Scrawled on cardboard placards outside occupied schools, shared tens of thousands of times in parody videos and repeated by Greta Thunberg, the phrase “Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres” has, within a few weeks, become the unofficial slogan of France’s student protests. Taken word for word, it makes little sense, and that is precisely why it has caught on among the pupils taking to the streets.
What the phrase means
According to Euronews, “Bismillah” is an Arabic word meaning “In the name of God”. Muslims traditionally say it before starting a task, while in everyday French youth slang it is used to mean “let’s go”.
🇫🇷🇸🇪 EN IMAGES | Greta Thunberg reprend le slogan lycéen « Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres » lors de sa venue à un blocus de lycée. La militante écologiste en profite également pour faire le « six-seven ».https://t.co/56TmNXROta
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) October 14, 2026
“C’est les ténèbres” translates as “it’s darkness” or “it’s the forces of darkness”. Among young people, it is slang for a situation that is disastrous or extremely bleak.
Put together, the words form a nonsensical sentence: “In the name of God, it’s darkness.” Pupils say this is exactly why it spread so quickly, as it mocks someone trying, and failing spectacularly, to talk like them.
Where the slogan came from
The phrase originated in a screenshot of a Snapchat conversation that began circulating in early October, when pupils were using the app to organise school occupations.
🇫🇷🇸🇪 FLASH | La militante écologiste suédoise Greta Thunberg participe ce matin à un blocus devant le lycée Paul-Éluard de Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), aux côtés de plusieurs manifestants. (AFP) https://t.co/I7SrvEwKVb
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) October 13, 2026
In the message, a user named “Mamadou” asks to join a group, writing: “Hi, in the name of God, it’s darkness. When is the occupation, wallah, brother?”
The message was accompanied by Algerian flag emojis. Other screenshots showed similar accounts asking pupils where occupations would take place and who was selling fireworks and smoke flares.
Unverified claims of police infiltration
For many pupils, the clumsy mix of Arabic, street slang and flags gave away the sender’s identity. They concluded that the messages had been written by police officers posing as teenagers in order to infiltrate private chats.
This theory, however, has not been proven, at least not officially. Neither the police nor the French Interior Ministry
"Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres". Ce slogan est devenu l'une des références de la mobilisation des lycées. Il serait né de messages Snapchat attribués à des policiers qui auraient tenté de se faire passer pour des lycéens afin d’infiltrer des groupes organisant des blocus. #franceinfo
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) October 12, 2026
have commented on the screenshots, and no independent body has verified who was behind the accounts.
Some internet users claimed to have traced the accounts to locations near police stations, but these claims have not been confirmed. Some of the screenshots in circulation may themselves be pranks or parodies.
Why pupils are protesting
The movement began in Créteil, south-east of Paris, on 18 September and spread rapidly across the country, driven by a build-up of grievances. At its heart are exhausting school timetables, overcrowded classrooms, neglected school buildings and persistent teacher shortages.
Many argue that these problems hit working-class suburbs and minorities hardest. On 2 October alone, around 400 schools remained closed due to occupations.
“Bismillah c’est les ténèbres”, “On va bien manigancer avec ma djellaba”: d’où viennent ces slogans de la mobilisation lycéenne? https://t.co/wTDAK0eTF5
— BFM (@BFMTV) October 13, 2026
The student mobilisations fed into the nationwide cost-of-living demonstrations on Saturday 17 October, which ended in some of the worst unrest and looting France has seen in recent years.
With information from Euronews
