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2024 French protests against the far-right

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2024 French protests against the far-right
Protest in Besançon.
DateJune 9, 2024 (2024-06-09)-current
Location
France
Caused byNational Rally victory in 2024 European elections, snap 2024 legislative elections
GoalsPrevent National Rally from achieving a majority in France's 2024 legislative elections, formation of a left-wing coalition
MethodsPublic demonstration, vandalism
Parties
Lead figures
Casualties
Injuries10+
Arrested33+
Detained16+

The 2024 French protests against the far-right (French : Manifestations de 2024 contre l'extrême droite en France), also known as the anti-National Rally protests, are protests that begin on June 9, 2024 in response to the National Rally (RN) party's victory in European parliament elections and the resulting dissolution of parliament and snap elections called by French President Emmanuel Macron. Several unions and left-leaning party organizations called for demonstrations across several cities in France, as well as for creating coalitions between left-leaning and far left political parties to prevent the National Rally party from achieving victory in French parliament.[1][2]

Background[edit]

Main article: 2024 European Parliament election in France

On June 9, 2024, the National Rally party headed by Jordan Bardella, obtained 31.36% of the votes in the European parliamentary elections, causing French President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new legislative elections in two rounds on 30 June and 7 July 2024, to elect the 577 members of the 17th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic.[1]

A National Rally majority in the 2024 elections would cause France to have a far-right majority government for the first time since World War II.[1]

Demonstrations[edit]

On 9 June 2024, protests started immediately following European election results, where several hundred people demonstrated against the victory of the RN at Place de la République in Paris and called for a “union of the left” in the next legislative elections and several dozen people chanting anti-Jordan Bardella slogans in Lille.[2] Many labor unions, student groups, human rights groups, and political parties called for rallies in order to oppose the anti-immigration and Eurosceptic policies of National Rally, and to promote "progressive alternatives for the world of work".[3][4] Political parties that called for rallies included the Socialist Party, Communist Party, The Ecologists and La France Insoumise, while union groups calling for rallies included the French Democratic Confederation of Labour, the General Confederation of Labour, the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions, the Fédération Syndicale Unitaire, and the Solidaires, promoting the "largest possible" demonstrations.[4]

Protests broke out regularly throughout June, with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating in most of France's largest communes, including Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes, Grenoble, Montpellier, Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Orléans.[3][5] On 15 June, an estimated 350,000-640,000 people protested throughout France in ~150 marches, requiring the mobilization of about 21,000 officers and leading to the arrests of seven protesters. Most protests were conducted peacefully. Many protesters carried posters with anti-racist and Pro-Palestinian messages.[6]

Several causes against National Rally policies were promoted during the marches, which included anti-fascism, environmentalism, pro-immigration and amnesty, defending democracy, increasing the minimum wage, increasing funding to healthcare, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, and pro-union causes.[7][8]

Notable protests[edit]

10 June[edit]

On 10 June, 3,000 people gathered at the Place de la République in Paris, where one protester fell off the statue at the center of the plaza and required emergency care. Many young protesters chanted slogans such as "Youth piss off the National Front", "Everyone hates Marine Le Pen”, “Paris, Paris, Antifa”, and “We have passed the time of astonishment, anger and sadness, now, the next three weeks will be intense”. Several electoral signs were vandalized with slogans such as “Neither Macron, nor Bardella” and “Macron-Bardella, same fight” as thousands of protesters marched to the Ecologist Party headquarters, where left-wing parties deliberated on plans of actions for the upcoming election. The demonstrations required police to disperse the area with sting-ball grenades before midnight, with the remaining protesters dispersing peacefully.[9]

6,200 people protested in Toulouse, where protesters seized construction equipment, broke windows, and burnt trash cans before they were dispersed with tear gas, with two people arrested. 2,800 protesters in Lyon were blocked from crossing a bridge linking to Vieux Lyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and stronghold of the ultra-right, by a police cordon using tear gas to disperse the crowd. A bar linked to the far-right in Angers was attacked and damaged by masked activists in black clothing and hoodies.[9]

About 120 high-school students gathered around the main entrance of the Henri IV High School, an establishment where Macron studied at. They shouted slogans such as "Macron you're screwed, your high school is in the street" and "So, so, solidarity with immigrants and undocumented immigrants". They also harshly criticized Macron's abrupt decision to call for snap elections.[10]

Concurrently, over 1,000 Nantes protesters marched under a banner stating "revolution or barbarism". A protester climbed up a building to take down a French flag hanging from the window of an apartment, causing applause from a crowd displaying union and far-left symbols. The activists also stoned the window of the apartment where the flag was hanging and set trash cans on fire.[4]

In Bordeaux, the Le Saint-Projet bar was "violently vandalized" by a group of about ten people by throwing furniture and destroying windows due to claims of it hosting far-right members from the Bordeaux Bastide organization.[11] In the evening, the First Gothic Church of Guyenne was stormed by protesters after forcing an entrance door open. Father Grégory Lutz-Wiest claimed that protesters threw plates and cutlery from a soup kitchen for the homeless onto the square before tagging the outside of the building with the phrase “Morts aux FAFs” (English: Death to the "France for the French").[12]

11-18 June[edit]

On 12 June in Lille, about 700 mostly young demonstrators marched with a weekly procession of undocumented immigrants in solidarity.[13] Several hundred people defied demonstration bans in Toulouse, with at least one protester arrested.[14]

On 14 June in Lyon, about 3,500 people gathered on the Place des Terreaux in a demonstration set up by 65 organizations, with many protesters carrying Palestinian flags. A few small explosions occurred, and ACAB tags were painted on the public square walls, while the facade of the Lyon Town Hall was also tagged. Several people wearing hoods and dark glasses damaged the McDonald's on Place Bellecour. Three police officers were reported injured after clashes took place on the Bonaparte Bridge, where protesters threw mortars, leading police to fire tear gas causing most of the procession to dissipate as four law enforcement vans and several police officers blocked the remaining protesters.[15]

On June 15, Nearly 200 rallies and demonstrations were organized by several associations and five unions: the CFDT, the CGT, the UNSA, the FSU, and the Solidaires. 175,000 people participated in regional marches and 75,000 people marched in Paris, with claims of 640,000 demonstrators mobilizing throughout France. Five Internal Security Forces members were injured in Paris, and 20 arrests were recorded with 16 taken into police custody, including nine arrests in Paris with five in custody.[7]

On June 18, several Freemason denominations collectively launched demonstrations in different cities across the country, including several hundred at Place Vauban in Paris, denouncing the far-right's attacks on fundamental values that define French society, including republicanism, secularism, and egalitarianism.[16]

19-26 June[edit]

On 19 June, A thousand people gathered in Place de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon, marching to Place des Terreaux, Place de la République, and Place des Cordeliers. Three arrests were made and two minor injuries were reported, while several graffiti tags, trash fires, and other damage occurred.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Européennes : victoire écrasante du Rassemblement national, Macron dissout l'Assemblée nationale". France 24 (in French). 2024-06-09. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  2. ^ a b VIDÉO. Européennes : plusieurs centaines de personnes place de la République à Paris contre le RN (in French). 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-25 – via www.ouest-france.fr.
  3. ^ a b Kim, Juliana; Bowman, Emma (15 June 2024). "French protesters turn out to oppose far-right shift ahead of snap election". NPR. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Nantes : un drapeau français arraché à une fenêtre en marge d'une manifestation anti-RN". lejdd.fr (in French). 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  5. ^ "Thousands demonstrate against far right across France". Le Monde.fr. 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  6. ^ Fella, Stefano (ed.), "Pro-Immigrant Associations and Anti-Racism in Italy", Anti-Racist Movements in the EU, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-137-28466-2, retrieved 2024-06-25
  7. ^ a b "Manifestations contre l'extrême droite : Nîmes, La Rochelle, Tours, Nancy, Périgueux... Le point sur la mobilisation". Franceinfo (in French). 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  8. ^ a b "Lyon. Manifestation anti-RN : un millier de participants ce 19 juin, trois interpellations". www.leprogres.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  9. ^ a b "Drapeau français arraché, bars attaqués, poubelles incendiées... Les manifestations de gauche «contre l'extrême droite» émaillées de tensions". Le Figaro (in French). 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  10. ^ "Paris: rassemblement devant le lycée Henri IV contre l'extrême droite". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  11. ^ "Un bar pris pour cible et vandalisé pendant la manifestation contre l'extrême droite à Bordeaux". actu.fr (in French). 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  12. ^ "«Morts aux Fafs» : à Bordeaux, une église taguée lors de la manifestation contre l'extrême droite". Le Figaro (in French). 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  13. ^ "«Le Front populaire contre Hitler» : des milliers de manifestants anti-RN de nouveau dans la rue". Le Figaro (in French). 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  14. ^ "Des centaines de personnes ont manifesté dans les rues contre l'extrême droite malgré l'interdiction de la préfecture". France 3 Occitanie (in French). 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  15. ^ "Lyon: une mobilisation contre l'extrême droite réunit plusieurs milliers de personnes dans le centre-ville". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  16. ^ "Législatives : les francs-maçons appellent à faire barrage au RN". lejdd.fr (in French). 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
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