Yesterday’s news about the death of a 24-year-old firefighter, who lost his life while trying to extinguish vehicles set ablaze outside Paris during France’s week-long riots, ought to be as sobering as it is sad.
Indeed, violent unrest is the best way to describe the arson, looting and vandalism that have overshadowed justifiable demands for justice and reform that followed the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M, last week. Now, amid the widespread damage to several major French cities, many injuries and the mounting cost of repairing the wreckage – not to mention the monumental task of healing community divisions – another young person has lost their life.
Clearly, the repercussions of protest, when it crosses the line into provocation or disorder, can be severe. Aside from the alarming scenes coming out of France in the past few days, in another part of Europe, a questionable decision by the Swedish authorities last week to allow a man to desecrate a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm’s largest mosque highlighted the need for decision makers, police and demonstrators alike to act with common sense, restraint and responsibility.
Although Sweden’s government yesterday distanced itself from the man’s actions, rightly describing his stunt as an Islamophobic act, the damage done to the country’s reputation in parts of the Arab and Muslim world could take some time to repair.
Demonstrating is one thing, hate crimes and attacks are another. Protest is a long-standing tradition in many European countries, and in France it is arguably part of the country’s DNA. The Republic was born of revolution and its citizens have a considerable history of taking to the streets to air their grievances or demand change from their government. However, the events of the past few days are of a different nature.
France’s response to its latest disorder – which followed weeks of unruly street demonstrations earlier this year about pension reforms – will have to be nuanced and long-lasting. Yes, a police response is needed when demonstrators – no matter how aggrieved – cross the line into violence and provocation, but there are many issues fanning the flames of discontent in France: alienation, racism, unemployment, as well as profound antipathy between police officers and many working-class youths.
France’s response to this toxic mixture will not be measured in weeks or months, but years. There is also the lurking spectre of the country’s far right, ready to exploit divisions for its own purposes. And those who demand public protests should know that calling people on to the streets often carries a real risk of events escalating, in addition to damaging whatever cause they may have if looting and destruction accompany the protests.
In Sweden, the authorities’ failure to exercise common sense and restrict what can best be described as a racist outburst rather than a legitimate protest is a missed opportunity to lay down a marker for public demonstrations. No coherent point of view was expressed during the hateful act of burning a copy of the Quran, an event that was condemned by Pope Francis in an interview with UAE newspaper Al Ittihad yesterday as "unacceptable".
Although the act initially received a permit from the authorities, it is now being investigated by police as a possible hate crime. This confusion over the right to protest, and the conduct of such protests, will need to be clarified soon, because there are plenty more provocateurs willing to insult and offend for the sake of publicity.
Street disorder may last just a few hours or days, but the damage they can leave is much longer lasting. Learning how to protest robustly but respectfully, as well as developing ways to police it responsibly, will go some way to avoiding a repetition of the ugly scenes France and Sweden have witnessed in the past week.
