"In the name of God": How a Muslim blessing became a symbol of protest in France

A strange Snapchat message raised suspicions of a police infiltration attempt into youth protests in France. The phrase "Bismillah, c'est les ténèbres" became a protest slogan, spread across Europe and reached Greta Thunberg. According to the article, young people suspected it was a clumsy imitation of their language by law enforcement authorities.

A Muslim blessing has become a symbol of protest in France, after a suspicious Snapchat message raised suspicions of a police infiltration attempt into youth protest groups. According to a New York Times article, the phrase "Bismillah, c'est les ténèbres" (In the name of God, this is the darkness) appeared in messages from a user seeking to join a private chat group of student protest organizers. Young people suspected it was law enforcement trying to imitate their language, and turned the phrase into a mocking slogan against surveillance. The French Interior Ministry did not respond to whether its personnel used the phrase, but confirmed that investigators sometimes use fake identities. The phrase spread to protests in Belgium and Germany, and even Greta Thunberg repeated it in a support video. The protests, which began with demands to renovate school buildings and hire more teachers, merged with labor union protests. According to government data, at least 24 schools were set on fire or looted, and about 8,000 people were arrested.