Translated from French by
Microsoft
"The junction of social networks and continuous TVs is a poison for democracy," says Emmanuel Macron
Macron devant ses conseillers : "Quand il y a de la haine, c'est qu'il y a aussi une demande d'amour" …
In first comment after Saturday riots, Macron commends police professionalism
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 9 December 2018
In his first comment since the fourth round of ‘yellow vest’ riots on Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron commended the country’s security forces’ professionalism on his official Twitter account on Sunday.
“To all the forces mobilized today, thank you for the courage and the exceptional professionalism you have shown,” Macron tweeted
Police were able to restore calm in Paris on Saturday after thousands of “yellow vest” protesters had turned out to demonstrate around France in a fourth weekend of unrest that has shaken President Emmanuel Macron’s authority.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that 125,000 “yellow vest” protesters had turned out to protest across the country on Saturday. Police detained 1,385 of them.
The French president has been in hot water recently, with protesters directing their anger at their President and France’s high taxes, and calling Macron “the president of the rich.”
Meanwhile, France’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced on Tuesday new concessions to “yellow vest” protesters, saying planned increases in the price of fuel would be suspended for six months. Last Update: Sunday, 9 December 2018 KSA 10:36 - GMT 07:36
The stories of life are the same, identical, as the words that always summon anger, frustration, helplessness. What more can be said ? It was yesterday, Saturday, between the Place de la Bastille and Place de la Republique, at the end of the morning. There was no crowd, even if we saw, in the distance, men and women in yellow, by two or three, or a few bunches coming out of the adjacent streets to go to Republic. The faces are so serious; the decided steps. We speak little. Open vests are beaten by the winds and, on the two sidewalks of boulevard Beaumarchais, the shops are closed. Odd atmosphere.
The residents noticed give the impression of being afraid, to hurry. Tourists, they seem more serene. Everything is closed, including the Harley-Davidson dealer in front of which two yellow Vests are trying to glimpse, through the iron curtain, the machine of their dreams. They are called Cédric and Hervé. They are welders, come from Seine-et-Marne and wear on their tunics red crosses. "Last week, we took a lot of fun and no one to help us. Today, we decided to play the nurses. We have everything we need in our bananas: dressings, betadine, physiological saline ... "
"Macron and his contempt"
Their life looks like what? We ask them. It goes in all directions, they do not know where to start: the four children to feed, the essence of the bike, "Macron and his contempt", this video on Facebook must be seen to understand everything about the situation, their will to take power ... For them, everything is possible provided that we want it. They do not hear about the deficits, the debt, the expenditures ... They quote numbers in billions, and what does the approximations matter? We are no longer interested in the substance, we only remember the tone. They believe that if the policy exists, it must be made for people like them.
Only the two yellow Vests, since at least Sarkozy, see nothing coming, because everything, always, goes to the others, to those of above. This kind of exchange is multiplying along our path, and it is useless to want to put some reason into it in analyzes full of passion, rancor, despair. Cédric makes this remark: "We walk from what? Five minutes ? How many subway points on the boulevard? One every 300 meters! Me, where I live, if I do not have my bike, I'm dead. "
"We will not let go! "
It was yesterday, Saturday, on the side of Arts and Crafts, in the 3rd arrondissement, where, more than twenty years ago, gentrification swept away what was left of popular and authentic. Local life is now limited to food shops, inspired by these snackings that are seen in Berlin or New York. It's a tendency to live here. The price per square meter exceeds 10,000 euros. And it was strange to see these processions of yellow vests, these facies that no longer exist in this Parisian center, parade calmly and a little disoriented, under the gaze of the gendarmes in faction who, for some, discreetly addressed them thumbs up or friendly smiles. A small group, originally from Nemours, wanted to join the Concorde by borrowing the direction of the Center Pompidou, lengthening, lengthening ...
A pretext to engage in conversation with Stéphane, a thirty-something, who works in the business catering. He repeats: "We will not let go! " Christmas ? "Even at Christmas! His anger comes from the fact that he can not go out to the movies with his girlfriend, go on vacation, do things of life that allow balance, a little fun, breaks with a daily not always very funny. After paying the credit of the house, local taxes, insurance, maintenance of the car, shopping for the month, there is only dust to think a little about yourself.
Tension rises as Champs approach
It was Saturday, always, this time on the Champs-Elysees, rallying point for a whole people from all over the country. Men, women, young and old, some of whom for the first time discovered "the most beautiful avenue in the world". We heard a girl say that she would have liked to ride the Ferris wheel, but it's too late, she does not exist anymore. "Macron resignation! Are heard. The avenue is a huge gradient that, at its beginning, has a festive air with songs, "Bella Ciao" or La Marseillaise, pacifists, benevolent couples who finish their sandwiches under the awnings of the shops, sporting their funny slogans, well-found slogans, and even flowers, all under the eye of foreign journalists wearing war helmets, and the further up the avenue, and the more it stretches, the more air is saturated with gas the more dark, cloudy, the darker looks, hateful, alcoholic, the more the road, in some places, is defaced, the more our feet stumble against shells of tear-gas bombs. The throat stings, the eyes cry.
We are no longer in the mobilization of yellow vests, more in that of Cédric and Hervé crossed earlier on the boulevard Beaumarchais. At this moment, the policemen do not smile any more, do not address anything else to those who curl them that looks at once dignified and determined, behind their visor, some of which are marked with the yellow paint of the clashes of the last week . We went down the avenue, along with those who thought it was time to leave, because it smelled bad.
It's not the people anymore, but a crowd
It is known that the dispersions in the demonstrations are never simple, let alone this Saturday, December 8th. The windows of the banks of the Rue de la Boetie are attacked one by one by a few crackers, causing clamor. The rue de Miromesnil is on our right, the Élysée is 500 meters. The access is protected by huge fences. Rue de la Boétie, always, of the breakage and this shared feeling of impunity. Everything is allowed. It is no longer the people, but a crowd, to quote a famous distinction. Men, young and equipped, hunt, disguised as yellow. Like that, the same tension, the same uncertainty, as far as Republic, where thugs were facing the gendarmes. It was violent. Smoky. Again, you should not stay.
Each time we pass in front of this monumental statue that stands in the middle of the Republic Square, we say that between its creation under the Third Republic, the Occupation, the famous speech of Malraux in favor of the Fifth Republic, the events of May 68, the demonstrations of April 21, 2002 and the attacks of Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan occurred not far away, she saw things, and she held, this allegory of the Republic that it was barely discernible that night because of the black smoke.
