French riots put social division in the spotlight

Ongoing tensions which have erupted into violence and thousands of arrests across France following the killing of a 17-year-old youth by police have provided an uncomfortable reminder of the country's difficult colonial past and its continued relevance to modern society.

The youth, known as Nahel M, was of Algerian descent, and was shot by a policeman at a traffic stop on June 27 in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. Similar suburbs of major French cities have developed reputations as a breeding ground for social problems over the years.

It was the third such killing this year, following 13 last year, and in most cases, the victims have been male youths of black or North African descent.

With the temperature still high following the killing of Nahel, on Saturday more than 2,000 people defied a court order to take part in a memorial rally in central Paris to commemorate the death of a French-born black man, Adama Traore, in police custody in 2016.

A study published in February 2021 by France's human rights watchdog Defender of Rights found that young men perceived as black or Arab are 20 times more likely to be stopped by French police.

A 2021 study quoted by the BBC found that 13.5 percent of people aged between 15 and 29 in metropolitan France were not in employment, training or education, with the jobless rate particularly high in areas of Paris and the southern city of Marseille with large communities of immigrant background.

Although French President Emmanuel Macron called the killing of Nahel "inexcusable" and "inexplicable", Crystal Fleming, a professor of sociology at Stony Brook University in the United States, told German broadcaster DW that this was far from the case. "It is not inexplicable," she said. "It is not a mystery. It is racism."

Much of that stems from France's colonial past, particularly in Algeria, which was a French colony for more than 100 years before it declared independence in 1962, following a prolonged violent struggle, which is still a very sensitive issue in France.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is head of the National Rally party, the new incarnation of the National Front, previously led by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who is also a former presidential contender and served as a solider in Algeria, an experience that shaped him and has also left an impact on his daughter and her politics.

In her first parliamentary speech since the initial wave of violence began to relent, following an appeal from Nahel's grandmother, Le Pen said the government had turned France into a "hell", as she had warned.

"The reality is that you didn't want to hear any of the warnings," she said. "We predicted what is happening despite great adversity. Unfortunately we were right."

As if to underline the depth of the divisions in French society, a fund has been set up in support of the police officer charged over the killing of Nahel, and has received tens of thousands of donations. The organizer of the fund is Jean Messiha, an Egyptian-born economic advisor to Marine Le Pen.

In the nights of violence that have happened across the country since the killing, fireworks have often been thrown at the emergency services.

July 14 is Bastille Day, France's national day, which is usually a day of celebrations across the country, but because of recent events, fireworks are on a list of banned items until the day has passed.

"In order to prevent the risk of serious disturbances to public order during the July 14 festivities, the sale, possession, transport and use of pyrotechnical articles and fireworks is banned until July 15 inclusively," said a government decree published on Sunday.