OPINION:
The riots consuming France have caused considerable confusion. We are told the violence is a protest over poor conditions in the nation’s schools, but you do not burn down a school to get a better education.
In a Truth Social post, President Trump observed: “What’s happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass migration. This isn’t about schools. This is about Islam wanting to take over a once great country.”
The facts bear this out.
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France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, which has grown from 0.5% of the adult population in 1985 to an estimated 6 million today, or roughly 9% of the total population. Muslim migrants tend to congregate in what are called the suburbs surrounding Paris — areas police are reluctant to enter — hence the expression “no-go zones.”
The protesters are carrying Islamic and communist flags. They are being encouraged by Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, one of the three major parties vying for power in the April 2027 presidential election. As you would expect, Mr. Melenchon supports mass migration.
So far, 900 schools have closed because of the riots. At last count, 715 law enforcement officers have been injured by the chaos caused by young scholars seeking a better education by setting fires, throwing rocks and assaulting police with other projectiles.
The riots should help Marine Le Pen’s insurgent-right National Rally party, which currently leads a three-way race with Mr. Melenchon’s party and the centrist party of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
National Rally calls for massive cuts in legal and illegal immigration, the latter to be achieved by better border security. It also seeks to end family reunification and birthright citizenship. Sound familiar?
It wants to protect French national identity with bans on Islamic headscarves and burkas in public places.
France does need better schools. Many are far too old and dilapidated. Still, the problem cannot be addressed while the nation is in the midst of a long-running budget crisis.
France’s debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at a staggering nearly 120%. It is projecting a deficit of about 5.4% of gross domestic product. French citizens are already taxed to the limit.
Still, the force behind the current riots is not fiscal but ideological. France needs a government committed to securing its borders, fiscal discipline and the rule of law.
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