PARIS — Police and protesters clashed near popular Paris tourist attractions on Tuesday amid largely peaceful demonstrations across France, as tens of thousands of people joined a student protest movement sweeping the nation.The demonstrations, which began in France last month, are part of a broader wave of largely unconnected education protests across Europe over crowded classrooms, teacher shortages, university funding cuts and rising education costs.At the Place Vauban, next to Les Invalides in the capital’s 7th arrondissement, people threw bottles, fireworks, and stones at police while officers fired water cannons and tear gas as they sought to disperse the crowds.French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 11 police officers had been hospitalised in Paris on Tuesday, which he described as a “particularly gruelling” day for local law enforcement.”I wish to reiterate my firm stance against violent individuals who attack the police,” he added in a post on social media.The police also fired stun grenades on Tuesday, as one officer confirmed to Euronews. The use of stun grenades has come under increasing scrutiny in France, with the government suspending the use of a specific type after a 15-year-old pupil lost his hand during a police operation outside a school earlier this month.According to authorities, an estimated 161,500 people joined Tuesday’s rallies across the country, while 41,500 took to the streets of Paris. Unions put the figure considerably higher, at around 480,000 nationwide.Although many protesters interviewed during previous student demonstrations expressed support for peaceful protests, some questioned on the fringes of Tuesday’s clashes argued that violence could be seen as a legitimate response to police brutality.”This is the education system rising up, students and teachers. There is absolutely no response, no willingness to engage with our demands. All we get from the police is violence, so there’s violence in response too, because no one is listening to us,” one protester told Euronews.He added that in his view, the fact that rioters had destroyed shop windows or set bins alight was not an issue, arguing that insurances would pay for the cost of these damages.France’s protests and school blockades began in Paris’s suburbs in mid-September before rapidly spreading across the country, with grievances including teacher shortages, poor facilities, and overcrowded classrooms.Ahead of separate mass demonstrations scheduled for Saturday over the cost-of-living crisis and rising fuel prices, some individuals said they hoped the student movement would unite with a broader social movement.”Anger which has been building up for years is coming together, and the student movement was the spark that lit the fuse. We’re here now, and we’ll see what happens on Saturday,” said a protestor.Another acknowledged that “masked individuals” had thrown objects including stones at the police on Tuesday, but said that he believed using tear gas was disproportionate.”I just experienced tear gas and it ripped my eyes out”, he said.Rights groups have accused police of using excessive force as they have responded to protests around France.Anne Savinel-Barras, the president of Amnesty International France, has called for authorities to ensure young people attending the demonstrations are kept as safe as possible.”Authorities must ensure their safety and security and protect and facilitate the exercise of their right to demonstrate peacefully,” she said. “Any policing response must be lawful, necessary and proportionate, and authorities must avoid unnecessary and excessive use of force.”Stanislas Gaudon, national secretary for Alliance Police Nationale, a major French police union, previously told Euronews that police remained focused on ensuring security around the perimeter of schools.”When there are acts of aggression and the use of force, it’s a question of determining the proportionality and the legitimacy of the act,” Gaudon said.”If this is done against individuals who have fired at police officers or thrown acid, then the use of force to disperse is necessary. I don’t like using the term ‘repression’ or ‘suppression’ of student protests. That’s not the issue. If there is no disturbance in the public space, then there is no legitimate use of force by law enforcement,” he added. Greta Thunberg joins Paris protestsSwedish activist Greta Thunberg also made an appearance at a protest in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, on Tuesday.Speaking to reporters outside a high school, Thunberg said: “Young people are not being included in the conversation. Our future is being robbed away from us.””As we’ve seen here, schools are not getting investment that they need,” she continued. “It just gives the signal to young people that you are not prioritised in our society.”
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