Posted on 11/06/2005 5:07:47 AM PST by Dane
Thousand cars torched in latest French riots Sun Nov 6, 2005 12:17 PM GMT
By Elisabeth Pineau
PARIS (Reuters) - Gangs of youths torched 1,300 vehicles overnight in the 10th consecutive night of violence in Paris's poor suburbs and major French towns, despite the deployment of thousands of extra police.
Cars were burnt out in the historic centre of Paris for the first time on Saturday night. In the normally quiet Normandy town of Evreux, a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools went up in flames.
Authorities have so far found no way beyond appeals and more police to address a problem with complex social, economic and racial causes.
Evreux mayor Jean-Louis Debre, a confidant of President Jacques Chirac and speaker of the lower house of parliament, told France Info radio:
"To those responsible for the violence, I want to say: Be serious ... If you want to live in a fairer, more fraternal society, this is not how to go about it."
The deaths 10 days ago of two youths apparently fleeing police ignited pent up frustrations among young men, many of them Muslims of North and black African origin, at racism, unemployment, their marginal place in French society and their treatment by the police.
"Many youths have never seen their parents work and couldn't hold down a job if they got one," said Claude Chevallier, manager of a burned-out carpet depot in the rundown Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
But authorities now say the rolling nightly riots are being organised via the Internet and mobile phones, and have pointed the finger at drug traffickers and Islamist militants.
Overnight, 1,295 vehicles were torched across France, the highest total so far, police said. An extra 2,300 officers have been drafted in.
Seven police helicopters buzzed over the Paris region through the night, filming disturbances and directing mobile squads to incidents. Overnight, police made 349 arrests.
The number of incidents in the Paris region was similar to the night before, but in the provinces it was up sharply.
TARNISHED IMAGE
The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid Paris's troubled suburbs.
Villepin has combined a call for an end to the riots with dialogue with community leaders, youngsters and local officials, and has promised an action plan for 750 tough neighbourhoods.
"I'll make proposals as early as this week," the weekly Journal du Dimanche quoted him as saying.
But it remained unclear what could stop the violence, though some opposition parties have suggested a symbolic measure -- the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Accused of stoking passions by calling troublemakers "scum", Sarkozy has ignored calls to quit. A survey published on Sunday indicated his public image was holding up, even if many disapproved of his strong language.
Villepin also has ambitions to be the right wing's presidential candidate in 2007 and has tried to position himself as a much more consensual figure than Sarkozy; the effect on the crisis on his ratings is still unclear.
With no end in sight to the nights of wailing sirens, acrid smoke, stone-throwing and destruction, residents from all ethnic backgrounds are tiring of the unrest.
"My kids can't sleep at night," said a mother named Samia in Aulnay-sous-Bois. "They hear explosions, they see fires and they think they're in a war. When the slightest thing happens, they get anxious and say 'Mama, what's going on?'"
An immigrant population that insists on keeping its culture separate and refuses to assimilate into that of it's host country will cause NOTHING but trouble. Coming to the USA soon.
I linked into the BBC for it's take. Went to the "Your Voice" section. Boil the comments down and you get it's their right to burn the cities down. The west must change.
De Villepin: "I'll make proposals as early as this week,"
Gotta love that "get tough" attitude. /sarcasm>
"and have pointed the finger at drug traffickers and Islamist militants. "
Same thing?
Priceless!
Authorities have so far found no way beyond appeals and more police to address a problem with complex social, economic and racial causes
----
Read: socialists interests conflicting with militantism of muslim youths make it impossible to condemn them as it would call to condemn the whole socialist system altogether and cause a total revolution with reds and muslims together this time torching the rest of France.
Great graphic! I'm still laughing!
"To those responsible for the violence, I want to say: Be serious ... If you want to live in a fairer, more fraternal society, this is not how to go about it."
If this is France's response, then it is time I place a serious money bet that France will fall.
They saved France from itself before, they'd probably volunteer to do it again.
Thank you for posting a live thread. I found it very helpful in understanding what is happening. I will try to participate in this one by looking for links, etc.
Perhaps now France and the rest of Europe and the West wakes up from our self-delusion that Islam can live in harmony with us.
It can't. Every single time in the past 1400 years that Islam has been allowed to become a substantial minority of around 10% in a country; they start a jihad to make the land Islamic. The only way to stop them is to forcefully push back and restrict their expansion (like what Europe did in the past and what Israel and India are currently doing with their Muslim citizens).
This makes it all the more interesting to see what's going to happen to Europe. It is estimated Western Europe as a whole will be 20-25% Muslim in just 20 years, with Muslims comprising the majority of those below 20 years of age.
Man, that's going to be a tragic sight to see - the complete destruction of European culture before our eyes. For only the second time in world history will an entire continent revert to barbarism under religious fanaticism. Ironically, it's the same one.
So what's the problem? When you see someone about to burn your car, shoot them! Oh, that's right, you gave up the right to defend yourselves and rely on others to protect you. Good luck learning how to say "I surrender" in Arabic.
History in the making: France's nouvous "Reign of Terror" and cowardly Chirac's lack of chagrin. May Chirac feel the blowback full in his face for his Anti-American stances.
Britain's pathetic deference to Muslim/Islamic fanaticism: banning Piggy Banks and porky images! Denmark and Holland citizens are subject to death threats and assassinations.
Time to realize that the darkly eccentric Muslim/Islamic cult-ure and religion represents an oppressive fascistic theocracy unreconcilable with Western civilization.
Geez, I dunno, these guys sound pretty serious to me.
Don't worry, when your leaders beg for U.S. Troops to bail you out again, We'll be there.
You may go and bail the France out again, But our US Troops will never go back to help the France.
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