Not really riots

Posted in France

So, I’ve been looking at the papers trying to figure out what is up with the demonstrations in Paris. I’m actually in Paris right now, so I had dinner with my friend Danica. As always, Danica was in the thick of it, taking pictures. She showed me a few that were pretty grim. Apparently she was teargassed a couple of times. Her general take was that the cops were more aggressive than the demonstrators who, to quite an extent, were aware of the theatrical aspect of a demonstration and had some fun with that. here are a couple of photos she shared with me.

11 thoughts on “Not really riots”

  1. A friend in France reckons the police in Paris did not attack the black clad disrupters who are breaking windows and setting fire to cars last time demonstrations turned nasty, reserving their firepower for peaceful demonstrators. Does your friend have any input on this this time round?

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    1. Well, she is a bit to the left of me, politically. She claims not to have seen anyone other than police who were violent. I think, too, that she stayed out in the less touristy neighborhoods. The folks who broke windows and all were more likely in nicer parts of town, around Concorde and all.

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      1. I did wonder. Friend reckons the black clad bunch are agents provocateurs, so that Macron can say he is acting to restore order rather than attacking peaceful demonstrations

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        1. Black-clad, like a uniform? Maybe, though I get the feeling that Macron is kind of staying out of it. Poor Elizabeth Borne is taking the heat for decisions that are not her own. Actually this time the big deal seems to be the lack of garbage collection. And I’ve seen a few articles about the aggressive nature of policing in France. They just seem to wade in; no need for provocation.

          In La Rochelle CGT were setting fires in the street, thus screwing up access to freeways and the center of town for some time to come. CGT banners all over the place, so no doubt about it.

          Honestly, Helen, I’m not big on conspiracy theories. I need some evidence. And it seems to me that Macron is so arrogant, so clueless about anything outside his bubble, I don’t think he’d bother. I think he’s more likely to treat the protesters like tantruming toddlers; let them scream it out and then they can rejoin the group. The thought that there might be legitimate issues with the reforms — it’s a whole lot more and more complicated than the press make it out to be — has likely never crossed his mind.

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  2. He says he is watching videos taken by protesters and doesn’t see the balaclava mob bothered by the police, thus his theory. There have been demonstrations in his small town, but all peaceful.
    The police have always had the reputation of bash first and ask questions of the survivors later…so nothing new there.
    He also reckons that Macron thinks he will get away with it as the banlieues won’t come out. Working off piste as it were the reforms don’t bother them.
    He’s looking at stuff every day in France, all I see here are a few photographs of piles of rubbish burning and people running away from the police.
    Did you see the Ste. Soline fracas?

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        1. I like my farmers but no question, they should stop spraying their crops in mid-afternoon, when a lot of that water is lost to evaporation. They should also switch to less thirsty crops. And really, a reservoir? How much evaporation does that represent? We have a serious issue with ground water depletion. No wonder.

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          1. A long term problem…and it’s not just one reservoir, but several, some already in use.
            When we left they were planning to destroy the weirs in the river to reduce the amoungt of chemical spill in the water. No doubt using some coefficnt of which french admin is so fond. Whatever you do, do not touch the farmers…especially the cereal guys.

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          2. It’s dozens of reservoirs and they are talking about making that hundreds. So, as the demonstrators argued, before they were gassed and beaten, this trend will soon mean no water for anybody. If the water table dries up, we’re pretty much doomed.

            It’s all short-term thinking. We should consume less meat, especially less beef, as the guys are often fattened up on corn. Subsidies should be used to help farmers transition into less water-intensive activities. Different crops, fewer cattle, that kind of thing.

            Demilitarizing the police would help, too.

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          3. It’s the sunflower boys who bothered me….endless irrigation for growing that crop where the climate was totally unsuitable, meanwhile poisoning the watercourses with their damned chemicals.

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