[Time] Paris Police Clash With Demonstrators Protesting Rising Fuel Taxes

It's like a 50¢ per liter increase in the price.

 

It's gaining momentum not only in France
i already saw pepole calling for action aginst fuel price in Belguim and apparently a big yellow vest demonstration is planned to this saturday.

Kinda funny but it gained more momentum in Flanders than Wallonia.
A big protest is supposed to happen in Brussels in Rue de Loi(Law Street) where the European parliament building and some Federal buildings are placed.

 

New religion, same old indulgences, that crazy woman Le Pen with her welfare, working class + nationalism party is going to win that country at this rate.

Seriously, their government is blaming her for incitement, as if the people are unable to understand when they're having a spiked club shoved up their butt without a ring leader.

 

Euroweenies hahaha @Os Trigonum good one. Dennis Miller says easy there cha-cha, you're too funny!!!

 

This's bring back memories from 2011, michèle alliot marie was kind enough to suggest her solution;


Tunisia: Alliot-Marie's "frightening" remarks spark controversy
Tuesday, in the Assembly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has proposed the French know-how to the Tunisian police face the demonstrations. A proposal that has angered opponents of the Ben Ali regime.

 

French are much more poised to protest than Americans are, so I don't really take it too seriously when they do. I don't think more taxes on their already-expensive gas is the smartest idea in the world, but the protest doesn't even sound that serious. My wife lived in Paris in the 90s when subway workers protested going from 2 subway conductors to 1 and the city was paralyzed for weeks.

 

Article says the two deaths were accidental and gives no detail. I don't know about injuries.

 

Here's one of the deaths:

As early-morning demonstrators gathered around the country, one person was killed at Pont-de-Beauvoisin in the south-east Savoie region. The local prefect, Louis Laugier, said a motorist taking one of her children to the doctor had been stopped by protesters at a roundabout, but ran over a 63-year-old woman after demonstrators began banging on the roof of her car. “It appears the woman panicked, accelerated and ran over a person who died,” Laugier said. The driver was arrested.

Across France, 106 people were injured, five seriously. In Arras in the north a 71-year-old demonstrator struck by a car suffered serious injuries. Police said most of the accidents were caused by drivers colliding with crowds of protesters as they tried to force their way through roadblocks.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...tester-killed-accident-anti-fuel-tax-blockade

I found scant information on the second death, but it was a motorcyclist: http://www.dailyjournal.net/2018/11/21/eu-france-gas-price-protests-5/

Usually, protests are placated with some concession from government. I won't be surprised if Macron rolls back the gas tax. I think there is this more ominous element that the populists are expressing more than anger over the gas tax but a deeper schism from France's liberal side. The ultra-nationalism didn't just go away after Macron prevailed. But neither do I think things have fundamentally changed there since the election. Maybe the liberals don't win next time, but they are still numerous enough that they may win.

 

Damn, that's something like 1.90 or so a gallon? Yeah, I think that would cause riots in the street here too. A tax like that disproportionally harms the poor too so I can't see why just about anyone would support that.

 

You’re right. Going on strike is I believe our biggest plague in France. There’s protest every other week for not much. And TBH i hate these habits.

For the events on the Champs Élysée, there were some protesters (called “yellow vests”) but a lot of them were thugs that take advantage of these protest to rampage and loot. It happens almost every big event. This time since there’s no real leader to the Gilets jaunes and no réal organization it got out of hand.

 

You meant like this article with a number of people quoted on why they are protesting?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/24/paris-fuel-tax-protest-macron-france-poverty

We are here to protest against the government because of the rise in taxes [in general], not just petrol taxes, which is the straw that broke the camel’s back. We’ve had enough. We have low salaries and pay too much tax and the combination is creating more and more poverty.

On the other side, there are government ministers and the president with their fabulous salaries. I’m not against the rich, I just want a fairer distribution of wealth in France. This is the first time I’ve been on a protest. I’m unemployed; it’s harder and harder to find a job and, even when you find this famous job and you think your life will improve, the salaries are so low you find you’re in the same situation as before, if not worse.

 

Glad to have someone more French than me weigh in. I know this is a bigger than average protest. But, in your experience, is this really different from or otherwise special in the fabric of French political protest?

 

The mouvement is getting more traction and it’s nationwide. But as I mention the biggest issue here that there is no real spokesman with whom the government can interact and negotiate. Most of the actions are launched thru Facebook or Twitter by some locals and people just show up. It started off with the idea that the gas price was too high and now you see other demands come up out of nowhere that are a bit irrational and that go beyon Macron’s politic (more national referendum, suppression of the senate...).

But as shocking as the images were, the violence on the Champs Elysee was an isolated situation. The country is not in chaos (well maybe the island of La Reunion is, but that’s another story) and most people go on with their everyday life without any problems.

 

Well, it probably will continue so long as the response from the French government is essentially "Let them eat cake"