France is seeing its worst riots in decades — violence clearly aimed not simply at the ruling party, but at France itself — and the left-liberal establishment is still trying to blame a few bad apples.

That’s true not just of President Emmanuel Macron, but of global media that claim it’s mainly about student grievances over budget cuts — at least one BBC article actually used the phrase “mostly peaceful protests.”

This is nonsense: The street mobs haven’t been just (or even mostly) kids for weeks now, and the vandalism began in the first days; it was last month that “protesters” set a teacher on fire.

A rioter raises their arm during civil unrest in Paris, France, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, the day after a national day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices. REUTERS

Foreign flags (Morocco, Algeria, “Palestine”) came out at the start; the crowds are mostly blacks and Arabs — overwhelmingly from Muslim immigrant communities, in other words.

And the political statements are obvious: Burning down historic town halls; smashing a statue of Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic.

Synagogues ransacked and other targeting of Jews.

Liberty isn’t leading these people, but a hatred for Western civilization itself.

Leaders of that civilization who still insist on denial will either find themselves as former leaders, or “leading” a former civilization.