Posted on 11/13/2005 8:35:36 AM PST by indcons
THE French have had enough of the riots that are sullying their international reputation as the land of civility, as well as liberty, equality and fraternity.
By the end of last week, there was a collective sense of relief as the nightly toll of burnt cars, and torched schools, nurseries, gyms, warehouses and small businesses rapidly diminished.
A few hundred - as opposed to well over a thousand - incinerated cars and a significant drop in violence in the troubled suburbs of Paris signalled for most French citizens a welcome break from the fortnight of violence that had threatened the whole concept of law and order in the republic.
With the imposition of an unprecedented state of emergency authorising local authorities to slap curfews on unruly young people, hopes grew that the untamed youth of the suburbs would quietly return to their housing estates.
Many commentators on French television and the major newspapers whined about the gross exaggerations of the riots in the foreign media.
"This is not Chechnya," one angry resident of Clichy-sous-Bois, the isolated Paris immigrant suburb where the rioting began two weeks ago, angrily told The Australian at a memorial rally for the town's gym, burned down the evening before by a gleeful mob of pyromaniacs.
But over the weekend the rioting did not abate. Indeed, for the first time since the violence exploded on October 27 after two teenage boys were electrocuted in Clichy-sous-Bois -- the pair took refuge in a power substation believing they were being chased by police -- the crisis spread to a major city centre.
Rioters struck at the heart of Lyon, considered France's second-most important town, at 5pm on Saturday. About 50 youths descended on Bellecour Square -- the Lyon landmark beloved by locals and tourists -- a few hours before the authorities were due to impose a curfew banning unaccompanied youngsters from the streets of the city after dark.
The brazen attack frightened shoppers and local business people, who quickly closed their enterprises before riot police restored a semblance of order. Two people were arrested and investigations are continuing.
A few dozen cars were torched in central Paris a week earlier, but the menacing presence of a large gang of rioters had not been experienced in a major French urban centre since the civil unrest broke out.
Paris had been on edge throughout the Armistice Day long weekend after reportedly credible threats to capital landmarks like the Champs Elysee, home to the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower were discovered on websites and through intercepted text messages.
The threats were not acted upon -- probably because of the overwhelming police presence in central Paris and a concerted public campaign by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The tough-talking presidential aspirant promised to impose the full force of republican law on any young agitators who dared take out their rage on the symbols of French glory and in full view of the foreign tourists.
Despite the relative calm in Paris, unrest continued in the provinces. Toulouse -- a hotspot in the south of France -- again experienced a night of ritual car burnings.
In Carpentras, locals were still digesting the disturbing news that a local mosque had been attacked -- presumably by far-right militants capitalising on the incendiary social situation.
The French appear shocked that the eyes of the world are turned to their nation in crisis. They are a proud people who are more accustomed to being being admired for their country's world-class cuisine, intellectual heritage and enviable lifestyle.
The official spokesman of the centre-right Government, Jean-Francois Cope, has called a special meeting today with all international correspondents working in France.
He wants to counteract the alarming global dissemination of the view that France is in flames -- and therefore a dangerous tourist destination.
Or as Le Figaro newspaper reported: "Since the beginning of the crisis, European and foreign television networks and newspapers have had the tendency to present the country as if it is in a quasi state of war."
The problem with Cope's argument is that it is the French press, political elite and commentariat who have raised the spectre of "the germs of civil war". Or, as Ivan Riouful argued in Le Figaro on Friday, the rioters are committing acts of "urban terrorism".
The so-called Paris intifada is not an invention of a gloating foreign press corps, thrilled that France with its deep sense of cultural superiority is getting its comeuppance.
The images of the nightly violence speak for themselves -- and the weekend's attack in central Lyon shows the country's worst case of civil unrest since World War II, or at least May 1968, is not over yet.
Well let me add to their reason for railing.
The entire French national leadership acts [or doesn't act] like the local and state leadership of Louisiana before, during and after Katrina.
The whole country looks like a Pepe LePew cartoon.
The muslims want Sarkozy to be dismissed from his job.
Le French are humiliated by their own ineptness and inactivity in the face of civil unrest!?
Merde!!
Excellent cartoons, especially the second one....LOL
Keep asking the question... soon enough you'll find the cars of the journalists are burning.
Peugeot and Renault are deeply saddened...
They had a memorial rally for the town's gym.
...right winger
Let them eat cake..
Also a Corsican - not French.
The greatest French warrior - a 16-year old girl
The greatest French here - a Corsican
The most important French holiday - the sacking of an empty prison by thousands of unruly cheese monkeys
Enough said!!
I like this Sarkozy guy - based on what little I know about him.
The Italian who brought France its only period of glory in its entire history.
I'm just green with envy. /sarcasm
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