"Zees are ze good ol' days, mon ami"
Posted on 10/26/2006 1:55:51 AM PDT by Republicain
CLICHY SOUS BOIS, France, Oct 25, 2006 (AFP) - "I know I shouldn't say this, it's not something to be proud of, but it felt good to be at the start of something," confided Karim, a young man from the poor Paris suburb where last year's riots first erupted.
Does he feel regret, one year later? "None at all," said the 22-year-old. "For my generation, we'd never known anything like it. We were there! We were thinking: 'We're the ones who got this whole thing going.'"
Karim, who withheld his real name, comes from a high-rise housing estate in the northeast Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, the epicentre of three weeks of rioting that spread like wildfire to hundreds of French towns last year.
The violence -- which cast the spotlight on France's problems in integrating its black and Arab immigrant communities -- was sparked on October 27 when two teenagers were accidentally electrocuted while hiding from the police.
That evening local youths went on the rampage, burning vehicles and stoning riot-police -- a not unusual occurrence in poor out-of-town estates where tens of thousands of cars are torched by vandals each year.
"Young people got together saying 'The boys are dead because of the police -- now it's our turn," remembered Karim. "It was revenge, plain and simple."
"The main draw was to take on the riot police," he said, his eyes glittering with the memory. "It was like hide and seek. For me, it was mostly a game. And also a matter of pride: to show the police with their guns that we're men too."
"A few days after that came the incident at the mosque," in which a tear-gas grenade exploded near a local prayer-room, provoking outrage among Muslims across the country.
"For the police to touch a place of worship, that really hit a nerve with the Muslim brothers who'd been telling us to calm down. It was incredible: some of them were breaking up paving stones for us to throw at the police."
Karim says the troubles -- which prompted the government to declare a state of emergency -- fizzled out when the rioters "had had enough", though he admits the prospect of going to jail also played a part.
"They saw the judges weren't joking. If you got caught it was straight to jail. Friends of mine were locked up for three months. People are used to us burning cars, but when you touch the state or the police, they get scared."
When his friends say they were driven to violence by discrimination and a lack of opportunities, Karim butts in: "It was more about getting some attention!"
"You shouldn't be too hard on French society. The help is out there if you want it. You can find a way out."
But he admits that, with his poor education and immigrant background, he feels stuck in a rut.
Today the young man, born and raised in the poor northeastern suburbs of Paris, where his Tunisian immigrant parents settled in 1980, holds down a part-time job stacking shelves at a local supermarket.
Compared to his computer-programmer brother and college student sister, he sees himself as the ugly duckling.
"To be honest, all I've done so far is pretty rubbish. I chose the easiest path, a useless high-school certificate in sales. And I've got a criminal record (for driving a stolen car) -- I regret that."
"I can't just stack shelves for the rest of my life! That was for our parents who'd just arrived here, and had no choice," he said, referring to his father's job as a maintenance worker.
"My friends and I, we were born here -- we shouldn't be labelled and pushed to one side. That's why we won't let ourselves be walked all over."
In that respect, "the riots changed nothing," he said. "I'm still looking for a real job."
Ping (I hope I haven't pinged myself this time...)
"We didn't start the fire... oh yeah, I guess we did!"
"Zees are ze good ol' days, mon ami"
He should not be proud of revenge. Furthermore, weren't most of the riots and burnings in neighborhoods at the same social level as his? If he wanted change, then there's the ballot (even protesting does not make much sense, unless it is to advertise).
Socialism rots the brain
Interesting article. I have seldom heard from some of the "youths"
Are you stuck in a rut?
Start a riot!
I have one suggestion for the French.
Start building prisons.
Fast.
The parallels between many Islamic terrorists and your typical urban American street thug are quite striking. And the mindset of terrorists from more well-off families (like many of the 9/11 terrorists and some of the British terrorists of Pakistani descent) is remarkably simiilar to that of radical American sh!t-heads like Lori Berenson Johnny bin Walker.
Apparently France has not learned what open borders and lack of acculturation does to a country. Lebanon was once French and Christian. The Lebanese Christians believed in open borders. The country, once prosperous, is now dominated by Muslims, with a sinking Christian minority. France is on the same slippery slope. It is not Christian against Muslim in France because there are few practicing Christians in France. It is Islam versus a weak, impotent government, too stupid to realize what its failed policies have wrought. Liberalism is a mental disorder that will destroy us all!
Right back at ya; you rag-headed toilet crop.
What a patriot.
"Friends of mine were locked up for three months"
Thats nothing. It's no wonder the French have problems. They let the Muslims walk all over them and then do nothing about it.
Ahem, starting a riot doesn't exactly look good on a resume.
Reopening "Devil's Island" would be a good start.
"To be honest, all I've done so far is pretty rubbish. I chose the easiest path, a useless high-school certificate in sales. And I've got a criminal record (for driving a stolen car) -- I regret that."
With those great qualifications I'm amazed he hasn't found a job yet !!!
I suggest the French treat the Moslems like they treated the Huguenots.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1572stbarts.html
read later
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