Why Saving France Starts, But Doesn’t End, With Preserving Its Cultural Heritage

As horrific violence spreads across France while protests turn to riots, one video has become a devastating exhibition of how evil ideas can infect and destroy civilization, ushered in by naive liberal idealism.

It shows a Frenchwoman failing to protect a grocery store from masked rioters while shouting, “This is not the cause.” She fails to understand that, yes, the destruction is “the cause.”

These riots are an attack on French culture, heritage, and history, and show that France is not safe for its population or its myriad treasures. Stores have been burned, businesses destroyed, luxury stores looted, and historic buildings defaced and even destroyed.

The official line is that this is a student movement, but what started as a walkout at one high school in the Paris suburb of Créteil has rapidly become an excuse for bad actors to wreak havoc.

President Emmanuel Macron, who should be leading his people during such unrest, has fled the scene, flying off on a previously scheduled tour of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Before he fled, he blamed far-left agitators manipulating mostly peaceful protests, and called for a much-needed security review to understand how they lost control of their major cities all at once.

President Donald Trump has a far clearer read of the situation: “The migrants have taken over France.”

Pretending this is just a student movement calling for improved public education, or a reaction to inequality and economic hardship, is laughable. Stealing luxury goods or committing arson won’t improve the cost of living crisis or teacher pay. And the videos and images of rioters and looters certainly don’t look like innocent French teens fighting for their futures.

This state of affairs is untenable.

Luxury stores, such as Apple, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès, were emptied out. Dior hired private security for its flagship store, knowing the police couldn’t contain the riots, but looters still hit other locations.

Smaller local businesses are not as lucky and cannot afford private security. A female restaurant owner, Aline Li, was beaten as her attackers laughed, filming her assault and the destruction of her restaurant La Barrique.

If the attack on businesses lays bare the mercenary side of looting, the targeting of cultural heritage sites shows the riots for what they are: an attack on the heart of the nation itself.

If the video of the grocery store robbery isn’t the definitive image, then that dishonor belongs to the Limoges Town Hall on fire. This stunning landmark, built in 1883, was burned down and is largely lost. The roof of the 143-year-old building, which survived Nazi occupation and bombardment in World War II, was destroyed in the arson attack, and its gorgeous 43-meter clock tower fell.

The Louvre had to be closed temporarily, with no word on when it would reopen. One can only imagine the damage that could have been done if the staff hadn’t locked it down from the inside once protesters began encircling the building.

Fires rage on the streets of Paris. The Palais Garnier, among the world’s most iconic and beautiful opera houses, was defaced with graffiti, and rioters have used its sidewalks as meeting grounds; it’s thanks largely to the police presence that it was not permanently damaged.

France is home to countless masterpieces of art, artifacts, and architecture that we owe future generations to preserve. As such, safer museums such as the Smithsonian Institution and the British Museum should temporarily take custody of as many objects as possible until peace is restored to the nation.

While this would not protect churches and historic buildings, it could save paintings, statues, and other historic treasures for future generations.

The Smithsonian has shown a willingness to care for significant pieces of cultural heritage from countries where unrest prevents their preservation. The Government of Yemen noted the looting and destruction of objects of vital importance, so it left 77 outstanding artifacts in the care of the National Museum of Asian Art, some of which are on display. It’s a magnificent collection, and losing it would be tragic.

The British Museum views protecting looted artifacts as a “duty” and treats it with requisite sacredness, safely guarding Syrian antiquities as the conflict was at its peak.

While France hopefully cannot quite be compared to a war-torn Middle Eastern country, the rioting and violence create a clear and ever-increasing danger to the pieces in its many phenomenal museums.

It certainly would be embarrassing to admit that the country is not capable of protecting itself and its cultural heritage from an angry mob of vandals and rioters in a democratic, first-world country, but this is the circumstance France has found itself in after ignoring crime and the consequences of unassimilated mass immigration for decades.

More than anything, what France needs is new leadership. Macron will be out of office this spring, as term limits prevent him from seeking another five years.

Right-wing party National Rally and leader Marine Le Pen was already the frontrunner, but stands to further shore up her lead as the Left reveals itself to be savage and violent while the moderate Macron reminds everyone just how ineffectual he is.

This weekend needs to be a wake-up call. Weakness in law enforcement and soft border policies leave cities in ashes.

***

Paulina Enck is a media specialist in Washington, D.C.