versailles attracted just a handful of demonstrators. It had been shut in advance for the day. This is the sixth straight week of protests, and concessions made by President Macron appear to have taken the sting out of the movement. But it has cost lives; the latest - the 36 year-old-man who died - is one of ten deaths reported since clashes began. About 2,000 people were demonstrating in Paris at around 16:00 (15:00 GMT), compared to about 4,000 last Saturday, police sources said. Some 142 people have been stopped and 16 detained, including a protest leader, Eric Drouet. There were some violent clashes on the Champs-Elysées in Paris as night fell i.e. ochlarchy. Some anarchists participated in the protests and demonstrated for real democracy, i.e. anarchy, in France - but they were not involved in the ochlarchy. The clashes were mainly done by marxist ochlarchists, associated with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy. More than 38,000 demonstrators were protesting at 18:00 throughout the country, compared with 66,000 last Saturday, the interior ministry said.
29.12.2018. Police teargas 'yellow vest' protesters in Paris. Police fired tear gas at "yellow vest"demonstrators in Paris on Saturday but the turnout for round seven of the popular protests that have rocked France appeared low. Several hundred people wearing the symbolic hi-visibility vests had gathered near the offices of France Televisions and the BFM TV channel in the centre of the capital shouting "Fake news"and calling for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron. Protesters spilled on to tram lines and lobbed projectiles at police who replied with tear gas grenades and detained several people. Tear gas was also fired in Nantes, western France, and protests were expected in Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse. In the southern city of Marseille, police said 900 protesters turned out, amid cries of "Macron out". The official turnout numbers have plunged with the passing weeks. The government recorded 38,600 demonstrators on December 22 compared to 282,000 for the first major demonstrations on November 17. But leading figures within the movement that has flourished outside of trade union and political groups, say the low numbers are due to the holiday season and January will bring a resurgence of the street protests. Die-hard yellow vest supporters believe the movement will live on in 2019 and plans are underway for New Year's Eve protests. Nearly 8,000 people are listed on Facebook as intending to attend, insisting it will be "festive and non-violent". The anarchists condemn ochlarchy, but support peaceful demonstrations.
31.12.2018. 12,000 police on duty in Paris as 'yellow vests' call protests. Nearly 150,000 police are set to be on duty around France on New Year's Eve when "yellow vest"protesters have called for another round of anti-government demonstrations. The French capital will be on high alert after repeated clashes over the last month between security forces and the protesters. President Emmanuel Macron is set to make a televised address to the country at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) -- at the same time as protesters have been called to gather on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. The "yellow vest"movement has waned dramatically in the last fortnight, but the prospect of demonstrators mixing with tourists in Paris will present a new headache for the stretched Paris police force. "What can we expect? Disorder,"Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters as he visited a fire station in Paris. "What I see with the 'yellow vests' is a desire to be harmful, not to demonstrate."The "non-violent and festive"demonstration has been organized on Facebook where nearly 9,000 people have indicated they plan to attend -- less than the 12,000 police who will be on duty in Paris. France remains on high alert due to the threat of terrorism, with the latest attack dating to December 11 when five people were killed by a gunman at a Christmas market in Strasbourg. New Year's Eve also sees many French youths from poverty-wracked areas of the country set fire to hundreds of cars in what has become a grim annual tradition that ties up police officers. Macron's New Year's address is hotly awaited by political commentators who expect the 41-year-old to address the "yellow vest"protests which began in rural France in late November 2018. The often violent demonstrations about low living standards in provincial France capped a difficult year for the centrist leader, whose approval rating has fallen sharply. Macron will deliver a speech written to show "authority and togetherness", his office said, as he looks to start 2019 on a more positive footing. The anarchists condemn ochlarchy, but support peaceful demonstrations. Later: Police in Paris put a security perimeter around the Champs-Élysées, the site of an annual light show and celebration, to stave off violent demonstrations by the so-called Yellow Vest protesters. But the expected protest, timed to coincide with President Emmanuel Macron's traditional New Year's Eve message, remained small and peaceful.
05.01.2019. France's Yellow Vest protesters gathered in cities throughout the country on Saturday 05.01.2019 in "Act VIII"of their movement against French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies. Macron, who swept to power in May 2017 promising to transform France, is vowing to keep reforming the country and pushing ahead with changes to France's national unemployment insurance and pension system. "We must probably make further changes, be more radical,"said Macron in comments reported by government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux after the first Cabinet meeting of the year on Friday 04.01.2019. Griveaux called on the French to express their views during a "national debate"organized in the coming weeks in all regions, rather than by taking to the streets. He called those who are still protesting within the yellow vest movement "agitators who want insurrection and to overthrow the government". For Saturday's protests, Yellow Vests urged their fellow demonstrators to take to the streets without donning their signature hi-vis clothing, so that they draw less attention from police. The French government has dialed back the number of police deployed across the country, to 3,600 riot police and officers. Paris authorities won’t be using water cannons or armored riot vehicles, as they have done in previous weeks. Tear gas was used outside Paris's Musée d'Orsay in a stand-off between Yellow Vest protesters and police.
French authorities appealed for calm on Saturday 05.01.2019 as spurts of unrest erupted across France in the latest gilet jaunes, or "yellow vest,"protests. About 50,000 people demonstrated, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, - higher than last week but smaller than the about 280,000 who turned out in November. Large gatherings were held in Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille. In Paris, 3,500 people participated in protests on Saturday 05.01.2019, much higher than the 800 who took to the streets last week, police said. At least 34 people were taken in for questioning in the capital city. Benjamin Griveaux, government spokesman, confirmed that he and his team had to evacuate his office in Paris after demonstrators broke into his courtyard by knocking down the door with construction machinery. Violence was reported in Montpellier and Troyes, where demonstrators tried to enter prefectures, and in Avignon, where some attempted to break into the Court of Justice. Violence was also reported in Beauvais, authorities said. Last weekend, an estimated 32,000 protesters took to the streets. There have been some protests since the year began but mostly they have been modest demonstrations on roads and roundabouts. Saturday's protests are the first big gatherings of the year. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support peaceful demonstrations.
06.01.2019. Hundreds of female 'Yellow Vest' protestors have peaceful French demo. French women on Sunday marched in Paris to reclaim the “yellow vest” movement from violent activists, a day after protesters smashed their way into a government ministry. The women, wearing yellow vests, turned out after 50,000 people returned to the streets of France on Saturday amid violent clashes with police. Some of the women waved yellow balloons and pushed prams. Protests were also held in other French cities. “All the media ever reports is the violence, and we are forgetting the root of the problem” which is the fight against austerity, said one protester, Karen, a 42-year-old nurse from Marseille. The women sang the “Marseillaise”, France’s national anthem, as they gathered on the steps of the city’s opera house at Bastille before marching through nearby streets. The women’s demonstrations came as Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire called for an end to the “yellow vest” unrest, saying “those who believe in democracy” should now say “that’s enough”, he told Europe 1 radio. There were also women’s demonstrations in Caen, northwestern France, and Montceau-les-Mines, central-eastern France. In the southwestern city of Toulouse, 300 women took to the streets shouting: “Macron your goose is cooked, the chicks are in the street.” The “yellow vest” protest movement, which has now seen protests on eight consecutive Saturdays, was initially triggered by anger over an increase in fuel taxes. But it has since morphed into a campaign against the high cost of living and the government of President Emmanuel Macron, seen by many as arrogant and beholden to big business. Driving the unrest is anger, particularly among low-paid workers, over a squeeze on household incomes and a belief that Macron is indifferent to citizens' needs as he enacts reforms seen as pro-business and favouring the wealthy. Macron's government has been shaken by the unrest, caught off-guard when in November the yellow vests began blocking roads, occupying highway tollbooths and staging violent invasions of Paris and other cities on weekends. Two months on, it has not found a way to soothe the yellow vests' anger and meet their demands, which include a higher minimum wage, a more participative democracy and Macron's resignation. With no clear leader, negotiating with the group is hard.
07.01.2019. Yellow vests: France to crack down on unsanctioned protests. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced plans to punish people who hold unsanctioned protests after seven weeks of anti-government unrest. His government wants to draft new legislation that will ban troublemakers from protests and clamp down on the wearing of masks at demonstrations. He said 80,000 members of the security forces would be deployed for the next expected wave of protests. Protesters smashed down the gates to a government office this weekend. In other chaotic scenes in Paris, demonstrators fought riot police, and cars and motorbikes were burnt. Protests against fuel tax erupted on 17 November when people across France donned high-visibility vests, giving them their nickname the "gilets jaunes"("yellow vests"), and went out to disrupt traffic. Similar actions have followed every weekend and while the number of demonstrators has dropped, cities across France continue to see rioting and disruption. At least six people have died and at least 1,400 have been injured as a result of the unrest. What measures does the government plan to take? Speaking on French TV channel TF1, Prime Minister Philippe said the government would support a "new law punishing those who do not respect the requirement to declare [protests], those who take part in unauthorised demonstrations and those who arrive at demonstrations wearing face masks". Known troublemakers would be banned from taking part in demonstrations, in the same way known football hooligans have been banned from stadiums. The onus would be on "the troublemakers, and not taxpayers, to pay for the damage caused"to businesses and property during the protests. What began as anger over green tax on vehicle fuel has grown into more general discontent with the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron, who protesters accuse of favouring the urban elite. "Those who question our institutions will not have the last word,"Mr Philippe said on Monday 07.01.2019. In a sign that the government was taking a harder line, police arrested one of the protest informal leaders, truck driver Eric Drouet, last week for organizing an unauthorised demonstration in Paris.
11.01.2019. Yellow vests/Gilets jaunes: 80,000 police officers deployed for 'Act 9' on Saturday 12.01.2019. Eighty-thousand police officers will be deployed across France on Saturday as authorities prepare for the number of "gilets jaunes"("yellow vest") protesters to swell again as the movement enters its ninth week. Five-thousand will be deployed in Paris alone. The numbers match those of mid-December, at the height of the protest, and come after authorities in several municipalities, including Paris, appeared caught off guard by the number of protesters last week because the movement had appeared to weaken during the holiday season. Saturday will mark "Act 9"or the ninth day of national action for the "gilets jaunes". The citizen movement was first created as a protest against a planned fuel tax rise but mutated into a crisis about inequality and spending power. The government has struggled to contain the movement which has no leadership structure and is not affiliated to any political party or trade unions, making negotiations all but impossible.
The movement has also been criticized for the violence seen at some protests — primarily in Paris in scenes sometimes reminiscent of guerilla warfare — although authorities and many "gilets jaunes"have put the blame on far-left or far-right groups. But on Friday 11.01.2019 Interior Minister Christophe Castaner warned peaceful protesters that they would be "complicit"i f they attend marches that turn violent. "Those who come to protest in towns where breakage had been announced know they will be complicit in these events,"he said during an interview with Brut, aired on Facebook. The government has also sought to toughen the law against unauthorized protests. The city Bourges, meanwhile, has forbidden "gilets jaunes"protesters from marching in its city centre after one of the movement's leading figures called for the ninth day of national action to be held there."Gilets jaunes"protesters have gathered in cities across France every Saturday for the past two months, with the main focus on Paris. But as they prepared for their "Act 9", Priscilla Ludosky, one of the movement's most prominent figures, called for Bourges to become the epicenter of the protest.
Ludosky argued the city of 68,000 inhabitants is an ideal meeting point because its location, in the center of the country, makes it easier for people to reach. So far fewer than 3,000 people have stated on Facebook that they would be heading there, although 13,000 have said they're interested. She said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the local authorities had been made aware of the plan to protest and also laid out an itinerary. But the prefecture of the Cher department, where Bourges is located, denied on Thursday that a demand to protest had been filed. On Friday, Prefect Catherine Ferrier announced that she had decided to ban gatherings in the city center. "The anticipated size of this gathering, which was not declared to the prefecture (...) has nothing to do with previous peaceful marches that took place in the city of Bourges,"the decision reads. It also lists the high concentration of "public buildings, historical monuments"and shops as the reason for the ban, citing the risk of "degradation"or "voluntary fire attempts"against them, as seen in previous "gilets jaunes"protests. Ferrier also stated that the center's narrow streets make it difficult for law enforcement officers to operate. The mayor, Pascal Blanc, has also decided to close the city center to traffic and ordered city hall and museums be closed. "Demonstration: yes but with respect for goods and people,"he wrote on Twitter.
12.01.2019. Tens of thousands take to streets in Act 9 of ‘Yellow Vest’ protests. Thousands of demonstrators turned out across France for new "yellow vests"protests, with dozens of arrests and clashes in Paris and other cities. Police in the capital used water cannon and tear gas as scuffles broke out at the Arc de Triomphe, on the ninth consecutive weekend of protests. Some 84,000 demonstrators were recorded nationwide, an increase compared with last week, official figures show. The nationwide protests were initially triggered by the rising price of fuel. They have since widened to include anger at the cost of living, with a wide-ranging list of other demands. Thousands of officers were deployed across Paris, which has previously seen street clashes and vandalism, to tackle the protesters, and parts of the city centre were blocked off by riot police. Some 8,000 demonstrators were on the streets - more than in the past two weekends, when authorities counted just 3,500 people on 5 January and 800 on 29 December, according to interior ministry figures. Some 156 protesters were arrested, and as of 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT), 108 remained in custody, police said. By nightfall, there had not been the looting or burning of cars as seen in previous weeks.
There were also thousands of protesters in the cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse in southern France as well as Strasbourg in the east and the central city of Bourges, the site of another major rally, where more than 6,000 people took to the streets. Nationwide, 244 people were arrested, of which 201 remained in custody, police said. Some 80,000 police officers were deployed nationwide to face the protesters. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support the peaceful protests.
From a fiscal revolt, to a battle over spending power, the yellow vest movement is now calling for more power to be given to "the people"through mass popular votes or "referenda d'initiative citoyenne"(RIC). Next week, in yet another concession toward the protesters, Macron will send a letter to the public, outlining the themes of a big national debate. The topics of that debate will span from spending power to the functioning of the institutions and climate change initiatives. But even before that debate begins, the government has already ruled out a U-turn on Macron's reform agenda or institutional reform. So, what can emerge if not dissatisfaction with the debate, argue some observers of French politics who warn of the dangers involved in the process itself. Meanwhile, some yellow vests have already decided to go into politics themselves, and are now preparing candidacy lists for the European elections this May. An Ipsos poll, ordered by Macron's party, showed those candidates could potentially win about 12% of the vote, mainly at the expense of the far-right and far-left. French President Emmanuel Macron has said a national debate is due to kick off on 15 January in response to weeks of protests by the "gilets jaunes". It will be held publicly in town halls across France and on the internet, and will focus on four themes: taxes, green energy, institutional reform and citizenship.
13.01.2019. French media denounce violent 'yellow vest' attacks on press. French media and reporters' organisations on Sunday denounced attacks on journalists by "yellow vest"anti-government protesters and called for better protection after a series of incidents this weekend. Paris police fired water cannon and tear gas to push back demonstrators from around the Arc de Triomphe monument on Saturday, in the ninth straight weekend of protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms. Journalists covering the protests are increasingly becoming a target for the demonstrators. In the western city of Rouen, LCI television reporters were attacked by a group of protesters. One of the security agents working with the TV crew was beaten while he was on the ground and had his nose broken, with footage of the incident widely shared on social media. In Paris, an LCI reporter was pushed to the ground as demonstrators tried to take away her camera, the station said, adding that it will take legal action against the attackers. Several other stations, including BFM TV and franceinfo, on Sunday showed images of reporters being hassled or pushed around during Saturday's "yellow vest"marches. Reporters without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire called on authorities to take action. "This is anti-democratic blackmail from people who consider they can beat up journalists if they disagree with the way events are covered,"he said on France Info radio. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on his Twitter feed that anyone attacking reporters will be brought to justice. "In our democracy, the press is free ... attacking journalists is attacking the right to inform,"he said. France has been rocked by yellow vest protests against Macron's reforms since the middle of November in a movement that has no designated leaders and is not linked to political parties or unions. Started as a protest against high fuel prices, the movement has morphed into a fight for social justice and more direct democracy. Several demonstrations have degenerated into violent clashes with police. Over the coming week, Macron will launch three months of national debate to air yellow-vest grievances in the hope of appeasing the movement, which has undermined his authority and upended his reform drive. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support the peaceful protests.
14.01.2019. In letter to the French, Macron launches 'great debate' to quell 'yellow vests'. In a 2,300-word letter to the French, President Emmanuel Macron has launched a three-month national debate that he hopes will appease the 'yellow vest' protesters. In the letter published by his office, he wrote he would listen to new ideas, but stuck to his economic agenda which has dubbed him as "president of the rich". "For me, there is no banned issue. We won't agree on everything, which is normal in a democracy. But at least we'll show we're a people who are not afraid of talking, exchanging, debating,"Macron wrote. The 'yellow vest' movement is now in its ninth straight week of protests, have at times turned violent, caused economic upheaval, and called on the president to resign. However, France's youngest president since Napoleon said he would stay faithful to his core economic reform agenda, which he set out on his presidential campaign in 2017.
"When taxes are too high, our economy is starved of the resources that could be usefully invested in companies, creating jobs and growth,"Macron wrote. "We will not undo the measures we have introduced to put this right, encourage investment and ensure that work pays more."The 'yellow vest' movement started in mid-November over a rise in fuel tax, Macron since scrapped the duty and promised wage rises and tax relief for low earners, but the protests have spiralled into a revolt over living standards. One sticking point at the heart of the 'yellow vest's' demands is a call for the ISF "fortune tax"to be replaced. It was previously levied on high-earners but looks unlikely to be changed.
What will be asked in the 'grand debat'? Macron's 'great debate' will allow citizens to speak to their local mayor about their grievances. The President said proposals made during the debate will help build a new “contract for the nation”. Macron will attend town-hall meetings around the country, the first will be held with mayors in Bourgtheroulde in northwest France on Tuesday 15.01.2019. The first questions that will be asked are: "Which taxes do you think should be lowered first?", "Should some public services that are out of date or too expensive be eliminated?", "What concrete proposals do you think would accelerate our environmental transition?"and "Should we use more referendums?". Macron wrote there were "no forbidden questions", however, on the topic of immigration, he said the right to seek asylum "could not be questioned". The 41-year-old said he would "directly report"on the consultation in the month after the debates, which will run until March 15.2019.
However, the public response to the debate may not go as Macron hopes. A survey by Le Figaro newspaper published on Friday showed that 70% of French people think the discussions will serve no purpose. A call to end violence. Macron wrote he would not "accept any form of violence"and that the debate is how he intends "to turn anger into solutions". Protests in recent weeks have seen fights with police, cars set on fire, and vandalism on shops and monuments, i.e. ochlarchy. 'Yellow vests' also came under fire on Sunday 13.01.2019 over numerous attacks and a rape threat on journalists. More ochlarchy. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support peaceful protests.
15.01.2019. Seeking to quell Yellow Vest anger, Macron says some of the poor are just 'screwing around'. French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a gathering of mayors in the Normandy city of Grand Bourgtheroulde on January 15, 2019, as part of the official launch of a "great national debate". President Emmanuel Macron's hopes of quelling the economic anger of Yellow Vest protesters by launching a national debate ran aground Tuesday 15.01.2019 when he sparked new outrage by saying some of those struggling economically were just “screwing around”. Macron had planned to try to quell a rising tide of economic anger with a speech in Normandy announcing a round of public gatherings that would form a "grand national debate"on the issues facing France, from tax reform to adopting green energies. But instead he sparked an immediate backlash while on a surprise visit to the town of Gasny by seeming to suggest that many of those struggling economically had only themselves to blame. Even as the French president expressed his desire to "empower"people in “difficult economic circumstances”, he mused that while some were “doing the right thing” others were just “screwing around” with the system. His sentiments, as well as the vulgar expression he used in French, sparked immediate reactions on social media from politicians on both the left and the right.
19.01.2019. Gilets Jaunes: What to expect from 'Act 10'. Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protesters are gathering across France on Saturday 19.01.2019 for a tenth day of national action following a PR blitz by French President Emmanuel Macron to derail the movement through the launch of his "Great National Debate."The main protest is expected in Paris where organizers are hoping for a surge in attendance, calling for a lot of people to march. The march plans to honor the people who have died or been wounded since the beginning of the movement in mid-November. Ten people have lost their lives, mostly in traffic accidents, and 3,000 — including 1,000 law enforcement officers — have been injured. In a Europe 1 interview on Friday 18.01.2019, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that the security presence would be on par with last week's with about 80,000 officers deployed throughout the country, including 5,000 in Paris alone. He also categorically rejected calls for police to stop using riot control guns, criticized by protesters and the country's human rights right, Jacques Toubon, as a disproportionate response.
Yellow Vests defy Macron 'national debate' bid with 10th Saturday of protests. Around seven thousand "Yellow Vest"demonstrators marched through Paris Saturday 19.01.2019, marking a 10th straight weekend of anti-government protests, defying attempts by President Emmanuel Macron to channel their anger into a series of town hall debates. Protesters assembled by the Invalides plaza near the National Assembly and marched through the city's Left Bank in freezing temperatures. The demonstrations were largely peaceful but, according to reporters, clashes broke out late in the afternoon between police and demonstrators, some wearing masks, in Paris' central Invalides district. Protesters threw firecrackers, bottles and stones at the police, i.e. ochlarchy. The police responded with water cannon and tear gas to push them back. Authorities said there were around 7,000 protesters in Paris, some of whom gathered near the world-famous Champs Elysees, while there were similar demonstrations in major cities across France. Rallies took place in Toulouse, Lyon, Rouen and other cities. According to the French Interior Ministry about 84 000 participated in the Yellow Vest protests Saturday 19.01.2019 across France. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support the peaceful protests.
23.01.2019. Yellow Vests: French riot police will now wear body cameras. Following accusations of police violence at Yellow Vest protests, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced that riot police in Paris will be equipped with body cameras to record their use of rubber bullets and other weapons. The debate about the use of rubber bullets by French police has recently escalated, as more and more citizens have been injured during the weekly Yellow Vest protests. This has served to fuel the anger of the Yellow Vests and put the government on the defensive. Attempting to diffuse the situation, Castaner told a committee at the National Assembly on Tuesday that police officers using these weapons would be equipped with body cameras from Saturday January 26, during what will be Act 11 of the Yellow Vest campaign.
26.01.2019. France's 'yellow night' and 'red scarves'. France this weekend is waiting to see how the yellow vests movement fares with its 'nuit jaune', a 'yellow night' Saturday to Sunday. The overnight march in Paris will be followed by a "largely silent"march by the 'red scarves' during Sunday. The red scarves movement says it recognizes the suffering of their fellow yellow vests but does not agree that the right to protest should prevent the free movement of others.
France's Yellow Vest protesters hit the streets again. France's yellow vest protesters hit the streets once more Saturday 26.01.2019, keeping up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron even as internal divisions and frustration over protest violence cloud the movement's future. Multiple protests are being held around Paris and other cities, the 11th straight weekend of action prompted by Macron policies seen as favoring the rich. Macron has sapped some support for the movement by taking an active role in recent days in a national debate in towns across France, launched to address the protesters' concerns. Some yellow vest leaders are trying to keep up momentum by holding protests after dark as well as during the day. A small crowd of protesters advanced peacefully Saturday morning down the Champs-Elysees, site of recent rioting. Two other groups plan evening events across town, at Place de la Republique in eastern Paris.
France deployed about 80,000 police Saturday 26.01.2019 against protest violence. About the same number of protesters took to the streets the last two weekends. Participants at the Champs-Elysees march called Macron's national debate a "smoke screen"to distract the French from his pro-business policies. They expressed views veering from the far left to a middle-ground, middle-class malaise. Many want Macron to restore France's wealth tax and allow the public to propose national referendums on anything from pulling France out of the euro to rewriting the constitution. One branch of the movement launched a bid this week for the European Parliament elections in May, but other protest leaders disagree with the idea. In another challenge for the yellow vest movement, rival groups calling themselves the "red scarves"plan demonstrations Sunday 27.01.2019 to condemn violence unleashed by recent protests. The "red scarves", will meet up in Paris for a "republican march for the liberties"i n which they want to defend "democracy and its institutions"and hope for "the silent majority"to be heard. Police armed with guns firing non-lethal rubber balls - which have seriously injured several - are equipped with body cameras Saturday 26.01.2019 for the first time, in an experiment to record use of the weapons, providing context and eventual evidence if needed. In between the Saturday protests, yellow-vested crowds occupy scattered roundabouts and tollbooths around France, disrupting traffic to express a sense of neglect by the central government.
About 69,000 gilets jaunes (yellow vests) marched across France on Saturday 26.01.2019, including 4,000 in Paris, according to the French Interior ministry. This was the movement's eleventh consecutive week of protests, dubbed "act XI", despite divisions emerging in their ranks. Despite the French President Emmanuel Macron and his government's ratings increasing in recent weeks, the "great national debate"the president launched to start a dialogue with the gilets jaunes is not convincing many of them. Gilets jaunes also mobilised themselves in other cities across France. In Strasbourg, between 200 and 300 protesters met at the European Parliament before walking to the city centre. Protesters in Montpellier, in southern France, and Evreux in Normandy, started demonstrating around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. They were 5,000 in Bordeaux, several thousands in Toulouse, at least 2,000 in Nantes and about 4,000 in Marseille. In Paris, protesters were invited to participate to a 'yellow night' from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the Place de la Republique, which already hosted the 'Nuit Debout' ('Up all night') movement in 2016. Éric Drouet was among those calling for the 'yellow night' to happen. Several night marches were also planned across France. Participants at the 'yellow night' in Paris were forced to leave early after police arrived to clear the Place de la Republique around 7 PM.
In Paris, police and protesters exchanged tear gas and projectiles. Jerome Rodrigues, a gilet jaune figure close to influential Drouet, was severely injured in the eye. He filmed the scene live on Facebook. The French Interior minister Christophe Castaner has condemned "the violence and degradations committed"i n Paris and across the country by "troublemakers wearing yellow vests", i.e. ochlarchy and ochlarchists. He added that IGPN, the French 'police of the police', would investigate the "events on the Bastille", which include Rodrigues' injury. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy and ochlarchists, but support the peaceful protests.
27.01.2019. 'Red scarves' march in Paris in riposte to 'yellow vests'. Thousands of protesters marched through Paris on Sunday 27.01.2019 to condemn violence in the "yellow vest"movement that has rocked France for weeks with angry protests over President Emmanuel Macron's rule. Some 10,000 people turned out for Sunday's counter-demonstration, a day after an 11th consecutive Saturday of "yellow vest"demonstrations across France that brought sporadic clashes with police. Participants, some wearing red scarves after the name of the counter-movement, displayed slogans like "stop the violence"and "hands off my Republic"i n a peaceful afternoon procession in eastern Paris that ended in Bastille square.
01.02.2019. Top French court rules controversial rubber bullets launcher legal. France’s top court, the Council of State, ruled on Friday that police could use controversial rubber-bullet launchers against protesters. That means police officers will have the right to use them during the 12th consecutive gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protest Saturday 02.02.2019. The launchers officially called Defence Ball Launchers (LBDs) have been blamed for injuring multiple gilets jaunes protesters who’ve been manifesting against the government for nearly three months. Some of these injuries include lost eyes, maimed hands, and broken limbs. A tally by French newspaper Liberation found that as of January 30, 144 people had been injured in the protests, 92 of which were caused by LBDs.
Though no officers have been scolded so far for their use of the launchers, the government did announce last week that all policemen equipped with an LBD would have to carry a bodycam as well. In an internal note obtained by France 3, Eric Morvan, the director of the national police, reminded policemen that when firing the weapon, they should only target the torso and limbs. Their use must stay "strictly proportional"to the situation, he added.
The ruling by the French court comes after the CGT trade union and the French Human Rights League asked for the suspension of the launchers who fire rubber bullets approximately the size of a golf ball. A press statement by the court said that the judge found that “many of the protests since November were frequently the occasion for acts of violence and destruction.” “The impossibility of excluding the reproduction of such incidents during future demonstrations makes it necessary to allow the police to use these weapons, which remain particularly appropriate for dealing with this type of situation, subject to strict compliance with the conditions of use.” Police unions welcomed the court's decision, arguing the weapon is necessary because police officers are often attacked with pieces of broken glass and other handmade weapons by protesters.
02.02.2019.‘Gilets jaunes' hold 12th weekend of protests, denounce police violence. Thousands of “gilet jaunes” (yellow vest) protesters marched through Paris and other French cities on Saturday for the 12th consecutive weekend of anti-government action, as they paid homage to those injured by police in previous demonstrations. Participants carried French flags and placards denouncing the government of President Emmanuelle Macron, while a large banner showing photographs of people injured in clashes with police took centre stage at the march in Paris. The protest came after France’s top administrative court ruled on Friday that police could continue using controversial rubber-ball launchers against protesters. Known as Defence Ball Launchers, the weapons fire rubber projectiles the size of golf balls, and have been blamed for leaving gilets jaunes with serious injuries including lost eyes and broken limbs. The judge said it was “necessary to allow police to use these weapons” because the protests were “frequently the occasion for acts of violence and destruction.” Around 1,000 police officers and 1,700 demonstrators have been injured since the protests began, according to official figures.
The gilets jaunes protests — named after the fluorescent jackets French motorists are required to carry in their cars — began in November over plans to raise fuel taxes. However, they have since developed into a broader revolt against the government, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets every Saturday. Macron has launched a "Great National Debate"i n a bid to resolve the crisis. On Thursday 31.01.2019, he said that he too was a gilet jaune “if it meant being in favor of better salaries and having a more effective parliament.” A Harris Interactive poll of 1,000 people on Friday showed Macron gaining four percentage points since December taking him to a 35% approval rating. Between 10,000 and 13,800 protested in the capital 02.02.2019 according to police and independent media estimates. Riot police used tear gas to disperse some protesters who set bins and a scooter alight, although the situation remained relatively calm compared to previous weekends. Thousands also took to the streets in other cities, including Tours, Valence, Marseille and Bordeaux. The Interior Ministry said 80,000 security officials had been mobilized, including 5,000 in Paris. The Interior Ministry put the number of protesters 02.02.2019 at 58,600, compared to 69,000 the previous weekend.
As mentioned the "gilets jaunes"derive their name from the high-visibility vests they wear - and which French motorists are required by law to carry in their vehicles. They initially came together to demonstrate against a sharp increase in diesel taxes, which they say hurt those who live in remote areas and depend on cars. But since their first marches - and the government's subsequent U-turn on fuel taxes - their demands have expanded to boosting people's purchasing power and allowing popular referendums. Most "gilets jaunes"live on low to medium incomes. They range from factory workers, mid-level employees to the self-employed (particularly artisans) and retired people.
05.02.2019. French parliament passes law to curb violent protests. France's parliament on Tuesday 05.02.2019 passed a bill aimed at curbing violent protests in response to three months of anti-government demonstrations by the grassroots "yellow vests"movement. Despite criticism that the law could curb civil liberties, it passed the lower house, the national assembly, by 387 votes to 92 thanks to the comfortable majority enjoyed by President Emmanuel Macron's centrist LREM party. It will now be discussed in the upper house, but the assembly has the last word. The "anti-casseurs"(anti-hooligan) law bans protesters from hiding their faces, gives police greater powers to extract potential trouble-makers from demonstrations, and grants local authorities the right to ban individual protesters. As mentioned the "yellow vest"movement erupted in November 2018 as a protest against fuel taxes, but has morphed into a broader revolt against inequality and Macron's presidency. Rioters ran amok in Paris during the early street protests, torching cars, smashing luxury boutiques and defacing the Arc de Triomphe. It was among the worst violence the capital has experienced since a 1968 student uprising.
France's Yellow Vest protesters join union march for the first time. France’s Yellow Vest protest movement on Tuesday 05.02.2019 joined ranks with a major union in a day of nationwide protests over taxes and buying power, a first for both. There were brief scuffles and police fired several rounds of tear gas at the Paris demonstration, clearing troublemakers from the elegant Place de la Concorde, which borders the US Embassy. Tear gas was also used in Lille and elsewhere. However, tension was minimal compared with the weekly protests held since November 2018 by the Yellow Vest movement to demand fiscal and social justice in a major challenge to President Emmanuel Macron. The Communist-backed CGT union marched from Paris City Hall to the Place de la Concorde side-by-side with protesters from the Yellow Vest movement. Some 30,000 people, including many Yellow Vest protesters, demonstrated in the French capital on Tuesday, according to the CGT’s tabulation. The police prefecture, for its part, estimated 18,000 took part in the Paris demonstration. Meanwhile, the Occurrence firm, mandated by a collective of media outlets including Agence France-Presse (AFP) to provide independent counts during mass gatherings, said 14,000 protesters marched through Paris on Tuesday 05.02.2019.
09.02.2019. Yellow Vest protests show signs of splintering ahead of ‘Act 13’ and clashed with police in Paris. Yellow Vests protesters will demonstrate for a 13th consecutive weekend on Saturday, with multiple rallies planned throughout France. But the latest protests are increasingly plagued by internal quarrels over how to secure more political gains. The Yellow Vest movement is becoming increasingly divided and fractured, with supporters disagreeing on both the means to and the political end game. Some are willing to ally with trade unions to exact more government concessions; others continue to mistrust them. Most want to continue ratcheting up the pressure, even demanding the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron. But the number of protesters has fallen over the last two Saturdays. An estimated 58,600 people demonstrated throughout France on February 2, according to the interior ministry, although the Yellow Vests claim some 116,000 demonstrators took to the streets. A demonstration is scheduled to start Saturday morning at Place de l’Étoile while three additional rallies have also been announced by Éric Drouet, a truck driver and spokesman of the Gilets Jaunes movement. Various events are also planned in other cities, including Montpellier, Lille, Nantes, Rennes, Brest, Caen and Lorient. "There is a lot of tension, a lot of ill intentions, a lot of impatience,"Drouet said in a live video on Wednesday. He explained that he was working on a "completely legal” strategy to force Macron to resign. And some of these tensions have boiled over into the diplomatic sphere. Luigi Di Maio, leader of Italy’s Five-Star Movement and deputy prime minister, caused a major rift with France on Tuesday 05.02.2019 when he met members of the Yellow Vests to show his support.
As the "gilets jaunes"(yellow vests) movement entered its 13th week of action, protesters took to the streets in Paris and clashed with the police. Demonstrators marched past the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, the monument at the top of the French capital's Champs Elysees. They then continued to the National Assembly buildings where police fired tear gas after protesters vandalized the walls around the building. A car, motorbikes and multiple trash bins were set ablaze as the protest moved toward the city's Invalides monument but France's Interior Ministry said this week's protest was significantly smaller than last week's. Police said 17 demonstrators had been arrested as scuffles broke out between protesters and police near the Champs-Elysees Avenue and the National Assembly. Police confirmed that a protester had a hand injury but provided no further details other than to say treatment was being provided. Police used batons and fired tear gas in Paris to disperse demonstrators, some of whom threw debris at riot police hunkered down. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy and ochlarchists, but support peaceful protests. According to French government figures, 51,400 people joined the protests on Saturday 09.02.2019, 4,000 of them in Paris. That was down from the previous week, when official figures put the number at 58,600, 10,500 in Paris.
16.02.2019. Yellow Vest protests persist, three months on. Thousands of "yellow vest"protesters marched across France Saturday 16.02.2019, three months since the movement began and in a week that has seen growing international concern at police treatment of the protesters. Demonstrating for the 14th consecutive weekend, just over 41,000 people turned out across the country, according to the government, well down on the 282,000 peak during the protests' early weeks. An interior ministry statement said 41,500 people had demonstrated nationwide, 5,000 of them in Paris. Organizers of the marches, however, put the numbers far higher. Clashes (ochlarchy) in Paris on Saturday 16.02.2019 marked three months since the "yellow vest" ("gilets jaunes") demonstrators began rallying against President Emmanuel Macron's policies. An Elabe opinion poll this week showed dwindling support for them as more than half of those surveyed say they want the protests to stop. However protestors in Paris on Saturday 16.02.2019 said they will continue to make a stand.
Police fired tear gas and brought in water cannons and a horse brigade to disperse several thousand yellow vest protesters Saturday (16.02.2019) massed near a Paris landmark at the end of a march through the French capital, the 14th straight weekend of demonstrations. Anti-Semitic remarks hurled by a few at a noted philosopher on the protesters’ route were the bitter finale to a day of tension. Acrid clouds of tear gas filled the esplanade of Les Invalides monument, obscuring the gold dome that crowns the monument housing Napoleon’s tomb. Tension also marked demonstrations in other cities. In Rouen, in Normandy, a car blocked by demonstrators pushed through the crowd, slightly injuring four people, the all-news channel BFMTV reported. Police used tear gas and water cannon in Bordeaux, a stronghold of the yellow vest movement, and other cities on the 14th straight Saturday of protests. Another demonstration in the capital was planned for Sunday 17.02.2019 to mark three months since the movement held its first nationwide protests Nov. 17. 2018. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy and the ochlarchists, but support peaceful protests, and condemn also the anti-Semitic remarks.
17.02.2019. Yellow Vest protests continue. On Sunday 17.02.2019, some 2,000 protesters, some of them singing "happy birthday", marched down the famed Champs-Elysees avenue, this time to mark the anniversary of the start of the movement. French officials on Sunday strongly condemned anti-Semitic abuse and anti-police attacks by some "yellow vest"demonstrators as up to 2,000 of them gathered in central Paris to embark on a third month of the anti-government protests. Prosecutors have launched an investigation into a group of protesters who shouted anti-Semitic insults at philosopher and writer Alain Finkielkraut during demonstrations in the capital on Saturday 16.02.2019. In a separate incident, a police car stuck in a traffic jam in Lyon, southeastern France, was stoned by demonstrators. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy and the ochlarchists, but support peaceful protests, and condemn also the anti-Semitic remarks.
20.02.2019. Thousands rally against anti-Semitism in France. Thousands of people rallied across France after a surge of anti-Semitic attacks in recent weeks that culminated on Tuesday 19.02.2019 with vandals daubing swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans on dozens of graves in a Jewish cemetery. Political leaders from all parties, including former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, gathered in Paris filling the Place de la Republique, a symbol of the nation, to decry anti-Semitic acts with one common slogan: "Enough!"People also lined the streets of cities from Lille in the north to Toulouse and Marseille in the south. President Emmanuel Macron paid respects at one of the 96 desecrated graves in the village of Quatzenheim, near the eastern city of Strasbourg. "Whoever did this is not worthy of the French republic and will be punished... We'll take action, we'll apply the law and we'll punish them,"he said, walking through a gate scarred with a swastika as he entered the graveyard. Macron later visited the national Holocaust memorial in Paris with the heads of the Senate and National Assembly.
France is home to the biggest Jewish community in Europe -- around 550,000 -- a population that has grown by about half since World War Two, but anti-Semitic attacks remain common. Government statistics released last week showed there were more than 500 anti-Semitic attacks in the country last year, a 74 percent increase from 2017. "Some people are provoking the authority of the state. It needs to be dealt with now and extremely firmly,"Sarkozy told reporters. "It's a real question of authority. Violence is spreading and it needs to stop now."Among incidents in recent days, "yellow vest"protesters were filmed hurling abuse on Saturday at Alain Finkielkraut, a well-known Jewish writer and son of a Holocaust survivor. Artwork on two Paris post boxes showing the image of Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor and former magistrate, was defaced with swastikas, while a bagel shop was sprayed with the word "Juden", German for Jews, in yellow letters. A tree in a Paris suburb in memory of Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish man kidnapped, tortured and murdered in 2006, was cut in two. The series of attacks has alarmed politicians and prompted calls for action against what some commentators describe as a new form of anti-Semitism among the far-left and Islamist preachers. "I call on all French and European leaders to take a strong stand against anti-Semitism,"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message recorded in Hebrew. "It is an epidemic that endangers everyone, not just us."A rabbi and three children were killed at a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012 by an Islamist gunman, and in 2015 four Jews at a kosher supermarket in Paris were among 17 people killed by Islamist militants. The anarchists condemn the anti-Semitism.
23.02.2019. Thousands march across France for the Gilets Jaunes' "Act XV". Tens of thousands of Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protesters celebrated the 15th week of the movement with marches in Paris and all around France and a festive picnic at the Chambord Castle in the Loire, central France. There were more than 46,000 Gilets Jaunes protesting across France, including 5,800 in Paris, according to the French Interior ministry. Last week, they were about 41,000.
In Paris, the march started on the Champs-Elysees with planned stops at Opera, the Louvre museum and the Trocadero. Several thousands of protesters attended the march in Paris for the 15th day of national action since the creation of the movement, in November 2018. Protests were also organized in several French cities, with hundreds marching in Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen, Rennes, Pau. In Toulouse, Gilets Jaunes protesters blocked an Amazon warehouse on the outskirts of town, preventing deliveries. Gilets Jaunes also organized a picnic on the lawns of the Chambord castle, some 180 kms south of Paris, which was built in 1519 as the royal residence of French king François the First. They were around 1,200, according to local police.
With music and food stalls, the atmosphere was pacific and familial at Chambord, where some protesters played football on the lawn, the AFP reported. Priscillia Ludovsky, one of the movement's most recognizable faces, attended the picnic. She told the AFP that the movement's absence of vertical organization is both "i ts strength and its weakness". To ensure that the Chambord event went smoothly, a hundred protesters wearing "white vests"acted as coordinators with the authorities and the castle administration. The Gilets Jaunes chose the Chambord castle because French president Emmanuel Macron rented the place to celebrate his 40th birthday in December 2017.
Meanwhile, president Macron visited the French Agriculture show, where he pet cows and addressed French farmers. Eric Drouet, a prominent voice in the most radical fringes of the Gilets Jaunes movement, tried to approach the president at the event. "Dialogue [between the yellow vests and the government] was broken some time ago", Drouet told the AFP. "We came to see what the president had to say."He could not approach Macron and later joined the Paris march. Last Wednesday, at least 600 Gilets jaunes gathered in Geneva outside the United Nations European headquarters to denounce alleged French police brutality against the movement. The protests were mainly peaceful, but with some minor clashes with the police and some violence, i.e. ochlarchy. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy and the ochlarchists, but support peaceful protests.
02.03.2019. France's 'yellow vest' protest numbers sharply down, government figures show. Turnout for a 16th round of "yellow vest"protests in France on Saturday 02.03.2019 was lower than last week and marches were largely peaceful, in a relief for President Emmanuel Macron who has struggled to find a response to the movement. The interior ministry said it had counted 39,300 protesters nationwide, of which 4,000 were in Paris. Last week the ministry had said it counted 46,600 people nationwide, including 5,800 in the capital - well down on the more than 300,000 who marched at the start of the movement in November 2018, in a protest which degenerated into violent clashes with police in subsequent weeks, i.e. ochlarchy. Protesters marched largely peacefully on Saturday 02.03.20119 from the Arc de Triomphe to Place Denfert-Rochereau on the residential left bank, though water cannon were briefly used to douse protesters on the Champs Elysees boulevard. Tear gas and water cannon were also used in Bordeaux, and in Toulouse, where some protesters marched behind a "cacatov party"banner - a play on Molotov cocktail firebombs - encouraging people to throw "poo-bombs"at police, i.e. ochlarchy. There were no reports of anyone being hit by a "catatov", but the threat of excrement projectiles was of concern to reporters covering the marches in Toulouse and Paris. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support peaceful protests. The anarchists (IWW/AI and AI) declare: "The "Yellow Vest"protest movement is mainly populist (see the economic political map above), not anarchist."
Despite the lower turnout, large parts of central Paris were in lockdown as thousands of police cordoned off key areas around the presidential palace and government buildings. "Stop this violence ... the place to express your view in a democratic way is at the debates,"Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud told LCI television, referring to government-organized nationwide debates where citizens can express their views. The gradual fizzling out of the movement is a boon for Macron's centrist government, which has struggled to respond to a diffuse and largely leaderless movement that started as a protest against high fuel prices but has morphed into a broad anti-government protest. After boosting government support for low-income workers by some 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) at the start of the year and starting a series on marathon debates with local representatives, Macron's approval ratings have gradually recovered in recent weeks. Last week, an Odoxa poll showed the percentage of people who consider Macron a good president rose to 32 per cent, back to where it was when the protests started and off a low of 27 per cent in mid-December as protesters rampaged through central Paris and other cities. "We have to keep mobilizing because Macron despises us and does not listen to any of our demands,"Sophie Tissier, the yellow vest coordinator said in Nantes. "He does not even try to understand that there are people that are living in huge poverty and insecurity, and that there are so many injustices."The yellow vests have announced they're going to put up candidates in May for the EU elections.
09.03.2019. Yellow Vest protesters fan flames of anti-Semitism in France. Recent weeks have seen black swastikas scrawled across portraits of Auschwitz survivor, Simone Veil; 96 tombs at a Jewish cemetery defaced in eastern France; and the words, "Dirty Zionist shit!", hurled in anger at French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut by a man wearing a fluorescent yellow vest. These are but a few of the anti-Semitic attacks that have blighted the country in recent months. Home to Europe's largest Jewish community, France has seen a 74% rise in anti-Semitic incidents over the past year, according to French authorities. French President Emmanuel Macron has gone as far as to say that anti-Semitism is at its worst levels in France and in other parts of Europe since World War II.
Studies have shown anti-Semitism is rising sharply across Europe but this violent resurgence in France has triggered some deep soul-searching with many asking: what's behind it? Why now? Some have questioned the Yellow Vest movement and whether its radical fringe is partly to blame for the sudden uptick. "Anti-Semitism was going strong before the yellow vests, but it's even stronger today thanks to some of them,"the head of the French Council of Jewish Institutions, Francis Kalifat, said last month. "Gilets Jaunes, Colere Noir"i s a popular slogan among the leaderless movement, meaning "Yellow Vests, Black Rage."For almost four months it's this rage that has poured out along the Champs Elysees, shattering shop windows, leaving police officers wounded and symbolically knocking the Marianne, a national figure who embodies the French Republic, off her perch.
Vitriol previously expressed in anonymous tweets has materialized in large letters plastered across the Arc de Triomphe monument for all to see. Offensive mutterings that were confined to the home have been amplified and have now taken center stage, as protesters scream their lungs out on live television. France has seen an unprecedented public expression of hate, where nothing now seems to be off-limits. The Yellow Vests are not an anti-Semitic movement per se but in a climate where every voice is considered legitimate, anti-Jewish sentiment has found a prominent platform. Thierry-Paul Valette, a spokesman for the Yellow Vests, rejects the accusation that the movement has empowered hate speech. "We didn't fuel anti-Semitism or hate, we simply put a mirror up to society,"Valette says. "Yes, there are racists, homophobes and anti-Semites in our ranks but that's only a reflection of the French population as a whole."
Nazi salute in reverse. France has a chequered and painful past with anti-Semitism. Even before the Nazi collaboration of the Vichy regime there was the Dreyfus affair, the case of a Jewish army captain who was wrongly accused of spying for Germany: a miscarriage of justice rooted in blatant anti-Semitism that divided France at the end of the 19th century. And since the 1990s, a virulent left-wing anti-Semitism has flared up, mirroring the peaks and troughs of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And on the right, nationalist anti-Semitism has been embodied by Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted Holocaust denier and founder of the National Front. There's no doubt that the far-left and right have been a part of the Yellow Vest movement. Pictures and videos of demonstrators performing the "quenelle,"a downward pointing gesture believed by some to be a Nazi salute in reverse, have emerged online.
The quenelle was invented by French stand-up comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a controversial entertainer who's been spotted at Yellow Vest protests alongside Jean-Marie Le Pen's former speech writer, Alain Soral. Both men have been convicted of anti-Semitism several times. Dieudonne has been charged with "i nciting hatred"due to "homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic"comments made during one of his performances in Belgium, and has several convictions in France for making anti-Semitic comments. Soral has also been charged with inciting hatred of Jews because of an anti-Semitic article he posted on his website. Dieudonne and Soral regularly appear on their YouTube channels donning Yellow Vests and encouraging their followers -- who are in the hundreds of thousands -- to overthrow "bankers"and "Zionist powers."Alain Finkielkraut, whose Polish-Jewish father survived deportation to Auschwitz, told the French press he sees the influence of both Dieudonne and Soral in the rise of anti-Semitism. "We mustn't underestimate their influence. Their dream is to unify a multi-cultural France behind a hatred of the Jews,"he said. Finkielkraut, was a strong supporter of the Yellow Vest movement when it started, although he now believes the protest is "grotesque"and should stop because "the violence and hatred have gone too far."Over the past 15 years Rabbi Nissim Sultan has lost a significant part of his congregation in Grenoble because of anti-Semitism. He says the rise in conspiracy theories has played a huge part: "There's increasing distrust. With globalization and the fight between social classes, old stereotypes have returned,"Sultan said. "It's during times of unrest that people look for a scapegoat so here we are again because we're a familiar figure to blame."
Minority tars Yellow Vest movement. Conspiracy theories are popular with the Yellow Vests. Their distrust of the mainstream media has pushed many of them into social media echo chambers. Videos about the Rothschilds, the famous Jewish banking dynasty, have been widely circulated on Yellow Vest Facebook pages. A study conducted by the Fondation Jean Jaures shows 31% of people who identify as Yellow Vest supporters believe the US government was involved in 9/11 and a whopping 50% of those who participated in a Yellow Vest protest said they believed in a "global Zionist conspiracy."Historian Pierre Birnbaum says the whole movement shouldn't be tarred with the same brush but he sees a crossover between the Yellow Vest ideology and anti-Semitism. "It's a movement against the elite, against globalization, against banks,"he said. "All of this relies on the same stereotypical elements to do with money which can awaken a feeling of anti-Semitism." In the wake of these anti-Jewish attacks President Emmanuel Macron announced a crackdown on the "scourge"of anti-Semitism and said a draft law would be presented to parliament in May aimed at tackling online hate speech. "Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism,"Macron declared controversially, adding that in response, France will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism. A handful of senior Yellow Vests have publicly denounced anti-Semitism within the movement and several also took part in what the organizers estimated was a 20,000-strong demonstration against anti-Semitism last month. But in a movement with no clear organization or cohesion, there is yet to be a collective disavowing of anti-Semitism, with many of the self-proclaimed leaders remaining silent. Yellow Vest turnout has been dwindling and the movement's wider support has waned significantly. But Friday will mark the beginning of a three-day sit-in held in Paris, climaxing with a large protest on the weekend of March 16/17 to mark four months since the movement began. Some worry that the moderate majority may be once again overshadowed by a radical and dangerous minority. The anarchists condemn the anti-Semitism.
Yellow vest protests steadfast for 17th consecutive week in face of Macron's 'grand debate'. The yellow vest movement remained steadfast on Saturday as thousands of people took to the streets across France for a 17th consecutive weekend of demonstrations. In Paris, protesters wearing pink were spotted among the usual sea of neon yellow, having turned out to denounce unemployment reforms for child-care workers.Videos posted to social media showed demonstrators clashing with police (i.e. ochlarchy) in the French capital, where water cannons and tear gas were also deployed to disperse the crowd.
Demonstrations were also held in several other French cities, including Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse. Around 28,600 people nation wide (and 3,000 in Paris) took part in Saturday's protest, which was a drop of more than 10,000 from the week before, according to interior ministry estimates quoted by Reuters. While attendance figures in recent weeks have significantly dropped in comparison to the movement's peak of about 300,000 protesters back in November, the demonstrations are still big enough to place continued pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron's attempt to appease the movement, a three-month series of nationwide town hall-style events dubbed the "grand debate,"are set to end this month. The movement, named after the emergency vests the French are required to keep in their cars, held its first nationwide protest Nov. 17. The main complaint then was fuel tax hikes, but that long ago expanded to an array of demands. Calls for a citizens' referendum is now among top demands on the list. As mentioned, the anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, but support peaceful protests. The anarchists (IWW/AI and AI) declare: "The "Yellow Vest"protest movement is mainly populist (see the economic political map above), not anarchist."It is mainly the significant ochlarchy including ant-Semitism, that makes the Yellow Vest movement populist, not anarchist, but also an anti-environment tendency and several other things contributes to a mainly populist direction of this movement.
16.03.2019. Ochlarchy, included blazes, looting and clashes, as Yellow Vests seek new momentum. Demonstrators looted stores on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Saturday 16.03.2019, on the 18th week of “yellow vest” protests, characterized by an uptick in violence after dwindling participation in recent weeks. Large plumes of smoke covered Paris' skyline on Saturday as "Gilets Jaunes"(Yellow Vest) protesters started bonfires in the street, smashed shop windows, and hurled cobblestones at riot police in the 18th consecutive weekend of anti-government protests. In response to the violence, police used water cannons and fired tear gas in front of the Arc de Triomphe monument in Les Champs Elysees. At least 30 demonstrators were arrested by late morning. Tensions flared at the top of the famed avenue where upmarket restaurant Fouquet’s, which is often frequented by celebrities and politicians, was set alight and vandalized. At least one car was set on fire. Thousands of people converged on the Champs-Elysees focal point of the Paris protests over the past four months for “Act XVIII” of a movement which had appeared to be running out of steam but whose core demands still enjoy broad public support. “Let there be no doubt: they are looking for violence and are there to sow chaos in Paris,” Interior Minister Christophe Castaner wrote in a tweet. The fresh round of protests coincided with the end of President Emmanuel Macron's 'Grand Debat', a series of national debates around France which asked people what they want the government to focus on. Last week, only around 28,000 people demonstrated nationwide, according to the authorities, a tenth of the numbers that turned out for the inaugural protest on November 17. But on Saturday the protesters were out in force again, pouring into the capital by train and cars from around the country for what they called an “ultimatum” to Macron. Over 5,000 police were deployed, along with several armoured police vehicles, and several metro stations were closed. Police say about 10,000 people took part in Saturday's protest in the French capital, a marked increase compared with similar demonstrations in recent weeks. Some 32,300 in total took to the streets throughout France, according to the Interior Ministry. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
At least 36,000 people gather in Paris climate rally. At least 36,000 climate campaigners marched in Paris Saturday to condemn what they called the French government's "i naction"on climate change. Organizers of the march through the center of the city, which coincided with "yellow vests"riots in the west, estimated that 107,000 people took part while the police put the figure at 36,000. Organizers said more than 350,000 people turned out to march in 220 towns and cities across France. Many of those present were young people, some of whom had already marched the previous day in a youth protest for climate change action. On Friday, tens of thousands of young people took part in the Paris edition of the global student climate demonstration inspired by 16-year-old Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg. They were joining marches in cities across the world Friday 15.03.2019, as hundreds of thousands of young people skipped school to join the protests. Anarchists participated in the climate rally.
18.03.2019. Yellow vest protests: Paris police sacked, rally bans planned. The French government will replace the Paris police chief and ban rallies in some areas, after Saturday's violent protests, i.e.ochlarchy - mob rule broadly defined. The French government will replace the Paris police chief and ban rallies in some areas, after Saturday's violent protests. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the authorities would act as soon as "radical groups"were identified in the worst-hit areas. Last Saturday, rioters smashed shops on Paris's famed Champs-Élysées. About 10,000 people took part in the protest in Paris, a marked increase compared with similar recent rallies. The "yellow vests"("gilets jaunes") began weekly protests across France four months ago, initially because of fuel tax rises. The movement escalated into a broader revolt against perceived elitism, for which activists blame President Emmanuel Macron. The famous Fouquet's restaurant - a haunt of previous French presidents - was badly damaged in Saturday's clashes. Rioters also vandalized a Boss menswear store and the luxury Longchamp handbag store. The Paris Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce says that 91 businesses were hit, nearly all of them suffering serious damage.
What did PM Philippe say? In a televised statement on Monday, Mr Philippe said: "From next Saturday, we will ban 'yellow vest' protests in neighborhoods that have been the worst hit as soon as we see signs of the presence of radical groups and their intent to cause damage."The restrictions would apply to Paris and other cities. Mr Philippe also admitted that "i nappropriate instructions"had been given to Paris police to deal with protesters last Saturday. Mr Philippe said Paris police chief Michel Delpuech would be replaced on Wednesday by Didier Lallement, the top police official in the south-west Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Organized groups of ultra-left radicals, i.e. marxist ochlarchists, were largely responsible for last Saturday's violence, but there has also been widespread criticism of the police response. Far from intervening rapidly to stop the rioting, the police seemed to be on the defensive - one explanation being that they were reluctant to use their more powerful anti-riot ammunition because of concern over the injuries they can cause. Meanwhile, President Macron cut short a skiing holiday and vowed "tough"action in response. "Now that's the end. I demand that such scenes must not be repeated, especially on that [Champs-Élysées] avenue,"he said. Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters. More than 120 people were arrested. Protesters threw cobblestones at police at the Arc de Triomphe war memorial. As mentioned, the anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
Brown Cards to AFP and France 24. 18.03.2019 AFP and France 24 reported: “Since the end of December, the number of “yellow vest” protesters has fallen, but each Saturday thousands still take to the streets, including far-right and far-left groups as well as anarchists who are responsible for much of the violence [i.e. ochlarchy]. A hard core of protesters have already vowed to cause havoc again next Saturday.” It is true that far-right and far-left groups are responsible for much of the violence, but false that anarchists are responsible for significant ochlarchy. Anarchists and ochlarchists are opposites. Ad so called “anarchist” ochlarchists in France. The so called "anarchist” ochlarchists are in reality marxist ochlarchists. It is a fact that socialists are divided in two camps, marxists and anarchists. It is also a fact that all authoritarian socialists are marxists, not anarchists. It is a fact that ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined) is authoritarian. Thus it is a fact that socialist ochlarchists are marxists, not anarchists, regardless of what they may call themselves or flag. The media and other persons should always report the facts in such cases, not falsely calling marxist ochlarchists anarchists. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy. AFP and France 24 are mixing up anarchists with marxist ochlarchists, and the International Anarchist Tribunal (IAT-APT) hands out Brown Cards to AFP and France 24 for this false statement and breaking of the Oslo Convention.
22.03.2019. France to deploy military anti-terror force at Gilets Jaunes march. The French government is to deploy its military anti-terror force as reinforcement during Act 19 of Saturday's Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protests, President Emmanuel Macron decided on Wednesday 20.03.2019. "The president has requested emergency measures to toughen the security by the armed forces", Benjamin Griveaux, the spokesperson for the French Elysee Palace, said on Wednesday. The yellow vests, he said, "are not protesters, but rioters". Alongside the deployment of the French military anti-terror force, called Sentinelle, to protect official buildings and other "static places", Griveaux announced that armed forces would start using surveillance drones and throw indelible, invisible liquid on protesters to mark them. "We cannot let a minuscule minority damage our country and the French image abroad", he said. The decision came after violence marred last weekend's protests, reaching levels not seen since December 2018. Many targets by the movement in Paris and other cities included known landmarks and stores or places seen as elitist, such as the Parisian restaurant Le Fouquet's on the Champs Elysées. Following the attacks at Charlie Hebdo in 2015, the military has been patrolling the streets across the country. French police have banned "yellow vest"protesters from the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Saturday after rioters destroyed businesses last week. The government has warned that it intends to react severely against any new outbreak of violence.
23.03.2019. ‘Gilet jaunes’ march in Paris as France puts army on standby. "Gilets jaunes"("yellow vest") marched in the streets of Paris in their 19th consecutive weekend of protests despite new security measures rolled out in a bid to quell violence at protests. It comes after violent scenes on a landmark Parisien boulevard last Saturday that saw demonstrators torch Le Fouquet restaurant. The scenes of lawlessness prompted the government to act: Paris' police chief was replaced, protesters have been banned from the Champs-Élysées and fines for illegal gatherings have been increased. Demonstrators were made to march in the capital on a new route from Denfert Rochereau in southern Paris with the target of finishing in Barbes, near the Sacre Coeur in northern Paris. Similar restrictions have been put in place in other French cities, such as Nice and Bordeaux. The French Interior Ministry said an estimated 8,300 people had turned out for the protest by 2 pm CET, including 3,100 in Paris. The military has also been controversially put on standby. The government insists they are only there to protect official buildings and sensitive sites. It was a mainly peaceful Yellow Vest protest in Paris this Saturday. There were only a few skirmishes on Saturday afternoon when police faced off with demonstrators that had started a fire in the 10th district. Tear gas was used. The Champs-Elysees was almost empty except for a large police presence. Scores of shops were looted and ransacked last weekend, and some were set on fire by protesters. Fear of more violence kept tourists away, and police shut down metro stations in the area as a precaution. Dozens of police vehicles, including armoured trucks and water cannon, encircled the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the iconic avenue, with officers searching people's bags and patrolling in front of boarded-up storefronts. Paris police arrested 51 people by early afternoon, issued 29 fines and conducted 4,688 "preventive checks"on protesters entering the capital. In Nice, police dispersed a few hundred protesters who gathered on a central plaza. There were an estimated 40,500 demonstrators across France, with 5,000 in Paris, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said.
30.03.2019. Turnout declines for 20th round of 'yellow vests' protests in France. As "yellow vest"demonstrators staged anti-government protests for the 20th consecutive weekend this Saturday, turnout appeared to be in decline compared to last week. The French Interior Ministry counted some 5,600 protesters at 2pmCET, including 1,800 in Paris. Last week at the same time, the Ministry said there were 8,300 demonstrators nationwide including 3,100 in Paris. Yellow vest protesters have repeatedly challenged the figures provided by the government. In an attempt to contain violence, authorities have banned demonstrations in certain areas including the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, the surroundings of the National Assembly and the centre of Bordeaux. Demonstrators who will brave the ban face a 135 euros fine. "We are coming for the same reasons as on November 17 (the first day of protests). We did not get anything,"said Nadine, a social worker taking part in the Paris protests this Saturday. "It's always the same goal: social justice and the citizen's initiative referendum, especially when economic choices need to be made"added Jean-Edouard, 43, from the Paris suburb of Seine et Marne. In Paris, thousands of yellow vests started marching from the Gare de l’Est, in the north of the city center. They were heading south to weave through the Left Bank and past the Eiffel Tower. The French capital was placed under high security. French banking federation calls for an end to violence. Meanwhile, in a column published in Le Monde newspaper on Saturday 30.03.2019, the French banking federation urged protesters to spare its branches, cash machines and staff. “We demand that our colleagues and sellers be able to do their job in safe and serene conditions to the benefit of their customers,” the federation wrote. More than 760 banking offices have been damaged since the beginning of the movement, according to AFP. The French Interior Ministry counted some 33,700 protesters throughout the country, including 4,000 in Paris. Last week, the Ministry said there were 40,500 demonstrators nationwide including 5,000 in the capital. Paris police said 32 people were detained and 21 fined for taking part in an unauthorized protest. In the southern French town of Avignon, brief scuffles broke out as police forced protesters out of the narrow streets of the medieval city center. In Bordeaux, in the southwest, French police used tear gas after some protesters set fire to debris from a construction site and tried to force their way past security barriers. Protests were banned from the city center, where violence has often erupted in previous weeks. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
02.04.2019. The Yellow Vest movement is mainly populist, with a lot of indirect action, i.e. not anarchist. The anarchists (IWW/AI and AI) declare: "The "Yellow Vest"protest movement is mainly populist, not anarchist, see the Economic-Political Map. It is mainly the significant ochlarchy including anti-Semitism, that makes the Yellow Vest movement populist, not anarchist, but also an anti-environment tendency and several other things contributes to a mainly populist direction of this movement. Direct action means a bottom - up approach, i.e. anarchist. The significant ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, of the Yellow Vests, means a top - down approach, i.e. mainly indirect action - not anarchist."
04.04.2019. French authority rejects pre-emptive 'yellow vest' protest bans. France's Constitutional Council on Thursday 04.04.2019 struck down a measure that would have let authorities ban certain individuals from protesting, a key element of the government's plan to crack down on violence at "yellow vest"demonstrations. The council, which rules on the validity of laws, said the proposal gave officials "excessive latitude"to justify the individual bans against people suspected of being "a particularly serious threat to law and order."The move was inspired by anti-hooligan measures that keep out known troublemakers from football stadiums, but critics said it arbitrarily infringed on a person's right to freedom of speech and assembly. But the council upheld other measures of the law passed on March 12, such as more severe penalties for organizers of unauthorized demonstrations, and for people who cover their faces during violent protests. Demonstrators who defy protest bans will now face up to six months in prison and fines of up to 7,500 euros ($8,400), while those masking their faces could be fined up to 15,000 euros. France has been rocked by months of weekly Saturday protests by the yellow vests. The protests have often degenerated into rioting and fierce clashes with police in Paris and other cities, often by far-left and far-right extremists wielding metal bars or slingshots. After subsiding as the protests waned early this year, violence flared again on March 16 when thousands of black-clad agitators battled police for hours while torching dozens of businesses. The government has vowed to crack down on the destruction, outlawing recent protests on the Champs-Elysees in Paris as well as in other city centers. The new law also gives police the right to search individuals and vehicles at or near demonstrations, to prevent people from bringing in objects that could be used as weapons.
06.04.2019. French Yellow Vests stage ‘Act 21’ of protests. Protesters from the Yellow Vest movement took to the streets of France for a 21st straight weekend, with hundreds gathered for a march across Paris, one of numerous protests around the country. Paris police have fine-tuned their strategy of being more mobile and proactive to counter eventual violence since the first Saturday of Yellow Vest protests November 17. The Champs-Élysées avenue is off-limits to protesters after it was hit by rioting last month. Hundreds gathered in Rouen, in Normandy, a past flashpoint, and hundreds more in eastern Paris at the Place de la République, the start of a march to the business district on the capital's western edge. The Yellow Vest movement, demanding social and economic justice, has attracted dwindling crowds but still remains a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron. In Paris, two marches were authorized by the police. One, was submitted by Sophie Tissier, a representative of the Yellow Vest movement, and the other by Éric Drouet, a well-known figure within the group. Protests in the provinces. In Rouen, a few hundred people gathered downtown mid-morning Saturday including some trade unionists. Protesters circled around an area barricaded by the police shouting, "Macron, get lost for good!"Protests also took place in Lyon, Dijon, Nice, Nantes, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Toulouse. Last week, Act 20 of the Yellow Vest protests saw 33,700 people take to the streets, according to the French Interior Ministry. In a Facebook posting however the Yellow Vest movement claimed 105,104 protesters took to the streets. This Saturday they were 22,300 to march across France, according to government figures, the lowest turnout since the movement started in November last year. There were 28 arrests in Paris and a few clashes with police in Rouen. The French authorities had issued protest bans for the Champs-Elysees and areas near the Elysee Palace and the National Assembly in Paris. The protests were relatively quiet compared to previous marches, which should come as a relief for president Emmanuel Macron. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
13.04.2019. Yellow Vests look to keep up pressure with 22nd consecutive Saturday of protests. 'Yellow vest' protesters clash with riot police in Toulouse. France’s Yellow Vest protesters took to the street on Saturday, for the 22nd consecutive Saturday of demonstrations. Tension rose in Toulouse as thousands gathered for the first time since a controversial anti-rioting law took effect on April 11. Several hundred people had begun marching in Paris by 1pm on Saturday. Protests are also slated for Marseille, Grenoble, Lille and other cities. On social media, Yellow Vest protesters in Toulouse were called on to keep up the fight against President Emmanuel “Macron and his world” and to “show that everything is just getting started after the results of the big debate”. "Gilets jaunes"("yellow vest") demonstrators clashed with riot police in Toulouse on Saturday 13.04.2019 as President Emmanuel Macron prepares a series of policy announcements aimed at quelling 22 consecutive weekends of protests. Police in the south-western French city fired teargas and arrested several people after hundreds of demonstrators started throwing objects, burning rubbish bins and trying to enter areas where protests had been banned. About 2,000 protesters had gathered on the Allee Jean Jaures, a wide avenue in the city center and on nearby side streets. Activist groups had said on social media that Toulouse would be the focus for the 22nd round of demonstrations, prompting city mayor Jean-Claude Moudenc to express concern ahead of Saturday's protests. Marches in Paris and elsewhere were largely peaceful by early afternoon, but the protests continue to put pressure on Macron. He has vowed to announce a series of measures aimed at easing discontent in the country. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on Monday 08.04.2019 presented the initial findings of a vast, nearly three-month-long public consultation known as the Grand Débat. Macron launched the initiative in January in response to the Yellow Vest unrest saying he “intend[ed] to transform violence into solutions”. French Interior Ministry said 31,000 "yellow vest"protesters marched on Saturday 13.04.2019, including 5,000 in Paris. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
20.04.2019. Fires, tear gas as French Yellow Vests stage first Saturday protest since Notre-Dame blaze. Clashes broke out in Paris on Saturday during the 23rd day of national action by the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) movement after authorities warned they expected the protest to be marred by anger-fuelled violence following the blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral. The demonstration in Paris began near the Finance Ministry at midday. Yellow Vests had called for supporters from all over the country to converge on Paris to give President Emmanuel Macron “an ultimatum” ahead of his policy address on Thursday 25.04.2019. The group marched to the Place de la République, arriving in the afternoon. The demonstration was punctuated by clashes with the police and acts of vandalism. The Place de la République was covered for much of the afternoon with a cloud of tear gas as some protesters threw bottles and other projectiles at police officers on the scene. Several shops and restaurants were vandalized. Motorbikes, scooters, and trashcans were lit on fire. But protests on the whole were considerably less violent and destructive than anticipated by authorities. The Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, credited the “work and professionalism” of the police “that enabled them to protect people and property”. Protesters began to leave the Place de la République around 7pm (Paris). The numbers: 27,900 people protested across France this Saturday 20.04.2019 as opposed to 31,100 last week. The number in the capital nearly doubled to 9,000. According to Yellow Vest organisers, more than 100,000 people participated across France. Authorities deployed 60,000 police officers nationally. In Paris, 227 people were detained and 178 taken into custody. Police also conducted 20,500 spot checks. In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, 1,500 Yellow Vests gathered downtown. Eleven were detained. In Toulouse, scene of some of the more violent protests in past months, thousands gathered around 2pm (Paris). Police said two were gravely injured and 17 people were detained, mostly for throwing projectiles and attacking police officers. In the southern city of Marseille, 650 Yellow Vests protested. Seven were arrested. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
25.04.2019. France's Macron responds to yellow vests with promise of reforms. French President Emmanuel Macron has given a long-awaited response to the yellow vest protest movement with promises of tax cuts, higher pensions and a reform of the civil service. Despite insisting that order must return, he acknowledged a "lack of trust"i n the establishment. Mr Macron said he stood by his reforms. President Macron recognized that at the core of the movement were "fair demands". When he was elected in 2017, Mr Macron vowed to fight "the forces of division that undermine France". Although he questioned in his speech whether he had taken a "wrong turn", he insisted that government reforms so far had been right, but not fast enough. The president said he had "learnt a lot"from national debates held with French citizens across the country - an unforeseen political exercise.
His plans include:
• A "significant cut"i n income tax worth €5bn (£4.3bn; $5.6bn), financed by spending cuts and closing company tax loopholes, but the French will have to "work harder"
• Reintroduction of inflation-linking for pensions worth less than €2,000 a month but more working life spent making pension contributions
• More decentralized government
• Extending proportional representation in elections, and making referendums easier to hold
• Abolition of the ENA university, which has trained political leaders and captains of industry but is seen as elitist by many
The president also acknowledged there were concerns in society regarding climate change and immigration. The president's announcement is the culmination of what was touted as a "grand debate"with the French people about their concerns. The latest proposals come on top of changes announced in December at a cost of €10bn. Those plans, including a government bonus scheme for the low-paid, failed to quell the protests. While a Citizens’ Initiative Referendum (RIC), one of the Yellow Vests’ main demands, was noticeably absent from the national debate conclusions unveiled by the government in April, Macron has promised to reform the RIP (attempts to trigger a national referendum; Référendum d'initiative populaire) in order to make it more accessible to citizens. Failure to answer the public’s calls for more participatory democracy will come at a cost for Macron and the rest of France’s discredited political class. The national debate was a missed opportunity. We mustn’t forget the RIC was the Yellow Vests’ number one demand. There is a pressing need to restore faith in politics, and this can only happen if one has faith in the public too. If politicians are serious about healing French politics, then they don’t really have a choice.
27.04.2019. The "gilets jaunes"protesters were back on the streets across France on Saturday (27 April) two days after Macron outlined policy proposals including €5bn worth of tax cuts in response to the protests. Although many prominent figures of the movement said the reforms did not meet their demands, protests turnout was in decline compared to last week. The French interior ministry counted 23,600 protesters throughout France this Saturday, compared to 27,900 Saturday last week. The "gilets jaunes"have repeatedly challenged the government's figures and said they counted "at least 60,132 protesters"nationwide on Saturday 27.04.2019. The "gilets jaunes"("yellow vest") movement, which began as dissent against fuel tax hikes but has since snowballed into a more general backlash against Macron and his government, has been demonstrating for 24 consecutive weekends since early November. Strasbourg was the epicenter of the movement this weekend, as the "gilets jaunes"have launched an international appeal to march to the European Parliament ahead of the EU elections to be held later this month. Around 2,000 protesters gathered near the seat of European Union institutions in the eastern French city, according to authorities. Police fired several canisters of tear gas to push back the demonstrators. French television showed some hooded protesters throwing back stones and other objects at the police. In the capital Paris, which has witnessed some of the worst violence in past protests, Saturday's demonstration, jointly organized with trade union confederation CGT, was mostly calm. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
01.05.2019. May Day protests turn violent in Paris. May Day protests in Paris have erupted into violence as police met demonstrators with tear gas in the city's Vavin neighbourhood. French police said it had made 165 arrests by early afternoon and had conducted more than 9,000 searches. Heightened security has been put in place across Paris for this year's demonstrations amid ongoing tension with the gilets jaunes movement, and climate protesting. Hooligans bent on violence, among others the marxist ochlarchy group Black bloc, joined the "gilets jaunes", as trade unionists, students and others turned out to mark International Workers' Day. President Emmanuel Macron's recent promise of tax cuts and other reforms have been rejected in some quarters. In France's second city of Lyon, police fired tear gas after being hit by projectiles at Place Bellecour. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
04.05.2019. France's "yellow vest"demonstrations recorded their lowest turnout yet on Saturday 04.05.2019. The downturn in demonstrator numbers on the 25th straight weekend of yellow vest protests could be a relief to President Emmanuel Macron, who last week made a series of policy proposals to address the issues raised. Some 18,900 protesters took part in the latest marches nationally, compared with 23,600 a week earlier, the Interior Ministry said. In Paris, where three protests had been authorized, turnout was 1,460 against 2,600 last week. In addition, some yellow vests joined a rally against climate change in the northern city of Metz, where G7 environment ministers were meeting. The demonstration gathered 3,000 participants, the ministry said. Many in the grassroots movement have said Macron's proposals last week, which include tax cuts worth around 5 billion, did not go far enough and lacked details.
11.05.2019. Police clash with demonstrators as yellow-vest protests reach six-month mark. Saturday marked the 26th straight weekend of protests against President Emmanuel Macron and his economic reform agenda. French police fired tear gas at masked demonstrators in Lyon and Nantes on Saturday 11.05.2019, as heavy rain kept the number of yellow vest demonstrators down in Paris. Police estimated 18,600 people took to the streets around France, including 1,200 in the capital. Organizers had been hoping to regain momentum following a record low turnout last weekend. 18,900 protesters turned out last Saturday - although organizers said this was because of May Day demonstrations a few days earlier. In a bid to widen the protests, demonstrations were organized in the regional cities of Lyon, Nantes and Toulouse. In Nantes, black-hooded demonstrators, probably marxist ochlarchists, on the fringes of a largely peaceful protest hurled bottles and smashed shop windows, while in Lyon tear gas swirled as police tried to funnel protesters away from the central Place Bellecour. Saturday's apparently low turnout nationwide will be a relief to Macron, little more than two weeks out from European elections. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
18.05.2019. France's Yellow Vest protesters are taking to the streets for the 27th weekend in a row, their lowest turnout yet. Police in Paris have now banned protesters from the Champs Elysees and areas around the presidential palace, the national assembly, and Notre Dame. Protesters are also forbidden from wearing anything that disguises their face. "Yellow vest"protesters turned out across France Saturday 15.05.2019 to mark six months of rallies against President Emmanuel Macron's policies, but with their numbers dwindling, according to a government tally. A day after Macron appeared to draw a line under the movement, yellow jacket activists -- named after the fluorescent vests they wear -- marched in Paris and several other cities for the 27th consecutive week. The count from the interior ministry -- routinely dismissed by yellow jackets -- put the numbers across France at 15,500, of whom 1,600 marched in Paris. That was down again from last week's count of 18,600, suggesting a steady decline. The yellow jackets' own tally put the nationwide total at 41,000. The numbers were nevertheless certainly down from the massive turn-out at the beginning of the movement, when nearly 300,000 people protested across the country on November 17 - 2018 - in what became one of the biggest challenges to Macron's government. But many of those who turned out on Saturday 18.05.2019 were determined to keep going. "When I hear Macron say that he has done his bit, I can't agree, and that motivates me even more,"said Virginie, an executive secretary marching in the southern city of Montpellier. On Friday 17.05.2019, Macron said he felt he had answered the questions raised by the movement and that there was no more to be done politically. Those who had other ideas about how the country should be governed should run for office themselves, he said. "But democracy is not played out on Saturday afternoons,"he added. A number of yellow vest activists are on lists for the next week's European elections.
The movement was initially launched over fuel tax increases, but snowballed into a widespread revolt against Macron, accused of ignoring the day-to-day struggles of low-income earners in small-town and rural France. Outside the capital, protesters marched in Reims and Nancy in the east of France, and in Lyon, Dijon, Bordeaux and Toulouse across the south, with smaller rallies in other towns and cities. In Bordeaux, a few hundred yellow vests joined environmental activists in a march against the agrochemical giant Monsanto, days after revelations that the group kept files on French politicians, journalists and activists. The group lost its third lawsuit in the United States over the harmful effects of its glyphosate-based weedkiller. In Reims, the windows of the France Bleu radio station were smashed. Local officials reported the presence of about a hundred hard-core activists, including members of the so-called Black Bloc (marxist ochlarchists) blamed for much of the violence that has accompanied the demonstrations. Some 2,000 people marched in Toulouse, one of the strongholds of the movement. "The government is perhaps going to win this round, but we have sown the seeds,"said Aurelien, a man in his 30s, who said he had been with the movement from the beginning. The movement had revealed the authoritarian side to Macron's administration and damaged his image abroad, he said. A number of international organizations, including United Nations' human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, have called for an investigation into reports of police violence during the protests. For months, yellow vest activists have accused the police of heavy-handed repression of their right to assemble and protest, in particular the use of rubber bullet launchers and stun grenades that have seriously injured dozens of people. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, and the marxist ochlarchy group Black Bloc, but support peaceful demonstrations.
25.05.2019. French yellow vest protesters clash with police but numbers wane. Yellow vest protesters clashed with riot police in Paris and the northern city of Amiens on Saturday 25.05.2019 as the French anti-government movement waned on its 28th straight weekend. Police in Amiens, hometown of President Emmanuel Macron, fired teargas at about 1,200 demonstrators after a group pelted stones at police, attacked local bank branches and set fire to rubbish cans, the local police chief's office said. Police detained 27 people in the city. A few hundred protesters also clashed with police in downtown Paris, in and around the Place de la Republique. After more than six months, the grassroots movement protesting over the cost of living and Macron's perceived indifference seems to be losing steam. Around the country only 12,500 demonstrators took to the streets during the latest day of protests, the lowest turnout since the movement started, the French interior ministry said. At the peak in November more than 300,000 were taking part nationally. The prolonged protests which began in opposition to fuel tax increases, have hampered Macron's efforts to push his reform timetable and forced him into costly concessions. Despite Macron's swift reversal of the tax hikes and introduction of other measures worth more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) to boost the purchasing power of lower-income voters, protests and riots continued all over the country. As he was celebrating his second anniversary in power, Macron last month offered more tax cuts worth 5 billion euros, along with other measures. The protests also battered Macron's party in its campaign for European elections to be held on Sunday 26.05.2019. Macron's La Republique en Marche is polling neck-and-neck with the far-right National Rally. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
01.06.2019. Fewer Yellow Vests on 29th protest post-EU poll. Yellow Vest demonstrators rallied mostly peacefully in France Saturday 01.06.2019 for the 29th consecutive week of anti-government protests. But turnout was low for this first rally since EU elections that saw Yellow Vest candidates take a drubbing. The French government said 9,500 people demonstrated across the country.
08.06.2019. Minor clashes break out on 30th weekend of French 'yellow vests' protests. Minor clashes broke out on Saturday 08.06.2019 during the 30th consecutive weekend of “yellow vests” anti-government protests in France, although the numbers of demonstrators remained well below earlier peaks. French television showed a handful of protesters throwing objects at police vans in Drancy, a suburban town near northern Paris, while police also used tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators in the southern city of Montpellier. The city of Dijon, in central France, also witnessed violent clashes. The local police force said some shops in the town center had their windows broken, and added that a riot police officer there was also injured by a slab of paving stone. The French government said 10,300 people demonstrated across the country, up from 9,500 last weekend. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
15.06.2019. The Yellow Vest mass demonstrations in France are continuing for the 31st week in a row, as people take to the streets of Paris and other cities to show their indignation at French President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms. Police in Toulouse, France, deployed tear gas and charged demonstrators. It comes as the Elysee Palace pushes for a controversial reform package. Saturday 15.06.2019 saw crowds of protesters turn out all over France. The demonstrations in Toulouse were among the largest, with more than 1,000 showing up, and police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the activists. The crack of police weaponry could be heard as the streets filled with the choking gas. Riot cops moved against the demonstrators in force, plowing through the massed Yellow Vests. Newspaper La Dépêche reported at least 14 arrests in the city. Similar scenes played out in Paris, with police tear-gassing droves of protesters. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
22.06.2019. The Yellow Vests are holding protests for the 32nd consecutive weekend in parts of France. Yellow Vests rallies continue in the French capital and other cities across the country to express opposition to the Macron government's policies. Hundreds of "Yellow Vest"protesters marched in Paris on Saturday 22.06.2019, despite a drop in turnout from recent weeks. Some protestors have also gathered at toll roads to prevent them from accepting payments, making them open for everyone for free. The movement emerged in France in mid-November 2018 over planned fuel tax hikes. While the French government abandoned its plans and even introduced measures to improve the economic and social situation in the country, protesters continue to take to the streets across France every weekend to express their discontent with the government's policies. Except from a slight increase in demonstrator numbers two weeks ago, the movement has been losing steam, as turnout remained well below earlier peaks seen in November and December 2018, when an estimated 300,000 took to the streets on Saturdays in protests that often resulted in widespread violence and vandalism, especially in Paris. About 11,8000 people hit the country's streets Saturday 22.06.2019, according to the French Interior Ministry. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
29.06.2019. Yellow Vests hold rallies for 33rd consecutive weekend. Yellow Vests protesters are taking to the streets in Paris for the 33rd week in a row on Saturday 29.06.2019 to speak out against the French government’s policies. French police have employed teargas to disperse crowds of Yellow Vests protesters in Paris. Law enforcement officers have also blocked off streets to contain the demonstration. The number of participants in the 33rd Yellow Vests weekend rally was only around 5,800 according to the French Interior Ministry. The worst of the impact on the French economy of the Yellow-Vest protests, which rocked city centers across France last winter, is yet to come, a report said, predicting a wave of bankruptcies among small businesses in the second half of the year. The initial impact of the Yellow-Vest protests, which started in November 2018 as a revolt over high prices at the pumps and morphed into a broader challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, was limited. The national statistics office estimated it at 0.1 percentage points of national output or 2 billion euros ($2.28 billion) in the final quarter of last year. But lawmakers from the opposition-controlled Senate said in a report published this week that the accumulated loss in turnover, which reached 30 percent in city centers on average over six months, will start taking its toll in the coming months. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
06.07.2019. Yellow Vests protesters are hitting the streets of Paris for the 34th weekend in a row on Saturday 06.07.2019 to rally against the French government’s policies. According to to the French Interior Ministry, the demonstration in Paris saw 1,300 thousand demonstrators gather, whereas a week earlier only 1,100 attended. The Yellow Vests movement erupted in November 2018 in response to planned fuel tax hikes in France, but has since evolved into a broader anti-government movement which even spread to other parts of the continent. Police used tear gas to briefly push back Yellow Vest protesters who had flooded Paris streets for the 34th week in a row on Saturday 06.07.2019. According to official numbers, over 6,000 protesters took to the streets this Saturday across France. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
13.07.2019. Yellow Vests protesters are hitting the streets of Paris for the 35th weekend in a row on Saturday 13.07.2019, to rally against the French government’s policies. The Yellow Vests demonstrations that have been taking place in France since November last year have seen 550 gendarmerie officers injured, according to the General Director of the French Gendarmerie, General Richard Lisyure, speaking to the Er-te-el radio station. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
14.07.2019. Bastille Day: Police clash with yellow vests after parade. Police in Paris have fired tear gas at protesters near the Champs-Elysées shortly after France's annual Bastille Day military parade. Earlier, yellow-vest protesters booed President Emmanuel Macron as he was driven down the boulevard. Police said they had detained more than 150 people, including two yellow vest leaders accused of staging an unauthorized demonstration. The parade also saw a French inventor zoom past on a futuristic fly-board. Franky Zapata - a former world jet ski champion - soared above the avenue and the assembled dignitaries. More than 4,000 members of the armed forces marched down the avenue in a tradition that dates back to the years following World War One. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among the foreign leaders present for the event, while German, Spanish and British aircraft took part in the fly-past. Mr Macron announced on Saturday 13.07.2019 that France would set up a new space defense command in September - following similar moves by the US, China and Russia. He said that the command would help to "better protect our satellites, including in an active way". There had been calls on social media for so-called yellow-vest protesters to use the national day celebrations to renew their demonstrations against President Macron. Before the shocked gaze of tourists and other onlookers, groups of protesters - some masked - dragged metal crowd-control barriers into the centre of the Champs-Elysées to form barricades, and set fire to bins. Riot police who had been deployed en masse were ready for trouble and dispersed the initial demonstrations with tear gas and baton charges, but pockets of trouble continued flaring up. It's reminiscent of some of the yellow-vest disturbances from a few months ago - though it's hard to say how many of today's protesters are far-left activists or opportunist trouble-makers. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support peaceful demonstrations.
12.12.2020. Dozens arrested at protests in Paris against security law banning filming police. Police in Paris took nearly 150 people into custody at what quickly became a tense and sometimes ill-tempered protest on Saturday 12.12.2020 against proposed security laws, with officers wading into the crowds of several thousand to haul away suspected trouble-makers. Police targeted protesters they suspected might coalesce together into violent groups like those who vandalised stores and vehicles and attacked officers at previous demonstrations. The interior minister said police detained 142 people. Long lines of riot officers and police vehicles with blue lights flashing escorted Saturday's march through rain-slickened streets. They hemmed in protesters, seeking to prevent the flare-up of violence that marked many previous demonstrations.
As night fell, a police water cannon doused demonstrators as they reached the end of the march. Marchers were protesting against a proposed security law that has sparked successive weekends of demonstrations and against a draft law aimed at combating Islamist radicalism.
The security bill's most contested measure could make it more difficult to film police officers. It aims to outlaw the publication of images with intent to cause harm to police. Critics fear it could erode media freedom and make it more difficult to expose police brutality. The provision caused such an uproar that the government has decided to rewrite it. Slogans on placards carried by marchers in Paris said “I will never stop filming” and “Camera equals mutilation?” There were also protests in other cities. In Lyon, in the southeast, authorities reported five arrests among people they said attacked police and sought to loot shops. The anarchists condemn the ochlarchy, i.e. mob rule broadly defined, but support progressive peaceful demonstrations.
14.10.2022. Two French unions sign agreement with TotalEnergies, but CGT continues strike, see: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20221014-two-french-unions-reach-compromise-with-totalenergies-but-cgt-continues-strike. Source: France 24. The IWW supports the strike!
15.10.2022. Strikes persist at TotalEnergies refineries, fuel depot in France, see: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221015-strikes-persist-at-totalenergies-refineries-fuel-depot-in-france. Source: France 24.
24.12.2022. Violence erupts at protests over deaths of Kurds in 'racist' attack, see: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20221224-kurdish-protesters-again-clash-with-paris-police-after-killings. Source: France 24.
29.01.2024. French farmers block motorways around Paris ahead of talks with PM Attal. French farmers choked off major motorways around Paris on Monday 29.01.2024 after threatening to blockade the capital in an intensifying stand-off with the government over working conditions, taxes and regulation. Key farmers' unions met with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal for an hours-long meeting later in the day. Earlier, around 30 activists from environmental group Greenpeace launched smoke grenades on Paris's Place de la Concorde near the Champs-Élysées. They unfurled a banner in support of the farmers before being escorted away by police. See: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240129-french-farmers-vow-paris-siege-as-tractor-protest-converges-on-capital. Source: France 24. The International Workers of the World (IWW) support the actions. Source: AIIS.
23.06.2024. Large anti-fascist demonstrations in France. Our fellows at the French CNT, «Confédération nationale du travail-France» - anarchosyndicalists, participated in the demonstrations, with their black & red anarchists flags, also shown on France 24 international TV. Sources: France 24 & AIIS.
29.06.2024. Boycott the fascist National Rally of Le Pen at the election in France. Boycottez le Rassemblement national fasciste de Le Pen lors des élections en France.
This resolution will be updated - Follow the news, actions, analysis and comments. Feel free to distribute this resolution to your own network, and/or link up the IWW website.
IWW protest against Toronto G20:
The policy of a) the uninformed of real economics and b) bureaucracy economics
Ad violent clashes with police etc, i.e. ochlarchy, in Toronto 2010 related to the G20 meeting.
No anarchists involved
1. The anarchists condemn marxist vanguardism, hallmarked by symbolic violent attacks on state and capitalism, say, banks, government buildings and other symbols of wealth and power, i.e. ochlarchy and ochlarchist, futile from anarchist point of view, and the opposite of anarchism and anarchist. Such symbolic violent actions are typically marxist vanguardism, similar to RAF-ml (Baader-Meinhof), etc. and the opposite of anarchism and anarchist. Arrest the marxist 'vanguard', the marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists, i.e. terrorists, vandals and hooligans, see also point 2. for more information.
2. Ad so called "anarchists"that use/used firebombs (Molotov coctails) and similar and/or do/did vandalism and hooliganism, i.e. throwing stones at police etc.
The thruth is that terrorism, including bomb, arson attacks and firebomb attacks and similar - including threats of terrorism and calls for terrorism, is a form of ochlarchy, and very much a top down approach, ultra-authoritarian and extremist, and not anarchist. The anarchists condemn terrorism and are strongly opposed to all forms of extremism. These terrorists using firebombs, so called "anarchists", are anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, and ultra-authoritarian. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists, and should not be called so by the media.
Ad so called "anarchists"that do/did vandalism and hooliganism, i.e. throwing stones at police etc. They are also in reality leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists and not anarchists. Such violent attacks on police etc. are ochlarchist, very much a top down approach, ultra-authoritarian and extremist, and not anarchist. The anarchists condemn these violent attacks on police etc., and are strongly opposed to all forms of extremism. These so called "anarchists"are anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, and ultra-authoritarian. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists. Arrest the criminal marxist ochlarchists!
As indicated above, these so called "anarchists", that use/used firebombs (Molotov coctails) and similar and/or do/did vandalism and hooliganism, i.e. throwing stones at police etc., are in reality not anarchists, they are extremists and ochlarchists. The only violence anarchists accept is defensive violence, proportionate in pure self defense, not terrorism, i.e. extremism and ochlarchy. Other violent actions are ochlarchy and ochlarchist, and not anarchistic.
No anarchist groups have been involved in the terrorism, including bomb, firebomb and arson attacks and similar and/or do/did vandalism and hooliganism, in Toronto, not now and not before. These so called "anarchists", are in reality marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists, and thus not anarchists. Anarchists and ochlarchists are opposites. Such marxist, extremist ochlarchists, including copycats, have already long time ago got Brown Cards from the IAT-APT, meaning they are expulsed from the anarchist movement. NB! They are thus not anarchists! IAT-APT hands out fresh Brown Cards to these ochlarchists, to 'hooded ones', black clads', etc, also the ones falsely posing as "anarchists"and using anarchist flags, so called "anarchists", to underline that they are expulsed from the anarchist movement, and thus are not anarchists, according to the (click on:) Oslo Convention.
People doing ochlarchy, i.e. ochlarchists/ochlarchs, are clearly authoritarian, and not anarchistic and anarchists. The difference between ochlarchs/ochlarchists and anarchists is per definition dependent on what you do, not what you say you are or flag or be called in the media or by others! Anarchism means anarchist, i.e. non-authoritarian, non-ochlarchical means and methods, as well as anarchist ends and aims. There must be consistency between means and ends. This is the only strategy that works. The real aim is in general the consequences of the use of the means involved, not some ideological manifesto with good intentions, if any.
Anarchism and anarchist strategy are to change the societal organization in horizontal direction, not attacking persons or things... Anarchists see extremist symbolic actions on capitalism and statism as futile vis-a-vis changing the social organization in horizontal direction - the anarchist aim and strategy, and thus such actions are practically certain not done by anarchists, and not in this and similar cases. 'Hooded ones', 'black clads', 'black blocs/blocks', etc., falsely posing as "anarchists", are as mentioned in reality marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists, and not anarchists. Ad 'hooded ones', 'black clads', 'black blocs/blocks', etc. - anarchists are against political uniforms, this is used by authoritarian groups, not libertarians. A so called 'black bloc/block' is a very hierarchical, uniformed and para-militarist ochlarchist group, very authoritarian, and far from anarchistic and anarchists.
3. As mentioned anarchists and ochlarchists are opposites. To mix up opposites as anarchists with marxist ochlarchists is equally authoritarian as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984"newspeak. Such notes in the media also produce copycat ochlarchists - mainly mislead youths, falsely posing as "anarchists". It should be stopped, and the IAT-APT hands out Brown Cards, as free criticism of this authoritarian tendency.
4. The Anarchist International and the International Workers of the World call for direct actions, i.e. demonstrations with dignity and without ochlarchy, against the authoritarian policy of the G8-G20 and for horizontal organization, i.e. socialism and autonomy, now and later. The IWW, AI and anarchists in general arrange, support and participate in direct actions, i.e. strikes, general strikes, rallies, etc., against the unenlightened plutarchy world wide, but are clearly - and fight - against ochlarchy and ochlarchists/ochlarchs and authoritarian tendencies in general!
The anarchists are against the State in the meaning of societal x-archy, where 'x' is a lot, but not 'an', and do and support direct actions against the State, i.e. top heavy societal pyramid, economical and/or political/administrative. Cut bureaucracy costs - increase the demand of the people - the people seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income - for full employment - against the unenlightend plutarchy of IMF, WB, euro and the Euro-zone, EU in general, and the G8 and G20 countries.
The anarchists thus call for proper demand management now and later. In general it must pay to work, for the people. More information about the fight against the unenlightened plutarchy - and for full employment, see No to euro - Full employment - Anarchist vs bureaucracy economics - IJA 1 (32), the WEC resolutions, The unenlightened plutarchy and The general theory of anarchist economics. More information about the best alternative to the unenlightened plutarchy, i.e. real democracy and horizontal organization, see (click on) System theory , Real democracy, Industrial organization and Horizontal organization - a brief survey.
Associated Press reports 27.06.2010 about the G20 meeting: World leaders pledging to reduce global deficits. As global deficits equal global surplus, this is the same as doing away with surplus, and is the policy of a) the uninformed of real economics and b) bureaucracy economics. It is typical unenlightened plutarchy. This is counterproductive, especially when the world economy very likely is entering a double dip depression, and with about 10% unemployment in many countries, including USA and the Euro-zone. Economic depression is per definition equal to or more than 5% unemployment ratio. This is certainly not the right time for reducing surplus = deficits, but time for proper demand management. Mandated persons! Do it now! Especially, weakening the over-evaluated US $, the British £ and the Euro, i.e. the currencies of the main "deficit countries", is a good thing in the present situation, not the opposite.
5. Reuters and Pav Jordan falsely report 26.06.2010. "G20 protesters burn police cars, smash windows. Black-clad "anarchists"separated from what began as a peaceful procession, fanning out through the core of a city generally known for its civility, and forcing police to rush to keep up... Anarchist groups, which led the violence, had specifically mentioned banks as targets in the run-up to the G20, and a Royal Bank of Canada branch in Ottawa was firebombed last month by a group saying they would protest at the summit." These so called "anarchists"are ochlarchists, the opposite of anarchists. They are practically certain marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists - and thus not anarchists. In fact no anarchists participated in the violence, and "Big Brother"Reuters and Pav Jordan get Brown Cards according to the Oslo Convention for publishing this liestory.
6. Euronews reports 27.06.2010. "G20. Violent anti-G20 summit protests in Canada. ... What started off as a peaceful rally, transformed into ugly scenes as anarchists, dressed in black, broke away from the main group... At least two police cars were set on fire, one in the financial district of the city. Shop fronts were destroyed, as people wearing masks continued to cause havoc, moving to just blocks away from the three meter fence around the summit site."These so called "anarchists, dressed in black", are ochlarchists, the opposite of anarchists. They are practically certain marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists - and thus not anarchists. The truth is that no anarchists participated in the violence, and "Big Brother"Euronews gets a Brown Card according to the Oslo Convention for publishing this liestory.
7. NRK-Dagsrevyen translated 'anarchy' to 'kaos/chaos' in their report about the G20-meeting, but put the blame for the ochlarchy in Toronto falsely on 'black bloc/block anarchists/anarkister', and joins Reuters and Euronews with a Brown Card from IAT-APT.
8. The IAT-APT hands out Brown Cards to all newsmedia that have similar reports as Reuters and Euronews. It must be mentioned that Euronews later had a report without falsely calling ochlarchists, "anarchists".
9. The other main international newsmedia including CNN, BBC and Associated Press, reported quite objectively about the violent ochlarchy in Toronto, and did not falsley call the ochlarchists "anarchists". BBC-TV Saturday showed a lot of red, marxist, flags, directly connected to the violent ochlarchy.
AP reported: "Police made more than 400 arrests after black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful protesters at the global economic summit and went on a rampage in downtown Toronto that lasted into the early morning hours, authorities said Sunday. The roving band of protesters torched four police cruisers and shattered shop windows with baseball bats and hammers for blocks, including at police headquarters, then shed some of their black clothes, revealing other garments, and continued their rampage. Some demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles at police. Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said Sunday that at least 412 people had been arrested in the rampage that began Saturday afternoon. Burrows said many of the violent protesters were Canadian. He added that authorities had known of their plans for some time. "We're not sure we have the leaders, but we have a large proportion of those people and the people who decided they wanted to be influenced by these violent protesters and join with their cause,"Burrows said. "A lot of them were home grown. There's a lot of Canadian talent in the group."
CNN later Sunday reported: "G-20 protests plagued by violence, vandalism. Police fired tear gas Sunday to tame groups protesting the arrest of G-20 demonstrators in Toronto, Canada, said Nena Snyder, a spokeswoman for the Integrated Security Unit. An old film studio was converted into a prisoner processing center specifically for handling G-20 protest arrests. Police released tear gas outside that center where other people were protesting the arrests, Snyder said. "I do not believe that the individuals bent on vandalism and violence in our city have finished with their intent, so we will remain vigilant,"Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said Saturday night. Police have made a total of 562 arrests since June 18, said Constable Rodney Petroski of the Ontario Provincial Police. From 6 a.m. ET Sunday through late afternoon, 224 people were arrested, he said. Some of those have been released from the prisoner processing center, while others were being held for bail, according to Petroski.
Mobs [ochlarchs/ochlarchists] were scuffling with police in multiple locations, Snyder said. Of the Sunday arrests, 70 took place on Bancroft Avenue, she said. "At no time was there risk to the safety of summit participants,"according to the ISU. There were no reports of serious injuries to either protesters or police, said Integrated Security Unit spokeswoman Jillian Van Acker. Blair told reporters that packs of disruptive demonstrators infiltrated peaceful protests in order to cause chaos [ochlarchy, the opposite of anarchy] and distract police. "These criminals rely on the anonymity of hiding in a larger group of the curious and the naive,"he said."
10. The anarchists condemn the violent marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, and welcome the arrests. The anarchists call for arrest of all criminal marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, now and later. The anarchists are not naive in these matters, see Direct action against the World Bank etc. at the ABCDE-conference.
11. Associated Press 28.06.2010 reported:
Police arrest more than 600 at Toronto summit. Police raided a university building and rounded up hundreds of protesters Sunday in an effort to quell further violence near the G-20 global economic summit site a day after black-clad youths [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] rampaged through the city, smashing windows and torching police cars. The violence shocked Canada, where civil unrest is almost unknown. Toronto police Sunday said they had never before used tear gas until Saturday's clashes with anti-Globalization activists [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists]. Police said they have arrested more than 600 demonstrators, many of whom were hauled away in plastic handcuffs and taken to a temporary holding center constructed for the summit.
Police adopted a more aggressive strategy Sunday by going into the crowd to make arrests, compared to the previous day when they stood back as protesters torched four police cars and broke store windows. No serious injuries were reported among police, protesters or bystanders, Toronto Police Constable Tony Vella said Sunday. Thousands of police officers in riot gear formed cordons to prevent radical anti-globalization demonstrations [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] from breaching the steel and concrete security fence surrounding the Group of 20 summit site. Security was being provided by an estimated 19,000 law enforcement officers drawn from across Canada. Security costs for the G-20 in Toronto and the Group of Eight summit that ended Saturday in Huntsville, 140 miles (225 kilometers) away, were estimated at more than US$900 million.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper deplored the actions of a "few thugs"[leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] and suggested the violence justified the controversial cost. "I think it goes a long way to explaining why we have the kind of security costs around these summits that we do,"he said. The disorder and vandalism [ochlarchy, the opposite of anarchy] occurred just blocks from where US President Barack Obama and other world leaders were meeting and staying. On Sunday, protesters gathered at a park near the detention center - about 2 1/2 miles (four kilometers) east of where the leaders were meeting. Plainclothes police jumped out of an unmarked van, grabbed a protester off the street and whisked him away in the vehicle. The protest was then quickly broken up by riot police, who set off a device that created a cloud of smoke that sent protesters running down the street. Vella said it was not tear gas.
Bridie Wyrock, 20, from Cleveland, Ohio, said she was arrested for public mischief for sitting on a street in the financial district. Wyrock, held for 19 hours before being released, said there weren't enough toilets and said some people resisted detention, but said police treated most people with respect. "They put us in cages, blocked off on all three sides,"Wyrock said. "It was cold and dirty."An anti-poverty group called The Global Call to Action Against Poverty [and anarchists] criticized the protesters who committed violence [ochlarchy, the opposite of anarchy]. "A bunch of pimply faced teenagers trashing shops and burning cars does not help anyone,"said Rajesh Latchman of GCAP South Africa. "These hooligans [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] obscure the real issues."
Previous global summit protests have turned violent. In 1999, 50,000 protesters shut down World Trade Organization sessions in Seattle as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. There were some 600 arrests and $3 million in property damage. One man died after clashes with police at a G-20 meeting held in London in April 2009.
More information at (click on the file:)
The International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch.
See the also the note "Anarchy is optimal order" in the introduction to this file, and the chapter "Anarchists against political extremism".
The IWW supports the resolution of the IAT-APT .
