Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 08.10.2026
The protests in France are not only against the bourgeois government but are a manifestation of internationalism as the flags of Palestine, Algeria and Iran are raised. As we have often written, victory over imperialism encourages the uprising of popular populations against imperialism.
Thus, the defeat of the U.S and the Zionist state by Iran and the heroic struggle of the Gazans is one important factor that has encouraged the protest.
Trotsky wrote on this topic: “I will take the simplest and most obvious example. In Brazil there now reigns a semifascist regime that every revolutionary can only view with hatred. Let us assume, however, that on the morrow England enters a military conflict with Brazil. I ask you on whose side of the conflict the working class will be? I will answer for myself personally—in this case I will be on the side of “fascist” Brazil against “democratic” Great Britain. Why? Because in the conflict between them it will not be a question of democracy or fascism. If England should be victorious, she will put another fascist in Rio de Janeiro and will place double chains on Brazil. If Brazil on the contrary should be victorious, it will give a mighty impulse to the national and democratic consciousness of the country and will lead to the overthrow of the Vargas dictatorship. The defeat of England will at the same time deliver a blow to British imperialism and will give an impulse to the revolutionary movement of the British proletariat. Truly, one must have an empty head to reduce world antagonism and military conflicts to the struggle between fascism and democracy. Under all masks one must know how to distinguish exploiters, slave-owners, and robbers!”[i]
Yesterday, about half a million demonstrators in France took to the streets. The protest of high school students in France has entered a new phase. According to data from the Interior Ministry, France has deliberately underestimated the number of demonstrators in Paris, about 56,000. According to student organizations and university students, about 100,000 participated in Paris.
The demonstrations, which began in mid-September over school conditions, are no longer limited to high school students, after students, teachers, parents and trade union activists joined the protest.
Since September 28, 6,547 arrests have been made as part of the protests. Police forces are attacking demonstrators, including with stun grenades, and there are reports of injuries among demonstrators.
The protests began in schools in the Paris area, especially in the poverty-stricken suburbs, but have since spread to many cities, including Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Nantes. The common denominator is a call to increase the resources directed to the education system – adding teachers and staff, replacing absent teachers, improving buildings and infrastructure, and reducing overcrowding and overcrowding. Another issue that comes up again and again in the protest is criticism of the admission system to higher education.
On Monday, student organizations presented a joint document that includes 10 demands. Among other things, they demand a significant budgetary investment in education, a change in school hours and the structure of the school day, and a significant expansion of the number of places in institutions of higher education. The organizations are also demanding a profound change in the method of admission to academic studies.
Macron’s government has begun to realize that police violence only fuels dissent and is now trying to end it through reforms in favor of education. In a desperate attempt to shift the focus of events from the streets back to schools
Prime Minister Sebastián LaCornu announced that starting today, half a day will be devoted to “internal democracy” in high schools, during which students will be able to present their claims and demands.
The Ministry of Education has also officially confirmed that starting today, each high school will allocate half a day for dialogue with the students. At the same time, an online national consultation has been launched, which will last until October 23, in which students are asked to detail the main difficulties they are facing and what, in their opinion, needs to change.
The government has also identified five areas to address, including ensuring the regular holding of classes, improving the condition of the buildings, changing the organization of the school day, increasing the transparency of the admissions system for higher education, and providing an orderly response to students’ suggestions. According to the Ministry of Education, the proposed 2027 budget includes an additional €1.2 billion to the education budget.
It is not at all clear that this maneuver will work. Despite the attempts to calm the situation, the leading organizations do not intend at this stage to stop the protest. The High School Students’ Union and the Student Union called for the continuation of school blockades today and for more demonstrations tomorrow in Paris and other cities, as part of the “Act 4” of the protest. Many times, when the capitalist government offers concessions the struggle is getting stronger.
Other unions also announced their continued support. The General Confederation of Labor (CGT), and France’s veteran trade unions, announced that they would resume participating in the protest alongside students on Thursday.
The propaganda against the massive protest is that it expresses the alliance between Muslims and the left. The government claims that the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) and other elements on the left are trying to harness the protest to a broader struggle against the government. On October 1, after an emergency meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office said that the intelligence services had identified an “organized maneuver” by the party and elements close to it.
US President Donald Trump claimed in a post yesterday that “what is happening in France is nothing less than mass migration that has gone out of control. “. “It’s not about the schools, it’s about Islam that wants to take over a country that was once great”
As of this morning, neither Macron nor Prime Minister LeCornu had responded directly to his remarks. However, some media outlets in the country pointed to the gap between his claims on immigration and Islam and the demands that sparked the protests. On the other hand, the party rejects the claim and accuses the government of trying to divert the discussion from the students’ demands.
Even French media outlets that do not adopt the government’s version point to the growing politicization of the protests. According to reports, members of parliament and activists from “Unsubmissive France” have come to school blockades, expressed support for the demonstrators, and tried to link the students’ struggle to broader social protests.
This is the time for a united front of left-wing organizations, trade unions, and student unions.
The French newspaper Le Monde reported that in the first stage, the protest was mostly spontaneous and without a clear party leadership, and only later did organizations and political activists enter the picture. For a more extensive reading of the protest, what led to its outbreak ,and what revolutionaries should do, you can read Europe: A New Wave of Youth Struggles Amidst a Period of Global Crisis by Michael Pröbsting, Revolutionary and The Youth Movement in France by Paul Legay, RCIT France.
Endnotes:
[i] Leon Trotsky
Anti-Imperialist Struggle
Is Key to Liberation
An Interview with Mateo Fossa
(September 1938)