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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
James C. Reynolds

‘Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres’: What does the French protests slogan mean?

Scrawled on cardboard signs and hoisted high above huge crowds of protesters, a four word phrase has become both a symbol among France’s disaffected youth and a running joke.

The slogan of ‘bismillah, c’est les ténèbres’ - mixing Arabic and French to say ‘In the name of god, it’s the darkness’ - appears to have originated in a Snapchat message.

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