From Nice the riots in France can only be seen on television. Other French cities about the same size as Nice and many smaller ones have been subjected to violent protests and riots in the wake of the killing of a 17-year-old by a French police officer. We don’t know much about the young man. His name was Nahel Merzouk, but he is being referred to as Nahel, no last name, and his family has not released a picture of him.
The talking heads on the many French television and radio news programmes analyse all this rioting down to a few levels. On one level, it’s about police brutality. On another level it’s about the presupposition that the police officer who fired at point-blank range will get a light sentence. At another level still, this is an angry young generation protesting against their elders in the government. I realise this last level sounds rather vague, but therein lies its power. To paraphrase Niccolò Machiavelli, the simpler the idea, the more will follow and zealously support it.
Some expert-driven talk has hissed about the Americanisation of French culture. Is Nahel the French George Floyd? As Nahel is reportedly of Algerian Moroccan heritage, is this all about race? Are the violent reactions symptomatic of the anti-colonialism that has shaped other protests and the knocking down of statues? Some British papers have picked up on this, with The Times reporting the rioting as coming from the ‘radical left.’ I suspect the radical right would like us to believe that’s the case. From inside France, it appears that all extremes are using the incident and the violent reactions to castigate Macron. One of the Italian papers, La Repubblica, has made much of this political infighting to conclude that the rioting is another sign of a weak president.
The French media is also focused on the extent of the rioting itself, how many cars and buildings have been set ablaze, how many shops have had their windows broken and how many rioters have been arrested for vandalism, looting and attacking police officers. From local radio, I learned that last night Nice experienced some isolated incidences – broken glass and rubbish bins set alight. This all makes for captivating news and gives me the uncomfortable feeling that the rioters have won by stealing the country’s attention.
The foreign media has been intoxicated by these images as well. I see online that American and British holidaymakers are concerned about their safety in France. From inside, I’ll tell you that the resort of Nice doesn’t feel more unsafe than it normally does. It’s a large city, and it has its share of pickpockets and neighbourhoods I personally wouldn’t go into at night. So far, the only change in my life brought on by the rioting is that public transport has been ordered to shut down at 21.00 – a real problem for socialising at night or going to the cinema.
I don’t mean to make light of this. I understand people’s anger. A young man, apparently unarmed, had an altercation with a police officer and was killed. The non-violent protests – better still, the silent marches – express this anger. The rioting and damage to public property, along with the hundreds of injuries inflicted on police officers, express stupidity.
The BBC informs me that tonight French cities are ‘bracing themselves’ for more unrest. I’ll just go back to bracing myself for further onslaughts of dubious reporting and opining.
Paola Trimarco 