Posted on 11/03/2005 7:54:49 AM PST by ncountylee
LE BLANC MESNIL, France (AP) - Farah, an 8-year-old budding gymnast, cried when she saw the gutted wreckage of her gym crackling with flames and spewing smoke, destroyed in the latest nighttime rampage by immigrant youths in suburban Paris.
She, her father and hundreds of other residents poured into the streets by the Les Tilleuls housing complex in the Seine-Saint-Denis region Wednesday night as firefighters and police struggled to keep order during a seventh night of riots northeast of the capital.
"It is saddening," said Farah's father, Mohammed Fawzi Kaci, 47, proudly showing a picture on his mobile phone of his shy daughter wearing tights and performing a split. "Where is she going to practice now?"
A kindergarten, a gymnasium, government offices and hundreds of cars have been torched in the past week by youths in largely immigrant areas who began rioting after two of their peers were electrocuted at a power substation while hiding from police they feared were chasing them.
As violence raged again Wednesday night, families leaned off balconies or peered through curtains to snap photographs of trucks spilling shield-carrying riot police into the streets between concrete housing towers.
Many residents said they were sympathetic to the anger of young French citizens of largely sub-Saharan and North African descent but could not understand why rioters were targeting cars and buildings in their already impoverished areas.
"They are stupid. They are destroying everything," said an 18-year-old who gave her name only as Mariam. "They should do that in southwest Paris or at the National Assembly - not here. People here are suffering already."
Christophe Berthossi, head of the Immigration and Citizenship Program at the French Institute of International Relations think tank, said France has ignored suburban neglect and discrimination for too long.
"This is an area where the unemployment rate is 20 percentage points higher than the national average," he said. "These are youths who want to integrate but do not have equal access.
"They are being sent the idea that they are not French, when they are," he said.
Suburban residents said calming the violence will take more than police force, and they accused Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy of fueling tempers by calling troublemakers "scum."
"Sarkozy's language has added oil to the fire. He should really weigh his words," said Kaci, who immigrated from Algeria. "I'm proud to live in France, but this France disappoints me."
And I don't know how precise they intend to be on their timing, but darkness should be falling in France almost as we type. Does Friday mean only after midnight? Does Friday mean only after dark tomorrow night? Or does "Friday" start right now. I think I know the answer.
"If the French government directly handles the funds for a mosque they know exactly how much money the mosque has and from what source. Likewise, if they directly vet imams, they will be able to root out extremists."
I get the point of the plan..I just think it would be better if they banned Muslims..(just kidding..sorta)
Terrorists and Jihadist will still find a way to get around this plan as well.
That was a great line from Denny Crane!
Tomorrow, Nov. 4.
lol..I would think that they would start whenever the Muslim friday prayers are over..but not sure which prayer time that would be either...lol
Agreed. The Muslims that I've seen here in the U.S. are barely able to hide their contempt for the native born "infidels". I don't frequent any of their grimy gas stations or stores if I can help it, as I really hate being insulted at the same time that I'm being cheated.
Kinda like separation of church and state in reverse?
Tomorrow, Nov. 4.
Opps..I thought it was the 3rd..my bad.
In France, a church wedding has zero legal significance. You must be married by a government functionary to be considered legally married.
Maybe not. This is from the Interfaith Calendar. They show both dates. Does that mean the evening of the 3rd to the evening of the 4th?
NOVEMBER 2005
1 - All Saints' Day - Christian
Diwali (Deepavali) ** - Hindu
2 -All Souls' Day - Christian
3 or 4 -Eid al- Fitr - Ramadan ends - Major holy day - Islam
12 -Birth of Baha'u'llah * - Baha'i
15 -Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji - Sikh
15-Dec 24 -Nativity Fast (Winter Lent) - Orthodox Christian
20 -Christ the King - Christian
24 -Thanksgiving - Interfaith USA
Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur - Sikh
26 -Day of Covenant * - Baha'i
27 -Advent - First Sunday - Christian
28-Ascension of Abdul-Baha - Baha'i
30-St Andrew's Day - Christian
I dunno..but if you can figure out the Muslim calender, the CIA may just have a spot for you....lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
Here is a link..let me know if you figure it out..(wink)
I lived in a neighborhood in Chicago with a large Mexican population, and another in Brooklyn with a large Arab Muslim population. The Muslims were very hostile toward American culture, while their kids embraced the thug lifestyle. We just don't notice them as much because there aren't as many here per capita.
"Farah, an 8-year-old budding gymnast, cried when she saw the gutted wreckage of her gym crackling with flames and spewing smoke, destroyed in the latest nighttime rampage by immigrant youths in suburban Paris."
Don't worry, Farah. It will all even out. After they burn your house down, you and your family will be homeless, and you won't have time to practice, anyway.
I have to say, I like the girl's thoughts.
I hope they do do it to the National Assembly.
Heck, burn Paris to the ground for all I care.
Hopefully outright civil war erupts and the Muslims murder hundreds in Paris.
Only then will the French get the message.
Yikes...let's hope the French get the message without hundreds dead in the streets!!
Doesn't the exact date depend on something about the phases of the moon?
"Most Muslim's in this country work at becoming Americans."
That does not apply to the converts, though, like Nation of Islam, who increasingly work at becoming anti-Americans.
Great comments bear repeating!!
"Muslim immigrants in France receive generous social benefits including free housing, medical care and welfare payments.
In 1999 there was a protest march in Paris demanding that the French government give Muslim immigrants summer homes to use during August because all the white French people with jobs get a month's holiday, so why shouldn't they?
This was considered a serious request.
The only thing Muslims in France don't have are cushy union jobs.
Almost all the best jobs in France are completely unionized and you have to know someone in the union to get employed.
Of course, there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed ethnic French too."
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