Paris (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people in Paris and other French cities rallied against racism and the rise of the far right on Saturday.
Some protesters took aim at the US administration of Donald Trump and others carrying Palestinian flags.
Police officers and some protesters clashed in Paris.
The rallies took place amid the rightward shift in French politics, with the government pledging to tighten immigration policies and border controls.
Nearly 91,000 people took part in protests across France, said the interior ministry, with the Paris rally attracting 21,500.
Two people were arrested and three people injured, including a riot police officer, during the clashes in Paris, the ministry statement added.
At demonstrations elsewhere in France, there were three other arrests.
Many of those marching highlighted the growing strength of reactionary political forces, in France but also in the United States.
In the French capital, thousands of people took to the streets.
“Fascism is gangrene from Washington to Paris,” read one placard.
“The far right is on the rise everywhere in Europe,” said Evelyne Dourille, a 74-year-old pensioner.
“It’s scary because in France we see far-right ideas becoming more and more commonplace, even among ministers in this government.”
One American protester said similar demonstrations should be taking place in the United States.
“America is sliding towards fascism,” said the 55-year-old woman.
Aurelie Trouve, a lawmaker for the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, pointed to the growing popularity of the far-right party of Marine Le Pen in France.
“Far-right ideas are contaminating even the government,” she said.
In the southern port city of Marseille, some 3,300 people took to the streets, while 2,600 protested in Lille in the north, according to police.
“Against state Islamophobia” and “Tesla is the new swastika” said some of the placards.
Ines Frehaut, a student taking part in her first demonstration, said some of the statements from France’s hardline interior minister worried her.
“When you see what Bruno Retailleau has said about Islam, Algeria and the wearing of the veil, it’s serious!” she said.
The protests took place a day after the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
“There is a global reactionary offensive against foreigners and their children, against Muslims,” added Dominique Sopo, head of SOS Racisme, also pointing to increasing racist and anti-Semitic acts.
In the run-up to the rallies the LFI party caused an uproar in France by publishing the image of Cyril Hanouna – one of the most influential stars of right-wing media in the country – as part of a campaign calling on people to turn out for the anti-racism protests.
The image pictured Hanouna, who was born into a Jewish family that had immigrated to France from Tunisia.
Critics accused the LFI of imitating the anti-Semitic tropes of the Third Reich. Key LFI figures admitted publishing the image was a "mistake and it was withdrawn.
islamophobia is getting so popular nowadays in europe. it’s disgusting
Take a look at these numbers, Americans. Tens of thousands are protesting the far right.
Their leader isn’t even a fascist. Yours is a literal fascist and you think 20 people with signs in front of a McDonalds is a protest. Then go to Reddit and keep memeing away.
Tragic. Take a fucking example. „I called my representative“ does not count btw. What a joke. Is he even awake? He’s probably 90 and half dead.
Take a look at these numbers, Americans.
Not American, still looked. 21 500 in Paris, 34 000 at the Sanders/AOC rally. What’s your point exactly? There are some recent protests, where you could make this argument, this one in France is not one of them.
My point is that in France, there isn’t even a fascist government in power right now. And they have such high numbers.
In the USA, they have a fascist regime in power and there should be hundreds of thousands, not 20 thousand protesters. All across the country. Not just one city.
France would be up in flames if what happened in the USA happened there. There would probably be deaths. There would be Molotov cocktails thrown at police.
Shut the fuck, please. There are plenty of protests happening in this country. You’re just so far up corporate media’s ass that you will only believe it’s happening if they tell you it is. It’s called media suppression.
Also, keep in mind how much larger America is to tiny France. The French can hop onto a rail and be in Paris in hours.
You have to be a fucking moron to expect Americans to all hop in their individual cars, drive across several states to D.C. over the course of several days, and collectively protest at the same time where they also have no place to stay the night.
I mean, for fuck’s sake. France is smaller than Texas. It takes 15 hours to drive from one side to the other, depending on where you’re coming from. In France, the furthest French commune from Paris is 900 km which takes 6.5 hours by train. What a joke.
I’m so tired of this shitty argument. In France, most protesters in Paris are from Paris, they mostly don’t come from other cities. You’re telling me, New York City is too small for a major protest? LA is too small for a major protest? Chicago? You have some of the biggest cities in the western world in your country, more than enough people concentrated there to have millions on the street.
Edit: to be honest, 91 000 in all of France are actually also not that many compared to other recent protests and 34 000 at the Sanders/AOC rally are more than there were in Paris, so OP can suck it. Your counter argument is still weak, though.
Sorry, geographic distance actually is an important factor that you conveniently wish to ignore; it’s the reason many military campaigns have resulted in failure. And, majority of the people do not live in a major city. They commute at least an hour in for work using their personal vehicle, not public transit.
Never mind the fact that Americans still have to work their multiple jobs lest they get fired for attending a protest.
America is spread out, including the cities. There are protests happening across the country and corporate media is suppressing coverage of them. This is not a “weak” argument, it’s a reality that you nor OP actually live in, so you choose the only one provided to you: an artificial reality created by elites to further divide the masses.
Yes, the US is huge, but the population is concentrated to a huge part at the coasts and you have some of the biggest metropolitan areas on the planet. Your urbanisation rate (82%) is actually higher than ours (77%).
Obama’s inauguration was attended by up to 1.8 mio people. Sports events are attended by a lot of people, too, hell, your college football arenas are bigger than most of our stadiums for international soccer matches. So it’s very much possible to get that many people to the same place in the US.
I know your public transit is shit, but it’s not that shitty in big cities. In Chicago and New York it’s pretty much comparable to European cities. I don’t expect huge protests in Bumfuck, Ohio, we don’t have any in Arschderheide either. I’d expect them in big cities, where there are more than enough people living in, and in close proximity to the city.
My point is, you have far stronger arguments than geography. Arrests are a lot less common at aforementioned events. You guys work a lot more than us (35% more according to UECD, which is absolutely fucking insane, I’d expect a revolution here for that alone) and therefore have less time to spend on protests and also a weaker safety net if you lose your job. And we don’t need to talk about media coverage, that is a huge issue. But “it’s hard to get to the protest, I won’t find parking” just seems whiny.
Removed by mod
Wait, you’re still trying that line?
I’m beginning to suspect you aren’t acting in good faith.
I am acting in good faith. I use this line and change the number and location of the „protest“ depending on the latest Reddit post/video.
I mean just look at these protests lol they’re sad.
Nah, see, we had a brief exchange yesterday when you said essentially the same thing.
What that means is that you’re running around stirring shit, even when you’re corrected.
So, either you didn’t bother to check and see that you’re outright wrong, which isn’t acting in good faith. Or, you don’t care that you’re wrong, and you’re just trying to take the piss, which is a again, not in good faith
That, actually, makes you an asshole.
He should be reported for griefing and spreading false misinformation.
Can you prove how I was corrected? Because there hasn’t been any major protests in the USA to be news worthy.
As long as they don’t give a fuck, I will keep using my cheap line.
Prove how you were corrected?
Motherfucker, it was me correcting you.
Just because your punk ass can’t be bothered to scroll lemmy, the very place we’re on and see any of the numerous protest posts ranging from destruction of teslas to thousands of people showing up in Colorado, that doesn’t mean you weren’t corrected.
Maybe wherever you are isn’t reporting on it, but it’s been all the fuck over independent media, and it isn’t hard to find
No, you’re just a clown of a troll that got caught and can’t be an adult about it
So, yeah, go ahead and keep using your empty headed line. Just don’t expect it to go without comment at this point
I ain’t gonna follow you around, but lemmy is small I’ll run across you doing it again eventually, and I’ll make it known that you’re trolling, and point right to your user history where you have done it before.
So, have fun with that. At some point, the word will spread that you’re a troll and all you’ll get is buried by people that aren’t going to give you any attention
Ok know what, the first sentence is already a direct insult with motherfucker. I’m not gonna bother.
Come back to me when you actually want to have a normal conversation.
Nah, I’m onto you now.
