Student Blockades in France Are Broadening to Cost-of-living Mobilizations
Featured image: Demonstration in Paris, France. Source: AIL
The wave of French student protests that began in September has persisted, and the protests have now widened beyond school blockades into a broader popular protests over prices and public services.
On October 17, student groups joined demonstrations with trade unions and the Yellow Vest movement over the cost of living and government policy. We previously shared the call published in La Cause du Peuple for wider mobilization and protests in France. Organizers put the national total at 800,000 participators. The protests continued on until Sunday. The Associated Press reported about 400 arrests during the day, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu later cited 1,200 arrests and 150 injured police officers and gendarmes. Although there is no reliable overall account of injured protesters, a member of Jeunesse Communiste (Communist Youth) in Limoges was hit by a flash-ball round which fractured her hand and at least one person has died with videos also circulating of life threatening police violence.
The International Anti-Imperialist League (AIL) has published a collection of more photos and videos of the protests of October 17:
