Yeah. This was probably set up just so Chriac can show his "tough guy" image to everyone. ;)
"This (1968) rebellion was an important revolutionary event of the Twentieth Century because it appeared to be a purely popular uprising, superseding ethnic, cultural, age and class boundaries."
I see what you mean though. Although I'm not sure anyone believes that these riots are "popular" and have broad appeal. I think that as the days and weeks go by it will be determined that these riots may have started spontaneously, but were continued by the Imams, etc. of the local mosques.
And thanks for the history lesson. Some article had said "worst riots in decades" but left it at that. This helps explain things.
This article is an absolute absurdity. The situation in France today has no comparison to the earlier event. In effect, the riots will help the hard-liner Nicolas Sarkozy, the Minister of Interior, who the Muslims hate. Sarkozy has been fighting with the Union des Organizations Islamiques de Franch, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which supports the riots.
Chirac is ineffectual and will not run again. The French are not ready to forget that it was Chirac who, in 2002, was the first French leader, with hat in hand, to make an official visit the Grand Mosque in Paris since its opening in 1926. And even the French have tired of the mincing Villepin. The riots almost ensure that the next President of France will be the tough-minded Sarkozy who is determined to save France from itself.
The problem with the theory is that in 1968 the strikes were supported by the main body of the French, and the tumoil was leftist v. far leftist (DeGaulle v. Stalinists).
The current unrest is between "outsiders" and a faction-strained centrist government. If people react against the uprising, will the credit go to Chrirac, or the Polish "political plumber," Sarkozy?
(Not a Watergate reference: Sarkozy is a Polish immigrant who is secretary of the interior and leader of conservatives within the UMP party, and the primary political opponent of Chirac's right-hand man, de Villepin. The French left has tried to direct anti-immigration anger against Polish Catholics, making plumbers a stereotypical "scary foreigner." Apparently the French have already learned to rely on Poles to get rid of the sh!t they create.)