Inapplicability of French ideals: perspective of suburban population.

Around 3 a.m. last Friday, I was awakened by a sound that resembled gunfire. And I wasn't mistaken. From the back windows of my apartment in southern Paris, I could see fireworks being thrown at the police and hear the immediate response in the form of "flash balls" - "non-lethal" weapons used by the French police to suppress the unrest.

In the evening, I was following news reports about the violent riots that suddenly erupted across France. There were familiar images of burning cars and buildings, heavily armed police lines—familiar, at least, to those who have experienced several years of angry protests in France. But the most alarming aspect of these riots was their widespread nature: the violence was not confined to the banlieues (suburbs) of major cities; it was everywhere, including picturesque towns like Montargis in the Loire region.

I went to bed just after midnight with a restless feeling that it would only get worse. The next day, I walked around my neighborhood, surveying the aftermath of the night - burned cars, motorcycles, and trash bins, a café-tobacco shop that was robbed for cigarettes, and a smashed Chinese restaurant for no particular reason. At the corner of Rue Versinjetorix and Rue Allen, I spoke with two police officers who were patrolling the area on bicycles. They were friendly enough, but tense. I asked them about the incident that sparked the riots - the shooting or "execution" carried out by a police officer against 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre last Tuesday. They said it was bad, but added that sooner or later something like this was bound to happen. "When you go into some of these banlieues," one of them said, "you have to be constantly tense and alert, ready for an attack at any moment. It feels like a war zone."

This language is also used by two French police unions, which released a statement on Friday saying that the police are "in combat mode because we are at war." This provocative rhetoric was immediately criticized by left-wing politicians, including Senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon from the "Unsubmissive France" party, who tweeted that the police unions should "be quiet," given the "deadly behavior" provoked by such statements. Meanwhile, Éric Zemmour, an extremist journalist turned politician and former presidential candidate, continues to describe these riots as "the first convulsions of civil war." This is not the first time that Zemmour, as well as Marine Le Pen, have warned of "civil war" - they have both been saying this for several years. Extremist writer Laurent Obertone, who is also an influential journalist in extremist circles, has built a career creating such catastrophic scenarios. His bestselling trilogy of novels titled "Heroic Struggle" is based on the plot of a fictional civil war in France.

The language of war, however, is not limited to just the political right wing. Not far from where I spoke with two police officers, I talked to Bashir Mokrani, who lives in an apartment in one of the gray tower blocks overlooking a small overgrown park where we sat. Without any reason, Bashir said, "This is not just a war. This is war. It is a war against us, the people living in places like this," he said, pointing to the housing complex behind us. "I am already 40 years old, I have a master's degree and a family, but my whole life I have been discriminated against and humiliated, always by the police. And now this has happened. People can no longer tolerate it."

If there is a war in France, it is being fought, at least for now, with symbolic rather than military methods. Amid all the chaos, it is noticeable that the rioters are attacking not only police stations but also town halls, tax offices, schools - any government institution belonging to the French Republic. The anger is directed against everything that embodies the republic - ultimately, the democratic idea of "liberty, equality, and fraternity." The reason is that a significant portion of the marginalized population in the banlieues feels that this idea does not apply to them or, simply put, that it is a lie.

Emmanuel Macron will face serious challenges in the coming days. The priority will be to restore order somehow with minimal losses. At the same time, he will have to deal with an angry and rebellious police force, as well as the risk of ongoing unrest for several weeks or even longer, as was the case in 2005. Nevertheless, this could be a moment for the French government and the people of France to begin a more long-term reflection on whether the French Republic, as it currently stands, is suitable for the 21st century.