The French student movement gave a new "show of strength" this Tuesday with demonstrations in around thirty cities, which, according to the French trade union, gathered 480,000 people, compared to the 161,500 counted by the Ministry of the Interior. Despite the French government's claim that the mobilization is "clearly slowing down", the fifth day of protests served as a prelude to what is expected to be the movement's main event this Saturday with the announced return of the yellow vests.
Wearing a Palestinian kufiya around her neck, Greta Thunberg joined the student protests against the precariousness of public education this Tuesday, bringing together tens of thousands of protesters in France. "We are being robbed of our future right before our eyes", declared the 23-year-old Swedish activist at the doors of the Paul Éluard high school in Saint-Denis, before joining the march announced at the Place d'Italie in Paris, which was surrounded from early morning by dozens of police cars.
The fifth day of student protests unfolded peacefully during the first hours. However, the Parisian march ended with the usual clashes with riot police, amid shouts of "We detest the Police" and "We are all antifascists." The inevitable rain of tear gas canisters fell upon the protesters in front of Napoleon's tomb, under the dome of Les Invalides. The incidents left two injured and a car burned.
"Young people are not included in the debates, and as we have seen, schools do not receive the necessary investments," stated Greta. "So what are we supposed to do then? Give up? Of course not, and that's what people are expressing here (...) I am extremely proud of the French students," she added.
The environmental activist visited several educational centers, with a mandatory stop at the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas, next to the Montparnasse cemetery, which had become a stronghold for university students in solidarity with high school students.
"I have come to join the strength and breadth of this inspiring student movement," declared the member of La France Insumisa Manon Aubry, who joined the blockade at the Pantheon. "For the past 15 days, I have been supporting the demands of young people. All elected officials should be on the ground," she expressed.
Salma Chekaoui, 17, joined the procession at Place d'Italie from the Estienne high school, which had been blocked since September 29. "They want us to believe that we are losing steam and that this can be fixed by just adding more substitute teachers," she lamented. "But this is just the beginning, and we will continue to fight until the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister listen to us."
Antoine Aubert, from the Leonardo Da Vinci high school, attended the march with his cardboard placard reading "I think, therefore I rebel" and "Less police, more teachers." "They blame us for the violence, but it is always the police who end up charging against us," Antoine denounced. "I have participated in blockades where there were more officers than students; all the problems start as soon as the riot police show up."
Tuesday's demonstrations come a week after marches that brought together over 250,000 protesters across France. In Paris, the protest ended with violent clashes with riot police at Place de la Nation, where, among others, the rebellious mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, was tear-gassed, becoming an icon of the protests since then.
The heavy police presence at Place d'Italie, south of the Seine, once again raised fears of violent incidents, attributed by the government to the presence of "ultraleft elements" infiltrated among the students. The demonstrations and blockades have so far resulted in over 7,000 arrests and 700 injuries of varying degrees, among police officers, students, and teaching staff.
Today's demonstrations were preceded by a shotgun shooting on Monday by a 14-year-old student against the principal and a teacher in Aubagne, near Marseille. The Police concluded that the incident was not related to the protests, but tension has escalated in recent hours.
The Minister of Education, Édouard Geffray, denounced at the scene "the rise of unrestrained violence in our society." Geffray held several meetings with unions last week and announced the dispatch of over 3,000 substitute teachers to cover absences, one of the main demands of the students.
The French government reported that 96% of high schools opened their doors on Monday, signaling a relative return to normalcy. However, it is estimated that over 800 secondary schools joined the protests on Tuesday. Unions have called for another massive day of mobilizations coinciding with the start of school holidays next Saturday.