France
French parliament extends state of emergency amid rising protests
By Alex Lantier, 20 May 2016
Contrary to official claims, the state of emergency is not aimed at Islamist terrorism, but at growing opposition in the working class to social austerity and military and police violence.
013 Growing support for FN
20 May 2016
French government backs neo-fascist protest against opposition to labor law
By Alex Lantier, 19 May 2016
Wednesday’s protest, organised by a police union close to the neo-fascist National Front, was aimed at intimidating broad popular opposition to the Socialist Party's labor reform.
010 Support for FN rises after PS passes labor law
19 May 2016
Defying police repression, protests continue against French labour law
By Stéphane Hugues, 18 May 2016
In the run-up to a rail strike planned for Wednesday, sections of truck drivers joined youth protesting the reactionary French labour law imposed by the Socialist Party government.
French government escalates repression of protests against labor law
By Stéphane Hugues, 17 May 2016
Even though this illegitimate and regressive law has technically been passed, a majority of the French people want protests against it to continue.
Paris meeting addresses war danger in Asia, bankruptcy of Tamil nationalism
By Kumaran Ira, 16 May 2016
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) assistant secretary Deepal Jayasekera explained the necessity for an internationally-unified socialist movement to stop war.
Air France announces pay cuts for pilots
By Anthony Torres, 14 May 2016
The cuts at the airline are the product of the betrayal of the 2014 pilots strike by the National Union of Airline Pilots.
French police attack demonstrations against regressive labor law
By Alex Lantier, 13 May 2016
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across France yesterday against the Socialist Party’s efforts to impose far reaching reforms without a vote in the National Assembly.
A new strategy is needed to fight French labor law
By Alex Lantier, 13 May 2016
The most politically conscious and advanced layers of workers and youth must prepare themselves not only for the mass struggles that will erupt, but for socialist revolution.
Protests erupt in France against regressive labor law
By Alex Lantier, 12 May 2016
Protesters clashed violently with police and sacked the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party in several cities across France.
How #UpAllNight seeks to block opposition to French labour law
By Francis Dubois, 12 May 2016
Occupations of public squares led by activists closely tied to the trade unions and the petty-bourgeois left are a dead end for working class opposition to austerity.
French Socialist Party uses special powers to impose unpopular labour law reform
By Alex Lantier, 11 May 2016
For two months, millions of workers and youth have been protesting the El Khomri Law, to which three-quarters of the French population are opposed.
French government presents labour law to the National Assembly
By Alex Lantier, 5 May 2016
The law has provoked nearly two months of protests against the austerity policies of France’s Socialist Party government.
Meeting in Paris May 15
The socialist struggle against war and the bankruptcy of Tamil nationalism
3 May 2016
SEP (Sri Lanka) Assistant Secretary Deepal Jayasekera will speak at a May 15 meeting in Paris on the struggle against imperialist war.
French youth speak to the WSWS in Amiens: “I’m looking for a movement that wants neither Le Pen nor Macron”
By Antoine Lerougetel, 29 April 2016
Young people are opposed to the choice between financial speculator Emanuel Macron and neo-fascist Marine Le Pen in the second round of France’s presidential election on May 7.
Protests shrink as police attack fourth day of action against French labour law
By Alex Lantier, 29 April 2016
The protesters are coming up against the absence of a viable strategy for mounting a political struggle to defend basic social rights against a reactionary Socialist Party government.
Workers and youth in Amiens speak out against French labour reform
By Antoine Lerougetel, 29 April 2016
A WSWS team spoke to protesting youth who unanimously criticised the strategy of the trade and student unions as insufficient to struggle against the labour reform.
In run-up to labour law protest, French rail workers stage one-day strike
By Stéphane Hugues and Alex Lantier, 28 April 2016
The trade unions, seeking to block the entry of workers into struggle against the labour law reform, organised no meetings or protests on the strike day.
In Cairo, French President Hollande defends the bloodstained Sisi junta
By Alex Lantier and Kumaran Ira, 20 April 2016
Hollande discussed with the Egyptian dictator his response to the November 13 attacks in Paris before deciding to impose a state of emergency across France.
Hollande sheds crocodile tears over refugees in Lebanon visit
By Kumaran Ira, 19 April 2016
French President François Hollande began his four-day trip to the Middle East, visiting Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, to boost economic and military ties amidst escalating war.
French economy minister launches movement preparing for PS’ disintegration
By Francis Dubois, 14 April 2016
Macron set up his “Forward March” movement amid rising concerns in ruling circles that the PS could disintegrate after the 2017 presidential elections.
French government announces youth grant in bid to halt labor reform protest
By Kumaran Ira, 13 April 2016
Student unions are hailing the measure and moving to organise a sell-out of struggles against the reactionary law of Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri.
French police attack demonstrators protesting anti-worker labor law reform
By Alex Lantier and Stéphane Hugues, 11 April 2016
The decision of the trade unions and their political allies not to call workers on strike alongside protesting students left the PS government free to assault the demonstrators.
An interview with LO’s Arlette Laguiller: “We’re happy [the trade unions] are waking up”
By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 9 April 2016
Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle) in France is an organization of the status quo that is trying to block a political movement against the Socialist Party government and trade union bureaucracies.
French troops accused of sexual violence in the Central African Republic
By Francis Dubois, 8 April 2016
The latest revelations of sexual violence against the Central African population unmask the “humanitarian” pretensions of the French intervention.
#NightOnOurFeet: A petty-bourgeois trap for opposition to French labor reform
By Alex Lantier, 8 April 2016
The occupation of Republic Square in Paris by parties closely allied to the ruling PS is a trap designed to prevent radicalized youth from turning to the working class.
Hundreds arrested as French police assault student protests against labour reform
By Alex Lantier and Senthooran Ravee, 6 April 2016
Police are trying to intimidate youth in the run-up to the next major protest by workers and students, on April 9, amid rising anger with austerity and the state of emergency.
Youth and workers in Marseille speak out against austerity
By Anthony Torres, 6 April 2016
WSWS reporters in Marseille discussed with youth and workers who mobilised yesterday against the El Khomri law.
After four days of fighting, Azerbaijan, Armenia call Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire
By Kumaran Ira, 6 April 2016
Doubts persist over how long the ceasefire will last, as the Caucasus and the Middle East have been put on edge by escalating imperialist wars and economic crisis.
The working class in France mobilizes against austerity
By Alex Lantier, 4 April 2016
The attempt to promote hysteria over terrorism to suppress popular opposition is failing in the face of a growing radicalization of workers and youth.
French workers, youth defy state of emergency to protest austerity policies
By Anthony Torres, 1 April 2016
As many as 1.2 million people participated in demonstrations Thursday across France against the draconian anti-working class policies of the Socialist Party government.
Workers and youth speak out against French labour law reform
By our reporters, 1 April 2016
The WSWS spoke to students and workers participating in demonstrations throughout France against proposed changes to the country’s labour law Thursday.
French students speak out against austerity and state of emergency
By Kumaran Ira and Anthony Torres, 25 March 2016
Students protesting the French labour reform expressed their opposition to the Socialist Party’s austerity measures, state of emergency and imperialist wars.
Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam arrested in Brussels
By Alex Lantier, 21 March 2016
Astonishingly, Europe’s most wanted man, on the run from police for four months, was hiding near his parents’ apartment in the heavily-watched Molenbeek district.
French Socialist Party whips up law-and-order hysteria after Abdeslam arrest
By Kumaran Ira, 21 March 2016
As it cultivates Islamist forces in a war for regime change in Syria, France is citing the danger of terror attacks as a pretext to escalate attacks on democratic rights.
French government, trade unions rework reactionary labor reform
By Anthony Torres, 17 March 2016
The unions and the Socialist Party want to channel workers’ opposition to the most unpopular government since World War II behind minor changes to its hated reform.
Workers, students march against French labor law reform
By Alex Lantier, 14 March 2016
The brutal police crackdown in Lyon underscores that, under cover of the state of emergency, the Socialist Party aims to illegalize constitutionally protected protests.
Photo essay: Volunteer at French refugee camp speaks to the WSWS
By Jill Lux and Toby Reese, 10 March 2016
The camp at Grand-Synthe epitomizes the squalid conditions facing people who have fled their homes amid the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.
Striking cashiers and dockers interrogated under French state of emergency
By Anthony Torres, 10 March 2016
The unprecedented attack on the right to strike is yet another warning of the anti-working class character of the state of emergency imposed by the Socialist Party.
Tensions rise at Franco-British and Franco-German summits
By Francis Dubois, 7 March 2016
The Amiens and Paris summits lay bare rising tensions inside Europe in the run-up to today's EU-Turkey summit on the escalating refugee and war crisis in Syria.
Cameron and Hollande beat anti-immigrant drum to oppose Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 5 March 2016
French officials threatened that a British exit from the European Union could lead France to stop blocking refugees from traveling via Calais to Britain.
France attacks refugees, launches destruction of Calais camp
By Francis Dubois and Stéphane Hugues, 2 March 2016
The expulsion in the middle of winter of thousands of refugees fleeing war, including women and children, is part of the escalating persecution of refugees throughout Europe.
Public split in French Socialist Party over state of emergency
By Alex Lantier, 29 February 2016
Critics inside the PS are concerned that its policies of deep austerity and appeals to neo-fascist sentiment leave it dangerously exposed to attack from the left.
French unions seek to suppress opposition to Hollande’s labour reforms
By Stéphane Hugues, 25 February 2016
Opposition is growing among workers and students to the state of emergency and the Socialist Party’s historic attacks on the working class.
French judiciary opens investigation into ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy
By Stéphane Hugues and Alex Lantier, 23 February 2016
The Socialist Party’s shift to the right and the rise of the National Front since last year’s terror attacks in Paris are for now undermining Sarkozy’s support in ruling circles.
French labor law reform sets stage for historic attack on workers’ rights
By Francis Dubois, 22 February 2016
The impact of this reform is being compared to that of epoch-making attacks like the Hartz IV reforms in Germany or the breaking of the PATCO union in the US.
Divisions erupt at EU summit over refugees, possible British exit
By Alex Lantier, 19 February 2016
The assembled heads of state failed to agree on refugee policy or on reactionary concessions aiming to ensure that Britain does not leave the European Union.
French National Assembly enshrines state of emergency in constitution
By Kumaran Ira, 17 February 2016
French police have conducted more than 3,200 warrantless house searches, imposed 400 house arrest orders, and closed numerous mosques and businesses.
Europe at the breaking point
By Alex Lantier, 17 February 2016
France's denunciations of Germany's policy of accepting Middle Eastern refugees fleeing to Europe have exposed deep divisions within the EU.
Human Rights Watch report exposes French state of emergency
By Stéphane Hugues, 9 February 2016
The report points to systematic, arbitrary denials of basic democratic rights by police and the targeting of people of Muslim descent.
Left Party founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon covers for French government’s authoritarian policies
By Anthony Torres, 6 February 2016
There are no fundamental differences between Mélenchon and the Socialist Party government, which is building a police state in France.
Iran’s President Rouhani visits Italy, France as economic rivalries deepen
By Kumaran Ira, 5 February 2016
After lifting sanctions on Iran, the imperialist powers are locked in a bitter competition over who will seize the largest share of lucrative Iranian markets.
French President Hollande visits India to boost military ties, investment
By Sarath Kumara, 3 February 2016
Coming after New Delhi opened talks on possibly hosting US troops on Indian bases, Hollande’s visit pointed to the military escalation seizing South Asia.
France gives €1 billion aid to Tunisia in bid to halt mass protests over jobs
By Kumaran Ira, 26 January 2016
Amid growing social unrest, Washington and Paris are boosting military aid to Tunisia to prepare to suppress social opposition in the working class.
Prime Minister Valls pledges permanent state of emergency in France
By Stéphane Hugues and Alex Lantier, 26 January 2016
As if in a slow-motion military coup, the ruling elite is moving to transform political life in France, creating an authoritarian political regime.
Calls for “primary of the left” offer political cover to French ruling party
By Francis Dubois, 21 January 2016
A part of the bourgeoisie fears that the appeals to the far right from the ruling Socialist Party could discredit its policies of austerity and war.
French Prime Minister Valls’ district threatens to suspend social spending
By Antoine Lerougetel, 18 January 2016
This callous assault on the basic social needs of vulnerable sections of the population is part of a European-wide offensive of the ruling class on workers’ basic social rights.
Charlie Hebdo joins racist campaign against refugees in Europe
By Alex Lantier, 16 January 2016
The French weekly magazine declared that Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old refugee whose drowning death last year sparked worldwide outrage, would have grown up to be a “groper.”
Amid state of emergency, French workers jailed for struggle to defend jobs
By Kumaran Ira, 14 January 2016
With the unprecedented decision to jail Goodyear workers who struck against mass layoffs, the state is showing that its emergency powers are aimed squarely at the working class.
One year after Charlie Hebdo attack
Police gun down youth in poor Paris neighborhood
By Stéphane Hugues, 8 January 2016
Witnesses speaking to the media flatly contradicted official accounts of the shooting and said that police gunned down an unarmed man without warning.
French government considers deprivation of nationality as possible sentence to all citizens
By Alex Lantier, 6 January 2016
The Socialist Party is increasingly taking up positions associated with the extreme right and the traditions of 20th century European fascism.
After Paris attacks, anti-Muslim riot erupts in Corsica
By Kumaran Ira, 30 December 2015
The anti-Muslim riots in Corsica are the product of the incitement of racial hatreds by the entire French political establishment.
French government proposes constitutional amendment on state of emergency, deprivation of citizenship
By Alex Lantier, 24 December 2015
Proposed moves to deprive people of French nationality were traditionally associated to the far-right National Front and were used against the Jews during the Nazi Occupation.
Mass police raids in French state of emergency find no terror networks
By Anthony Torres, 23 December 2015
Mass searches and house arrests are part of the preparation for the imposition of a permanent state of emergency by the Socialist Party government.
Amid French state of emergency, Sodexo sacks 19 workers for striking
By Kumaran Ira, 23 December 2015
The sudden and unprecedented mass sacking by food and facilities management multinational Sodexo is an attack on the constitutionally protected right to strike.
Weapon used in November 13 Paris attacks came from CIA-linked arms dealer
By Alex Lantier, 18 December 2015
Investigations of the November 13 attacks raise the question of whether elements in or around the state machine facilitated the commission of the terror attacks in Paris.
New defeat for ruling Socialist Party in French regional elections
By Kumaran Ira, 14 December 2015
Although the neo-fascist National Front did not win any regions, their success in the first round shows that they are now emerging as a central force in French politics.
Efforts collapse to form “Republican front” to block neo-fascists in French regional elections
By Alex Lantier, 11 December 2015
As France’s bourgeois politicians seek to impose a permanent state of emergency, their hollow appeals to the population to rally behind them to defend “democracy” have little impact.
After Paris attacks, New Anti-capitalist Party backs police state rule and war
By Alex Lantier, 11 December 2015
The NPA is not denouncing war or the threat of police dictatorship in France, but insinuating that opposition to imperialist war is support for terrorism.
Imperialism, the “war on terror” and anti-Muslim hysteria
By Andre Damon, 9 December 2015
The call by Donald Trump that Muslims be prevented from traveling to the United States exemplifies the reactionary politics that go hand-in-hand with the drive to war.
Neo-fascist National Front leads first round of French regional elections
By Kumaran Ira, 7 December 2015
In elections held under a state of emergency after the November 13 attacks in Paris, the National Front made broad gains in six of France’s 13 regions.
Paris climate talks accomplish nothing to curb global warming
By Daniel de Vries, 5 December 2015
The expected agreement from the summit falls woefully short, even in its ambition, of what is necessary to protect humanity from the worst consequences of a warming planet.
After Paris attacks, neo-fascists surge in polls for French regional elections
By Kumaran Ira, 2 December 2015
The neo-fascist National Front has emerged as the main beneficiary of the law-and-order hysteria and draconian police-state measures of the Socialist Party.
The police crackdown in Paris and the drift towards dictatorship in France
By Alex Lantier, 30 November 2015
Yesterday, police seized upon the standing ban on all public protests during the state of emergency to stage a brutal crackdown on ecological protesters in Paris.
Humanitarian disaster on the Balkan refugee route
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 30 November 2015
Germany and France are stepping up their efforts to prevent refugees arriving in the EU via the Balkan route.
French President Hollande proposes anti-ISIS alliance in Syria to Russia
By Stéphane Hugues, 28 November 2015
Hollande’s meeting with Vladimir Putin took place two days after Turkish fighters shot down a Russian bomber along the Syrian-Turkish border.
New data on police foreknowledge of terrorists raise questions on Paris attack
By Kumaran Ira, 27 November 2015
While the state is giving massive new powers to police supposedly to stop terrorism, intelligence agencies could have stopped the attacks with their existing powers.
September 11 and the Paris terrorist attacks
By Peter Schwarz, 25 November 2015
The real reason for the explosion of US militarism after 9/11 was the crisis of US imperialism on a global scale and growing class tensions within the US itself. The same applies to the response to the Paris attacks.
Cameron, Hollande meet to discuss military escalation in Syria
By Robert Stevens, 24 November 2015
The British prime minister’s meeting with French President François Hollande was aimed at securing a vote in the UK parliament for war in Syria.
Official justifications for Brussels lockdown unravel
By Alex Lantier, 24 November 2015
Popular frustration rose yesterday across Belgium as contradictions mounted in the official justifications for the continuing police lockdown of Brussels.
After Paris attacks, Spain offers to reinforce French troops in Africa
By James Lerner and Alejandro López, 24 November 2015
Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has offered to replace French troops deployed in missions in Africa so Paris can free up more forces for the fight against Islamic State (IS), both in France itself and in Syria and Iraq.
Employers push to use French state of emergency against workers
By Stéphane Hugues and Alex Lantier, 21 November 2015
As the government imposes a state of emergency, the employers federation is calling on businesses to report any suspect remark by workers to the police.
US Special Forces deploy to Mali in wake of Bamako hotel attack
By Thomas Gaist, 21 November 2015
There are already signs that the United States and France are seizing on the attack to intensify their military operations on the continent.
French National Assembly overwhelmingly backs extension of police-state measures
By Andre Damon, 20 November 2015
The lower house of the French Parliament voted 551-6 to extend the state of emergency that lets police carry out warrant-less searches and break up meetings and demonstrations.
The state of emergency and the collapse of French democracy
By Alex Lantier, 19 November 2015
Hollande’s proposed amendments to the French Constitution provide the legal basis for transforming France into a presidential dictatorship.
Paris suburb of Saint Denis under military lockdown as gun battle plays out
By Stéphane Hugues, 19 November 2015
Residents in the center of Saint Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, were woken up at 4:30 a.m. in the morning by an enormous explosion and heavy gunfire.
French government’s bill on state of emergency threatens democratic rights
By Anthony Torres, 19 November 2015
The modification of the French Constitution paves the way for security forces to ban strikes, demonstrations or any public meetings that displease the authorities.
NPR fawns over neo-fascist Marine Le Pen
By Andre Damon, 19 November 2015
The US public radio station described the neo-fascist Front National as “the largest political party in France” without mentioning its history of anti-Semitism and holocaust denial.
After Paris attacks, NATO powers press for military escalation in Syria
By Alex Lantier, 18 November 2015
The international coalition the French government claims it is trying to assemble with Russia and the US against the Islamic State militia is riven with contradictions.
Syria’s Assad says Paris now “knows what Syria has lived for five years”
By Kumaran Ira, 18 November 2015
As divisions emerge in ruling circles over the Syrian crisis, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seeking to mend ties with the imperialist powers.
French president exploits terror attacks to suspend democratic rights
By Alex Lantier and Stéphane Hugues, 17 November 2015
Hollande’s announcements make clear that he intends to modify the French constitution to give the government the power to impose an indefinite state of emergency.
After the Paris terror attacks: A drumbeat for military escalation and internal repression
By Bill Van Auken, 17 November 2015
Terrorism, from the standpoint of the American state, is a useful tactic when directed against Washington’s enemies. It is merely part of the cost of doing business when it hits the US and its allies.
German media brays for war and dictatorship after Paris attacks
By Johannes Stern, 17 November 2015
Right-wing circles in German politics and the media are exploiting the shock over the attacks in Paris to make increasingly explicit appeals for authoritarianism and militarism.
Citing Paris attacks, Jeremy Corbyn retreats from critique of UK foreign policy
By Chris Marsden, 17 November 2015
Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, cancelled plans to make a speech defending his previously stated opposition to British escalation in Syria.
Trudeau commits Canada to major role in Mideast war
By Roger Jordan, 17 November 2015
Broad sections of the ruling elite have seized on the Paris attacks to demand the Liberals renege on their election pledge to end the Canadian military’s bombing of Iraq and Syria.
With US backing, France launches bombing campaign in Syria
By Nick Beams, 16 November 2015
The major imperialist powers are moving rapidly to escalate their military intervention in Syria in the wake of Friday night’s terror attack in Paris.
The Paris terror attacks
By Alex Lantier and Barry Grey, 16 November 2015
The criminal assault on innocent civilians in Paris is the predictable outcome of US and European imperialism’s relentless escalation of military operations in the Middle East.
After Paris attacks, French government steps up police state measures
By Kumaran Ira, 16 November 2015
The Socialist Party government plans to extend the current state of emergency for three months or possibly indefinitely.
UK mounts massive police operation after Paris terror attacks
By Robert Stevens, 16 November 2015
The Paris attacks resulted in calls from the media and sections of the military for Britain to take a central part in military strikes in Syria.
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