France VS Macron

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A group of police gather to disperse protesters during a demonstration organized by the “Gilets Jaunes’ movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A group of protesters face police forces during a demonstration on a street near the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: A protester takes a "selfie" during a demonstration on the Champs Elysées called for by the "Gilets Jaunes" movement against rising fuel prices on November 24, 2018 in Paris, France. People of different backgrounds and political ideologies from all over France gathered in what seems to be a clear example of the fight of a country against a government that is increasingly losing popular support. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration on the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01 A group of protesters run after police force shot tear gas towards them during a protest on the adjacent streets to the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: A group of demonstrators are hit by water cannons shot by police forces to disperse them during a protest on the Champs Elysées called for by the "Gilets Jaunes" movement against rising fuel prices on November 24, 2018 in Paris, France. Some 81,000 people are reported to have mobilized throughout France, including 8,000 in Paris. The French Ministry of the Interior has reported that at least eight people, including two police officers, have been injured in today’s violence. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A group of demonstrators throw back tear gas canisters shot by police forces to disperse demonstrators during a protest on the adjacent streets to the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01 A group of protesters run after police forces shot tear gas towards them during a protest on the adjacent streets to the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A group of police forces charge towards protesters during a demonstration organised by the “Gilets Jaunes’ movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A group of protesters face police forces during a demonstration on a street near the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: Demonstrators set a trailer on fire during a protest on the Champs Elysées called for by the "Gilets Jaunes" movement against rising fuel prices on November 24, 2018 in Paris, France. Protesters often sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, while confronting police forces, and chant slogans demanding the resignation of French President Emanuel Macron. Photo by Omar Havana

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    PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: Protesters gather behind a barricade set on fire during a protest on the Champs Elysées called for by the "Gilets Jaunes" movement against rising fuel prices on November 24, 2018 in Paris, France. People of different backgrounds and political ideologies from all over France gathered in what seems to be a clear example of the fight of a country against a government that is increasingly losing popular support. Photo by Omar Havana

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A protester walks in front of a group of police forces on a street adjacent to the Champs Elysées during a protest called by the “Gilets Jaunes’ on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: A demonstrator wearing a road cone on his head walks in the middle of a demonstration on the Champs Elysées called for by the "Gilets Jaunes" movement against rising fuel prices on November 24, 2018 in Paris, France. People of different backgrounds and political ideologies from all over France gathered in what seems to be a clear example of the fight of a country against a government that is increasingly losing popular support. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A group of protesters raise hands as a symbol of solidarity in front police forces during a demonstration on a street near the Champs Elysées called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A protester faces a group of police forces gathered to disperse demonstrations from a street near the Champs Elysées on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: Several fires are seen on a street near the Saint Lazare train station during a protest organised by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: Several fires are seen on a street near the Champs Elysées during a protest organized by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: A protester throws items found on the streets to a barricade set up on fire during a demonstration on the Champs Elysées called for by the "Gilets Jaunes" movement against rising fuel prices on November 24, 2018 in Paris, France. Some 81,000 people are reported to have mobilized throughout France, including 8,000 in Paris. The French Ministry of the Interior has reported that at least eight people, including two police officers, have been injured in today’s violence. Photo by Omar Havana

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: Members of the fire department put out a fire set on fire by extremist vandals that infiltrated the protest called for by the “Gilets Jaunes” movement on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 01: A resident walks by a diplomatic car set on fire by violent extremist groups that infiltrated the protest organised by the “Gilets Jaunes” near the Champs Elysées on December 01, 2018 in Paris, France. The neighbourhood around the Champs Elysées, with its concentration of high-end luxury brands and one of the world’s highest per square meter value, paints a stark contrast to the demonstrators’ frustration with President Macron’s perceived bias towards the rich. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

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    PARIS, FRANCE –DECEMBER 03: A man begs for money in front of a building where messages calling for revolution were written during last Saturday’s protests on December 03, 2018 in Paris, France. After the violent clashes of last Saturday’s protest, the “Gilets Jaunes” have announced on social media new protests for this coming Saturday under the name of “Act 4: Insurrection.” Different groups and individuals on social media are calling for extreme violence against police forces. Last Saturday, 378 people, including 33 minors, were arrested. Photo: © Omar Havana. All Rights Are Reserved.

Hundreds of thousands of “Gilet Jaunes” (meaning “Yellow Vest” in French) have taken to the streets of France in recent weeks, which have left Paris’ famed Champs Elysée and the streets that surround it in utter chaos.

After a call on social networks, French citizens from all over the country gathered in the French capital after government officials rejected to meet with them. “We do not want this, but we will keep fighting for our rights until someone from the Government will meet us,” said Antoine, a retired man from the western region of Bretagne (Brittany). “I hate violence, but this is the only way that we have to be heard, as French citizens we have that right,” he adds.

Protests by the “gilets jaunes” originally began in mid-November in reaction to increases in fuel prices and taxes, but have since continuously expanded to a broader and ill-defined set of demands, including the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron. Without a leader, the “gilets jaunes” have mobilized people of drastically different opinions, unified mostly by their shared discontent with a rising cost life, using social media to spread calls for demonstrations.

People taking part in the demonstrations, which have included professional vandals (referred to as “casseurs” in French) numbering at least in the hundreds, ransacked storefronts and banks, set vehicles and buildings on fire, painted graffiti landmarks and uprooted the pavement, in neighborhoods adjacent to the Champs Elysées, the Opera and numerous other popular tourist attractions, while overwhelmed police forces launched tear gas and stun grenades, and attempted to disperse protesters with barricades and water cannons.

While the cost of the damage is still to be determined, early estimates come to several millions of Euros, while business owners are discouraged by the new wave of violence that has shaken the area and what the next protests, already being announced, could bring. “I have lost several thousands of Euros during last Saturday. My windows are smashed, and all the exterior is filled with graffiti,” says a shop owner who prefers to keep her identity hidden for fear of retribution. “I support the fight of the Gilets Jaunes, but I cannot understand this reaction to our business. I am just a worker who invested a lot of money and if this continues I am afraid I will lose everything,” she concludes.

More protests are announced for the second week of December; “Act 4” of the Gilets Jaunes has already been announced in social media for Saturday, and if nothing changes, many fear that this will bring an even more violent participation by the extremist groups who are taking over the protests in Paris.

Photography: © Omar Havana. All Rights are Reserved

This story has been published in Al Jazeera English