Where is the “yellow-vest” movement headed?

The grassroots movement is spreading in  Europe,  Canada and elsewhere but also becoming increasingly polarized by both right and left 

By Margot Grant

The “yellow-vest” movement is spreading rapidly in Europe, Canada and elsewhere, and it is becoming increasingly polarized as right-wing groups claim ownership in some countries while social justice and left-leaning demands remain the focus in others. 

Last weekend, demonstrators took to the streets in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, the Czech Republic, Israel, Chile and Iraq joining the grassroots movement in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Spain and Italy. 

In Canada, Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada organized “yellow-vest” demonstrations in Ottawa and Toronto, and slogans with similar content were heard at a demonstration in Calgary. The National Citizens Alliance, a group with controversial views on immigration and multiculturalism, was affiliated with a “yellow vest” rally in Edmonton. 

According to the CBC, members of Soldiers of Odin, an anti-immigration group founded in 2015 in Finland by a white supremacist, were also in attendance in Edmonton and Calgary.

According to Global News, about half of the demonstrators in Red Deer, Regina, Toronto, Winnipeg, Kelowna, Moncton, Saskatoon and Halifax seemed to have right-leaning values, while the other half were left-leaning. What they share is discontent with the political establishment, high cost of living and growing inequality.

Protests were also held in Vancouver, Montreal, London, Hamilton, Kamloops, Fort McMurray, Saint John, St. John’s, Fredericton, and other communities.

In Brussels, authorities banned all planned demonstrations this Sunday after riots in front of the EU head offices and an attempt to storm the European Parliament. Despite the ban, 5,500 demonstrators marched in the city on Sunday, mostly dressed in black, carrying right-wing flags and shouting slogans like “Our own people first.” A thousand people held a counter-demonstration.  

In London, England, 34 people in yellow vests briefly occupied Westminster Bridge, shouting “Brexit Now.” Some carried pro-Trump signs. 

But the yellow-vest movement is left-leaning in many other places. 

The Scottish yellow vest movement, which demonstrated at the Scottish Parliament and George Square in Edinburgh this weekend, has 22 demands, among them: re-nationalization of public services; a nationally owned pharmaceutical industry; a living wage; an end to corporate tax evasion; an end to tax breaks for the rich; investment in ecological production methods for cars, homes and products; and asset-stripping of all proven corrupt bodies, agencies and individuals, with proceeds to be redistributed equally among the communities.

“Yellow-vest” demands in Ireland are similar: an immediate halt to home evictions, immediate distribution of food and fuel vouchers for people going hungry and cold; constitutional protection of Ireland’s water from privatization; a return of Ireland’s oil and gas reserves to public ownership; enforcement of a full corporate tax rate on multinationals; and a liveable minimum wage. 

In France, the yellow vest movement has significant left-wing support, including the Socialist Party, Europe Ecology, and many members of the CGT (France’s largest union), and the Confédération Paysanne.

The transport section of the CGT has called for a blockade of all logistics centres in France. The unions are demanding: a $21 hourly minimum wage; a 32-hour work week; a 40-per-cent increase in pension and welfare payments; lower taxes on food; taxation of the rich; an end to privatization of public services; massive construction projects to house the homeless; and a ban on genetically-modified crops and plastic bottles.

Near Carcassonne, in the south of France, “yellow vests” are blocking a Monsanto plant. 

The French union of administrative police employees has held a one-day strike in solidarity with the yellow vests, saying “the demands of the yellow vest movement affect us all”.

French firefighters were filmed lying down in the street in a show of support for the movement. 

Demonstrations and blockades are continuing across France. “We are told that 90 per cent of the motorway speed cameras have been disabled and toll stations which would normally be collecting road tax have been shut by the yellow jackets so that the French can now drive these motorways without paying, sending a very clear message to their government,” a British citizen living in France wrote on Facebook this week.

“The mainstream media in France is not reporting on how widespread this has become in an attempt to prevent others from joining. What these disruptions ultimately mean is a steady decline in productivity from across the country bringing the wheels of the great financial machine to a halt, forcing a response from their president. This morning, France’s finance minister warned of the catastrophic effects on the economy, and the evidence of this is already clear in some of our local shops which have been unable to re-stock.

“This morning, I spotted a speed camera on a minor road which had been pulled down and there was graffiti all over the road, so it looks like people have had enough of ALL speed cameras and not just the ones on the motorway,” he wrote.

Authorities across Europe and elsewhere are clearly worried about the “yellow-vest” movement. 

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday defended the jailing of an elderly rights activist, stressing he wants to prevent events like France’s “yellow vest” revolt. 

“We don’t want to have events in our country like in Paris where they are tearing up cobblestones and burning everything in sight,” Putin said. “The country will then plunge into the conditions of a state of emergency.” 

In Egypt, authorities restricted the sale of yellow vests amid fears opponents might attempt to copy the “yellow vest” movement during next month’s anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

A number of “yellow vest” reports mentioned rioters in Paris with a blue band around a hand or wrist who never seemed to get arrested, suggesting agents provocateurs working for the government to discredit the movement.

In the Netherlands, demonstrators in several cities filmed men in yellow vests mingling in the crowd and then suddenly hustling other “yellow vests” into police cars. Wearers of yellow vests in the Netherlands can now incur a fine for “incitement” (to rioting), even if the wearer is a lone person in front of a mall. Several videos of such incidents have gone viral. 

Also in the Netherlands, demonstrations are limited to 100 people (The Hague) or allowed only at remote locations outside city centers. 

Last weekend, demonstrators in Brussels were forced to go through a police corridor where they were photographed and had to show their ID before being allowed to proceed to the square where the demonstration would be held. A number of cellphones was also confiscated. The police subsequently closed the square and arrested 450 people for “administrative reasons”.

Something similar happened in Serbia: “In the summer of this year in Serbia, the people organized (mainly through social networks) to try and show their revolt, rebellion, disagreement, regarding the increase in the price of fuel,” said a poster on Facebook. “The plan was to block petrol stations and main roads with vehicles. Only ambulances and vehicles with children, elderly or sick people would be allowed to pass. 

“The first day, the police did nothing but the next day, they photographed the vehicles and drivers at the blockades. On the third day, misdemeanor notices began to arrive at home addresses. After that, the protests and blockades stopped.”

There were large “yellow-vest” demonstrations in the Serbian capital Belgrade last weekend. 

Facebook is playing an interesting role. Initially, hundreds of “yellow-vest” Facebook groups sprang up to spread the word about upcoming demonstrations and to give a voice to discontent. But soon after, more and more posts read “attachment unavailable” and some pages developed a strange glitch, with screens shifting every second or two, making reading difficult and screenshots impossible. 

More and more posts simply disappeared, people complained, and sharing became largely impossible. One of the first videos to disappear was footage of the French president Macron being egged on the head while working a crowd, although it may still be available here.

Although most ”yellow-vest” pages still exist (a Belgian one mysteriously disappeared), they contain fewer and fewer posts, creating the impression the movement is dying out. The mainstream media give the same idea, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain news about the movement.  Twitter is no longer mentioned as a tool to spread “yellow-vest” news.