French homeless storm Fouquet's and luxury hotel in quest for help (fwd)
P. Myers (mpwr@u.washington.edu)
Sun, 4 Jan 1998 17:07:35 -0800 (PST)
homelessness, poverty and protest know no nation/state boundaries. PatM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 10:13:06 PST
From: AFP <C-afp@clari.net>
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.france, clari.news.issues.poverty,
clari.news.issues.misc
Subject: French homeless storm Fouquet's and luxury hotel in quest for help
PARIS, Dec 31 (AFP) - Dozens of homeless French people clashed
with police in the capital Wednesday when they stormed two luxury
Paris establishments, the Fouquet's restaurant on the Champs-Elysees
and the nearby Royal Monceau hotel.
Protesting poverty, some 60 homeless people swarmed into the
cosy top-class Royal Monceau, where around half of the demonstrators
were quickly evicted by police.
Organisers of the bid to occupy the hotel said several of the
protestors were hurt by police, who gave a different version, saying
the homeless elbowed and pushed policemen, causing two officers to
be rushed to hospital.
The manager of the Royal Monceau offered the protestors 10,000
francs (around 1,700 dollars) to leave the building but the
demonstrators hurled the banknotes to the floor. "We were not asking
for charity, specially not to agree to leave," one demonstrator told
AFP.
The group then went on to Fouquet's, where they briefly and
quietly occupied the restaurant before leaving with a promise from
the management for the delivery of 40 New Year's Eve dinners to be
dished up later in the evening to a group of homeless people
occupying a city welfare centre.
The protests came as groups of jobless people across France
stepped up a three-week campaign of protests, including the
occupation of dole centres across the country in a bid to win extra
benefits for the unemployed and the needy.
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