July 14, 2001 demonstration in Montpellier, anti ‘vaccine passport’ (passe sanitaire) and covid-19 policies.
I arrived at Comédie, the huge pedestrian square in the city center of Montpellier, just before 2 pm, the time of the ‘rassemblement’, and was a bit disappointed because there were at the most 300 people, probably less. However by the time we began marching at 3 pm the crowd had swelled to over 1000 and it continued growing.
I saw very few people wearing the ‘gilets jaunes’ the ‘yellow vests’. Neither were there many young people in their late teens or early 20s. Also notably absent were antifa/black bloc, who had, in the end, ruined the latter demos of the gilets jaunes prior to the 2020 lockdown. There were a lot of middle-aged women. Probably there were more women than men, maybe 55 % women, 45 % men. There were also a lot of people older than 60.
There was almost nobody wearing a mask; maybe 2 % were wearing a mask.
All the signs and banners were homemade. There were no organized group banners or signs. The most popular banner was a white sheet stretched between wooden poles, on which was written “Notre Corps, Notre Choix” and under this, "Nuremberg 1946’ a reference to the Nurenberg Code which, supposedly, protects citizens from being used as guinea pigs in medical experiments.
And, surprise!, and worthy of analysis, there we no National Police, no Gendarmerie (both groups typically and heavily present at gilets jaunes marches in the past). Equally surprising, when we arrived at the Préfecture, the symbol and local HQ representing the central government, this lack of police presence allowed demonstrators, for the first time that I’ve seen since the beginning of the gilets jaunes in November 2018, to approach the building on all sides, in fact to march completely around the symbol of centralized oppression.
My analysis of this: the central government did not expect such a huge active demonstration in Montpellier. Leaving the Préfecture ‘unprotected’ could have resulted in people climbing the fence and occupying the building (which happened in at least one préfecture in France in the early weeks of the Gilets Jaunes in November 2018). However people were content to march completely around the huge Prefecture building and return to comédie square and then continue down to the train station.
The train station was also ‘unprotected’ (except by three SNCF police) despite being, in the past, a target of Gilets Jaunes. This weakness was noticed and people were quickly streaming into the train station and calling others to join. By the time the three SNCF police, with help from some SNCF employees, had gotten the sliding doors closed and locked, in the midst of a mad scuffle with demonstrators, hundreds were already up the escalator and going out to the upper outdoor landing, standing at the balcony and shouting down to the cheering group of demonstrators below, who were flanked by a couple of city police cars who did nothing.
Here there was a pause, chants, and then the march circled around back to Comédie, blocking, at one point, all four lines of tramway.
I saw no broken windows, no attacks on banks. The crowd seemed high spirited and determined, shouting for Macron to resign, shouting ‘NON’ to the ‘pass sanitaire’, the vaccine passport and shouting repeatedly ‘liberté, liberté, liberté’ and sometimes breaking into the national anthem.
I think the demonstration was an overwhelming success and indicates a huge reservoir of potential resistance in France to Macron’s oppressive policies. Keep in mind that, being a response to Macron’s speech two days ago, the demonstration wasn’t organized in advance, and it wasn’t legal, and no official group was sponsoring it (no political party or union or association). At its height there were 1500 to 2000 people marching in the hot sun, saying a resounding ‘NON !’ to the ‘pass sanitaire’ (the vaccine passport).
I’m grateful there are so many concerned citizens in France, opposed to the Covid 19 anti-Nuremberg Code fascism that the Macron government is trying to impose on the country, with the overwhelming support of the media and medical establishment. Now the government and the media and the directors of the medical establishment know that people are will resist.
My suggestion: target the medical establishment. They are the weakest link in the policy of repression. Confront them with the Nuremberg Code and the fact that 50% or more of doctors in Germany were members of the Nazi Party under Hitler. Demand that they speak out. Now is the time for French medical doctors to speak out against Macron’s policies.
The fight for freedom in France has begun!
Everyman
