There's a special vocabulary used in all the media reports/captions: "Youths" means Muslim thugs from the suburbs (read slums); "Students" or "Protestors" means native French upper class whiners. Once you know that vocabulary, you can begin to make sense of what you see and read. The Youths prey upon the Students. The Students whine about the Government.
Damn I have a moral dilemma.
I find myself rooting for the youth to beat up the protestors.
I think the protesting whiners irritate me more.