PING
Posted on 11/05/2005 8:37:35 PM PST by jb6
WHAT IS behind the Paris riots? Organised gangs of criminals or even Islamic radicals out to undermine the state - or failure by successive governments to give millions of immigrants a chance in life?
Rampages that have gripped the poorer immigrant-populated outskirts of Paris since October 27, spreading for the first time on Thursday night to other parts of the country, have left most struggling for an explanation.
The rioters are young, overwhelmingly Muslim men, second-generation immigrants from France's former Arab and African colonies, who claim they are protesting against economic misery, racial discrimination and provocative policing.
This argument has been widely echoed in the press, by Muslim and community representatives and by the leftwing opposition, which accuses the centre-right government of slashing budgets for social work in these communities.
Hard-line new law-and-order policies implemented by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy have also been widely accused of fuelling anger in the high-rise, mainly immigrant estates where the trouble has spread.
Sociologist Michel Wierviorka, speaking in Le Parisien newspaper, charged that Sarkozy had "stigmatised entire communities" by arguing that crime-ridden areas should be "cleaned with a power-hose".
But the interior minister - while recognising more must be done to haul the suburbs out of poverty and exclusion - insists the violence was being orchestrated by unknown ringleaders.
Police union leader Bruno Beschizza described the riots as "urban terrorism", led by small knots of criminals as well as Islamic radicals.
"This is a form of urban terrorism led by a minority of kingpins, who have a financial interest - such as drug trafficking - or an ideological one - such as Islamic radicals who have been seen by our colleagues."
These ringleaders were a "tiny minority", the head of the Synergie union said yesterday, adding that his view was backed by many social workers and lawmakers in the worst-hit Seine-Saint Denis region northeast of Paris.
The role, if any, of Islam in the recent upsurge in violence, which has affected mainly Muslim neighbourhoods, is a highly sensitive issue in France.
Paris's Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has warned against lumping together "a religion, Islam", with "a handful of extremists" and with "criminal networks". In many cases Muslim community leaders have been acting as mediators between youths and the authorities, going door-to-door to talk to the families of young rioters, or stepping in at night to stop the clashes.
Most observers searching for the root causes of the riots accuse successive governments of turning a blind eye as immigrant ghettos, synonymous with unemployment and social deprivation, swelled outside France's big cities.
Today, some 750 areas are classed as "Sensitive Urban Zones", where unemployment hovers at 20 percent. - Sapa-AFP
Has a single non-Muslim rioter been identified?
So France didnt want to get involved in the war on terror! So appeasement is the answer? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't like to back myself into that corner, as I'm sure there are atheists or even people from another religion rioting too. I think a major factor in this is their youth, but that's not to downplay the overwhelming muslim factor in this.
Uh-oh,,they are being called 'knots of criminals' now.
There go the twisted panties again!
Why on earth would atheists be rioting??
The truth is slowly coming out.
Who's to blame? Voile! cest PEPE LaMoko!!!
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
I see that they are dropping "youth" and calling them young men, now.
They'll inevitably blame Bush.
Because everyone else their age is. Atheist is probably a bad word to use, I should have said godless (like many, many Europeans are). It's probably the 'cool thing to do,' just like the cool thing for these high school kids in LA was to attend an anti-Bush rally. I doubt many of the kids in either scenario really know what they're representing whatsoever.
Once again, I'm not downplaying the major factor. There are more than just the youth doing this. But that's just my way of looking at why the riots are so huge and spreading.
Well said and I second your HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHs!
:)
I can go with 'godless' in the sense of someone who doesn't much think about religion and just goes through the motions. However, it is all but impossible to grow up in a Muslim family and community without at the very least going through the public motions.
Um, I don't know. The Amish?
Yep. Bush summoned the dragon. Should have appeased and looked away.
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