Scrawled on cardboard signs and hoisted high above huge crowds of protesters, a four word phrase has become both a symbol among France’s disaffected youth and a running joke.
asserted
phrase → scrawl → youth
The slogan of ‘bismillah, c’est les ténèbres’ - mixing Arabic and French to say ‘In the name of god, it’s the darkness’ - appears to have originated in a Snapchat message.
asserted
it → mix → message
The post, adorned with Algerian flags, came from a user called Mamadou, who requested to be added to a student group with the message: “Hi, in the name of God, it’s the darkness.
asserted
it → adorn → God
When’s the blockade, wallah, bro?”
asserted
blockade → ’ → ?
However, some of France’s student protesters suspect the post was actually sent by an undercover police officer trying to infiltrate their private groups, as authorities struggle to get on top of some of the biggest demonstrations in recent memory.
asserted
authorities → suspect → memory
Organisers claim 800,000 people took to the streets last weekend and are planning for more action this Saturday.
uncertain
people → claim → action
‘Bismillah’ is Arabic for ‘In the name of God’, a phrase Muslims use before starting an activity.
asserted
Muslims → use → activity
In French slang, it has morphed into something closer to ‘Let’s do it’.
asserted
’s → morph → it
‘C’est les ténèbres’ means ‘It’s the darkness’, suggestive of a bleak situation without hope.
asserted
It → mean → hope
The phrase appears to mimic the colloquial mix of French and Arabic that young people in the country often use today.
asserted
people → appear → country
But Snapchat users in France found it unusual enough to screenshot and post on social media from early October.
asserted
it → find → October
Phèdre Quémener, a high school student in Paris, told the New York Times that the message is seen across France “as an example of racism because it implies that the people who are going to vandalize property are Arab”.
asserted
who → tell → property
It has become a national joke because “it is such a terrible impersonation of a young person,” she added.
asserted
she → become → person
Elsa Sauveroche, from Nice, told The Independent: “It’s clunky.
asserted
It → tell → Independent
When I first heard it it sounded ridiculous …
asserted
it → hear → it
I had to Google it to see if it was an actual saying.
asserted
it → have → it
Even still, the first time I heard it my reaction was what are they coming up with.”
Did police really infiltrate Snapchat groups?
There is no evidence that police did try to break into social media groups to infiltrate the protest movement.
asserted
police → hear → movement
Nobody has independently verified where the accounts came from, and the police have not commented on the screenshots in circulation since early October.
asserted
police → verify → October
The French Interior Ministry also has not addressed whether its agents used the phrase, but did tell the New York Times that enforcement officials may use online personas to speak with people suspected of organising unlawful activities during protests.
uncertain
officials → address → protests
The phrase has nevertheless been picked up by young protesters, including Greta Thunberg, who employed it when addressing demonstrators in Seine-Saint-Denis on 13 October, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
uncertain
who → pick → ANSA
Why are French students protesting?
asserted
students → protest → ?
France has been hit by some of the worst urban tumult in years since protests broke out last month over student frustrations with classroom conditions and teacher shortages.
asserted
protests → hit → conditions
The demonstrations have since gathered national momentum, with many hundreds of thousands of people protesting cost of living concerns and declining public services.
asserted
thousands → gather → services
France's main student union, UNEF, has called for further rallies on Saturday, while the Yellow Vest group, which emerged as a potent anti-establishment movement in 2018, has filed plans for a march through central Paris the same day.
asserted
which → call → Paris
Efforts to ease social tensions showed little sign of progress, as unions pledged to press ahead with a general strike on November 5 after government talks ended inconclusively.
Cost of living protests have since broken out across the continent with a similar revolutionary angst.
asserted
protests → ease → angst
Placards seen in marches from Bologna to Brussels and Berlin have all carried the phrase ‘bismillah, c’est les ténèbres’.
asserted
Placards → see → phrase
The Aporia
