‘You don’t arrest Voltaire’: Decoding France’s history of mass protests; reasons behind ‘Bloquons Tout’ or ‘Block Everything’ movement | World News
Protesters of the the “Block Everything” movement march during a rally in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien) “You don’t arrest Voltaire.” With that quip, French President Charles de Gaulle brushed off calls to jail philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre during the May 1968 uprisings. Even De Gaulle, architect of France’s hyper-presidential Fifth…