Yesterday, people around France took the streets against the pension reform, the government of Macron, and the humiliations of capitalism itself. Last night, there were reportedly 900 fires in Paris. This footage is from the City Hall of Bordeaux.

https://crimethinc.com/France2023

"For people to recognize collectively on a grand scale that for the great majority of us, work is pain: the authorities cannot permit that idea to take hold, for it would imply the destruction of the whole social edifice, without which they would be nothing. If our common condition is that we have no power over our lives and know it, then paradoxically, everything becomes possible again."

#manif23mar #Greve23Mars

Francja: Ruch przeciwko reformie emerytalnej — U progu powstania?

https://crimethinc.com/2023/03/22/francja-ruch-przeciwko-reformie-emerytalnej-u-progu-powstania

We Francji wybuchła nowa fala protestów przeciwko rządowi Emmanuela Macrona w odpowiedzi na niepopularną reformę emerytalną.

#Polski

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We have documented another sighting of the legendary "mud wizard," who became famous in January for tipping a police officer into the mud during the mobilization to defend #Lutzerath from a destructive open-pit mine.

Today's footage comes from a livestream of clashes in #Sainte-Soline, France, where ecological activists set several police cars on fire during a protest against an industrial mega-project. These clashes come amid intensifying unrest in France in response to Macron's government forcing through an unpopular pension reform.

Background on the mud wizard:

https://crimethinc.com/mudwizard

Background on the defense of Lützerath:

https://crimethinc.com/lutzerath

Background on the unrest in france this month:

https://crimethinc.com/France2023

The mud wizard has a twitter account, apparently:

https://twitter.com/MonchLutzi

"I am the nightmare of the police who destroy nature."

[We present here a translation of a statement from comrades in France whose friend was severely injured by police yesterday in Sainte-Soline.]

https://crimethinc.com/2023/03/22/france-the-movement-against-the-pension-reform-on-the-threshold-of-an-uprising#appendix

Communiqué about S., a comrade whose life is at risk following the demonstration in Sainte-Soline.

On Saturday, March 25, in Sainte-Soline, our comrade S. was hit in the head by an explosive grenade during the demonstration against the basins [a project of large water reservoirs for industrial farm irrigation]. In spite of his critical condition, the prefecture first intentionally prevented emergency services from intervening, then prevented them from transporting him to an appropriate care unit a second time. He is currently in neurosurgical intensive care. At this time, his life hangs by a thread.

The outburst of violence that the demonstrators suffered inflicted hundreds of injuries, including several serious physical injuries, as announced in the various reports available. The 30,000 demonstrators had come with the objective of blocking the construction of the mega-basins of Sainte-Soline, a project of water monopolization carried out by a small number of people for the benefit of a capitalist model that has nothing left to defend but death. The violence of the armed arm of the democratic state is the most striking expression of this.

In response to the window of possibility that the movement against the pension reform has opened, the police are mutilating people and even trying to assassinate people in order to prevent an uprising, to defend the bourgeoisie and its world. Nothing will weaken our determination to put an end to their reign. On Tuesday, March 28 and the following days, let’s strengthen the strikes and blockades, let’s take the streets, for S. and all those from our movements who have been wounded and locked up.

Long live the revolution.

Comrades of S.

PS: If you have any information about the circumstances of the injuries inflicted on S., please contact us at:

s.informations@proton.me

We want this communiqué to be spread as widely as possible.

France: Le Mouvement contre la Réforme des Retraites
Les débuts d’un soulèvement?

https://crimethinc.com/2023/03/22/france-le-mouvement-contre-la-reforme-des-retraites-les-debuts-dun-soulevement-1

En France, une vague de contestation a éclaté en réponse à la nouvelle réforme des retraites portée par le gouvernement d’Emmanuel Macron. Il s’agit d’ores et déjà de la plus grosse mobilisation dans le pays depuis les Gilets Jaunes. L’introduction qui suit tente de faire le point sur les origines, les formes présentes, et les perspectives futures du mouvement.

#Français

[We present a hurried translation of this statement from the parents of a French activist who remains in a coma after the police violence of March 25.]

Communiqué from the parents of Serge (S.) on March 29, 2023

Following the injury caused by a GM2L grenade, during the demonstration of March 25, 2023 organized in Sainte-Soline against the irrigation basin projects, our son Serge is currently in a hospital fighting for his life.

We filed a complaint for attempted murder, voluntary obstruction of the arrival of the emergency services; and for violation of professional secrecy within the framework of a police investigation, and misappropriation of information contained in a file for that purpose.

[continued]

[continued:]

Following the various articles published in the press, many of which are inaccurate or misleading, we would like to make it known that:

- Yes, Serge is on the "S" list (“State Security” watch list)—like thousands of activists in today's France.

- Yes, Serge has had legal problems—like most people who fight against the established order.

- Yes, Serge has participated in many anti-capitalist demonstrations—like millions of young people around the world who think that a good revolution would not be too much, and like the millions of workers currently struggling against the pension reform in France.

We believe that these are not criminal acts that would sully our son, but on the contrary that these acts are to his credit.

Serge's parents
March 29, 2023

France in Flames

https://crimethinc.com/FranceinFlames

In #France, a powerful movement has erupted in response to an attempt to raise the retirement age. While millions have gone on strike and poured into the streets, President Emmanuel Macron and his henchmen have attempted to crush this movement by escalating police violence to lethal extremes. In this report, we offer a chronology of the events of the past week, including a translation of an account by one participant in the movement and a statement from the parents of another who remains in a coma.