Across France, young people have led a growing movement demanding better-funded public schools, smaller classes, adequate staffing, and the resources they need to learn.

What began outside Paris has spread nationwide, bringing labor unions, civic groups, and communities into a broader fight over the continued disinvestment in public services, even as France and governments across Europe direct billions toward expanding their militaries. The question being raised is not whether resources exist, but why funding weapons and militarization is treated as a priority while people are left fighting for schools, housing, and dignified work. Rather than protecting their right to protest, French police have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades, and mass arrests. By October 20th, more than 6,800 minors had been taken into custody, with several teenagers suffering life-changing injuries. That response cannot be separated from France’s long history of racialized policing and colonial violence, particularly as racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic narratives are used to discredit the young people demanding change. Communities should not have to fight for the basic conditions of a dignified life while governments invest in the forces used to suppress their demands. We deserve schools with teachers, housing people can afford, meaningful opportunities to work, and safety rooted in care rather than criminalization. We are in solidarity with those mobilizing across borders against militarism and state violence, and for a future shaped by the needs of our people.