French high school and university student protests in Paris, Digi Mart USA News: Blockades were under way on the morning of Tuesday, November 3, at the University of Assas and the Louis-le-Grand high school in Paris, according to TRT Français. New blockades were also reported in Marseille.
In Lille, several student organizations, including the UNEF, have called for the mobilization to continue, with a demonstration scheduled for the afternoon. A march was also planned for the morning in Lyon, and the three campuses of the University of Lyon 2 were closed again on Tuesday.
High school associations have named Tuesday the “black Tuesday.” Students are preparing a demonstration in Paris for the afternoon. The general assembly of students from Paris-region universities, Interfac IDF, declared a route linking the Place du Panthéon in the 5th arrondissement to the headquarters of the Medef employers’ federation in the 7th arrondissement.
The Paris police prefecture rejected that route and proposed one on the city’s outskirts, between the Charenton and Montreuil gates. Interfac IDF has appealed the decision.
Authorities believe the procession could be joined by railway sector activists, as well as high school and university students from the UNEF (a left-wing student union), the Yellow Vests and the NPA (New Anticapitalist Party). The prefecture expects between 15,000 and 30,000 protesters.
The high school movement is continuing, notably with demonstrations in front of schools, but the scale of the blockades was not yet known. On Monday, the first day of the school year, more than 150 high schools were totally or partially blocked at midday, according to the Union syndicale lycéenne.
The Ministry of National Education counted 41.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez sent an email to security forces on Monday expressing his deep gratitude after weeks of intense mobilization. The week is expected to be difficult for police and gendarmes.
On Thursday, November 5, unions have called for a general strike with demonstrations planned across the country.
During a hearing before the National Assembly’s law committee on Monday, Nuñez said he would not “renounce any intermediate means,” such as stun grenades and tear gas, to maintain order. Flash-ball launchers (LBD) and stun grenades have injured several teenagers since September 27, according to the report, with some losing an eye and others a hand.
