Posted on 11/02/2005 5:31:01 PM PST by blam
Six nights of riots in Paris ghetto split Chirac cabinet
By Henry Samuel in Clichy-sous-Bois
(Filed: 03/11/2005)
The French government was reeling yesterday after six nights of rioting which have exposed a split in the cabinet over how to deal with poverty and immigration in the dilapidated Paris suburbs.
As authorities cleaned up the debris of another bout of violence, including the wrecks of 250 cars burned out on Tuesday night, both the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, and the interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, put off foreign trips to deal with the rioting.
Youths on the Paris estates have promised ‘40 nights of violence’
"We sure showed it to them last night," said one youth in Clichy-sous-Bois, a grim suburb of high-rises some 15 miles outside Paris.
The worsening crisis jolted President Jacques Chirac out of a six-day silence into calling for calm and a firm hand in dealing with a "dangerous situation".
"The law must be applied firmly and in a spirit of dialogue and respect," the president said at a cabinet meeting.
Using words which could be seen as critical of the tough policing tactics promoted by Mr Sarkozy: "The absence of dialogue and an escalation of a lack of respect will lead to a dangerous situation."
The riots first broke out on the Chêne-Pointu council estate. Last Thursday, two adolescents from the estate died when they scaled the 8ft wall of an electricity substation to dodge police and were electrocuted.
A third escaped with severe burns. The two dead youths, Ziad and Banou, have become symbols of the social problems that ring the capital.
"They were good kids coming back from a football game. Their criminal record was almost completely clean," said Kolan, a black 22-year-old who was part of a foursome, all of North African origin, scuffing their feet in the estate entrance.
The police say they were not chasing the youths who died, but another nearby group.
"We have witnesses who saw them being chased by two policemen. They had done nothing, but if the police chase you around here, you run, guilty or not, because you can be sure they won't be kind with you," said Kolan.
Chêne-Pointu typifies the problems of many of the urban ghettoes that surround Paris and other large French cities: a high immigrant population, soaring unemployment and drug dealing.
Many of the youths blame Mr Sarkozy for the continued violence, with what they consider to be highly provocative language. He has pledged to "industrially clean" council estates and to rid them of "scum".
On Sunday night, he promised "zero tolerance" of suburban crime. Two rioters have already received three-month jail sentences and a dozen more face charges.
"We're not dumb. Sarkozy has declared war on suburban youth," said Karim, 23. "Unless he apologises for the way he has treated us, then he can expect 40 nights of violence," he said.
But others around the estate back Mr Sarkozy. "What he says may be crude, but he's right. Drug runners and petty criminals have had it good too long around here.
"There's only so much social prevention you can do, then you have to repress," said Marie-Jeanne Sacré, a social worker.
In the neighbouring Bosquet estate, Traore Gounedi, a 27-year-old worker in a local social centre, is incensed. "Ten years ago, Clichy was a real no-go area. But in recent years we had built up sports clubs and other associations and it had become calm.
"The way Sarkozy has dealt with this, using riot police and terms the National Front would be proud of, has put the clock back 10 years. Once Ramadan ends on Friday, things will get worse."
As night fell at Chêne-Pointu, sirens heralded the approach of two fire engines that positioned themselves in front of the estate awaiting the flames.
Ahhh, more evidence of the Religion of Peace.
6 nights and the French have yet to surrender? I guess a cow will now jump over the moon.
This has got to be a sign of the French being on the verge of surrender...:)
lawlessness says more about the wet-paper-bag girlie man culture than it does about those who use Islam as a shield for their rebelliousness.
The split in Chirac's cabinet is that half want to surrender before eating their cheese and half after.
(Filed: 03/11/2005)
Nicolas Sarkozy, a man in a hurry to reach the Elysée, has come up against a deeply engrained, long-term problem which is defying his formidable energies. Reacting to the riots which over the past week have scarred several of the poor suburbs with heavy concentrations of immigrants around Paris, the French interior minister has rightly called for zero tolerance of violence.
But he has damaged his case by resorting to the language of the far Right, speaking of cleaning the "scum" out of the suburbs "au Kärcher". That is the name of a German maker of pressure washers which have been used in recent years to spruce up the Brandenburg Gate, the colonnade of St Peter's Square and the presidential faces on Mount Rushmore.
The reaction to his proposal for industrial cleansing from the affected suburbs and the political Left has, predictably, been bad. But he has also been criticised by the equal opportunities minister, Azouz Begag. With the unrest spreading, Mr Sarkozy has cancelled a visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan, the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, has postponed going to Canada, and President Jacques Chirac yesterday warned that a lack of dialogue and respect could produce a "dangerous situation".
Not since the Corsicans rejected his plans for autonomy in 2003 has the interior minister faced such a setback. How he handles it will affect his chances of succeeding Mr Chirac in 2007. But the three protagonists in this drama - Mr Sarkozy, his rival for future leadership of the Right, Mr de Villepin, and the president - are facing a challenge from which none of them can draw much short-term advantage.
In suburbs such as Clichy-sous-Bois, where the rioting began, they are facing the consequences of decades of flawed integration policies and an economy that has failed to produce enough jobs. The riots have cruelly laid bare the inadequacies of the French model.
Sarkozy is right, however. The rioters are lowlifes who need to be dealt with the severest possible manner.
LOL!!
Sarkozy...he's not perfect, but he's heading in the right direction. Islam only respects force.
that was a good one! :)
By Henry Samuel
(Filed: 03/11/2005)
The riots have led many to question the tough-talking tactics of France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is using law and order to boost his chances of becoming the next president.
A few months ago, Mr Sarkozy was the undisputed star of the Right, with soaring popularity ratings.
After wrenching control of the ruling UMP party from the clutches of President Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy's presidential ambition appeared bang on track.
He made his name as a man of action who could be tough on crime but also reach out to the immigrant community and France's Muslims.
But, with this week's riots, he seems to be faltering on all fronts.
Just a week before the riots exploded, he promised a "war without mercy" on violence and petty crime in the suburbs. The opposition Socialist Party criticised his rhetoric.
But he has also come under fire from his own camp. Azouz Begag, the equal opportunities minister of Algerian heritage, asked him to stop using "warlike and imprecise language".
"I talk with real words," Mr Sarkozy fired back. "When someone shoots at policemen, he's not just a youth, he's a lout, full stop."
At root, the sniping against Mr Sarkozy from within his own party underscores the intense rivalry between the interior minister on the one hand and Mr Chirac and his close ally, Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, on the other.
I guess we know what the French were afraid of when they snubbed us in Iraq. They're getting it anyway.
I wonder what shameless tactic Dirty Chirac will use to throw Sarkozy under the bus. Like the American Dems who adore Chirac, sacrificing national security for political gain is only natural.
What? Between those who want to surrender and those who want to collaborate?
if the police chase you around here, you run, guilty or not
Simply stunning. Let's allow in more Islamic immigrants with this mentality
On Sunday night, he promised "zero tolerance" of suburban crime. Two rioters have already received three-month jail sentences and a dozen more face charges.
Three months! Way to get tough on Islamofacist invaders who are destroying your country. Maybe they'll even take it a step further and force them to do without television as well.
"The way Sarkozy has dealt with this, using riot police and terms the National Front would be proud of, has put the clock back 10 years. Once Ramadan ends on Friday, things will get worse."
The nerve of those police animals. Using riot police in the middle of a riot? Unbelievable!
Neat. The French use the term suburban as a euphemism for Muslim crime, just as in America urban means that crime committed by African-Americans.
Er, war is the language of the "right" and appeasement the language of the "left." One is strong, one is weak.
As to damage, we're only in the first quarter of this game. Give it a little time.
Blam, good posts all, BTW...thx.
better them than us
hope folks are watching
"The worsening crisis jolted President Jacques Chirac out of a six-day silence into calling for calm and a firm hand in dealing with a 'dangerous situation.'"
Wow. Six days before the President of France acted? President Bush was 10 minutes late to visit Katrina-torn NOLA and had his arse handed to him by the MSM. Go figure.
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