The riots in France aren’t stopping and the French still seem oddly paralyzed by the scenario, though police are reacting — and getting injured as well. Shot at, oddly enough, by those who shouldn’t have weapons — France being regulated by very strict gun control laws.
Still, the DEM and European media insist on portraying the rioters are mere “youths” — as though this were merely the resulting of adolescent, rebellious growing pains. The rioters are Muslim. They are chanting: “It’s Baghdad here.”
The appeasing is already beginning throughout Europe. In Monday’s Mark Steyn commentary from The Washington Times, Steyn writes: “Today, a fearless Muslim advance has penetrated far deeper into Europe than Abd al-Rahman. They’re in Brussels, where Belgian police officers are advised not to be seen drinking coffee in public during Ramadan, and in Malmo, where Swedish ambulance drivers will not go without police escort. It’s way too late to rerun the Battle of Poitiers.”
Today on Bill Bennett’s Morning In America, he featured British journalist David Pryce-Jones, author of The Closed Circle. In a 12-31-2004 piece about the Islamization of Europe, Pryce-Jones wrote:
Does this (Islamist) crisis amount to a “clash of civilizations”? Many people reject that notion as too sweeping or downright misleading. Yet whether or not it applies to, say, the situation in Iraq, or to the war on terror, the phrase has much to recommend it as a description of what is going on inside Europe today.
As Yves Charles Zarka, a French philosopher and analyst, has written: “there is taking place in France a central phase of the more general and mutually conflicting encounter between the West and Islam, which only someone completely blind or of radical bad faith, or possibly of disconcerting naiveté, could fail to recognize.”
In the opinion of Bassam Tibi, an academic of Syrian origins who lives in Germany, Europeans are facing a stark alternative: “Either Islam gets Europeanized, or Europe gets Islamized.” Going still farther, the eminent historian Bernard Lewis has speculated that the clash may well be over by the end of this century, at which time, if present demographic trends continue, Europe itself will be Muslim.
Continuing, this morning David Pryce-Jones said on Bennett’s show:
There’s a new Intifada going on, that’s what it is, a sort of uncoordinated uprising of disaffected Muslims, and they are saying that’s their identity, and they don’t like France and they don’t like being French. And there’s no sense of organization which in some ways makes it more sinister, the fact that it has now spread over the entire country.
There are some really astonishing figures. Since January the first of this year there have been 28,000 cars burned in France and 70,000 incidents of violence. That is astonishing. That means several hundred cars burned a day.
It has obviously been building up for a very long time and it has caught the French state completely by surprise. It is a Muslim uprising and it is nothing else but that. They have decided that they’re not going to integrate, they’ve decided that they want separatism. Part of the thing that is so difficult for outsiders to understand is that they want all the advantages and the privileges and the rights, but they’re not prepared to give anything in return. If they don’t like it, they really shouldn’t be there at all, should they?
And it isn’t just France. All over Europe there’s an Islamization going on. The British shouldn’t be so smug; we had Muslims and black rioting a few weeks ago. There are riots in Holland, and there are riots in Denmark.
I think one of the things we need to see in the next few days is whether this is the beginning of a really strong Muslim anti-European Intifada.
The French state is completely and totally baffled; it doesn’t know what to do. We’ve had the extraordinary silence of Jacques Chirac. We had the equally extraordinary example of Mr. de Villepin; what he’s done would make Neville Chamberlain proud. And Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, who called them (the rioters) scum, he’s risking his position because he’s taking a stand. He is risking his position because he is calling for a clampdown, for law and order. This can only be done through the gendarmerie; this can only be done by force.
The state is now closing factories, it’s put thousands of people are on the dole, it’s unsafe to take trains, and they can bring France to a halt.
It looks as if there are only two possibilities. Either taking a firm stand, which means enforcing law and order, which is Sarkozy’s position, or de Villepin’s position which is to surrender.
If they use force, and there is bloodshed, then I think Sarkozy is finished. People will say, the attempt to enforce law and order will have created much more trouble than it was worth. Then the surrender will succeed, and what we shall actually have is infinitely greater Islamization as the result of it.
The French are tough on terror, but they’re not tough on people inside the country. The thing that is very striking is, the places where the Muslims are rioting are unpoliced. But now the police are being taken in by bus, but they’re unfamiliar with the terrain. The rioters escape inside alleys and into parks and hideaways and underpasses and so on.
What we see here is that the French state, for all its tough talk and the way it’s clamped down on terror, had taken no precautions at all to deal with something like this. There aren’t armored vehicles; they have torched hundreds of police cars. Why aren’t the police in armored vehicles? They’re going against Molotov cocktails, and that shows a total lack of preparation. And that in itself shows a failure of analysis.
Mr. Bennett mentioned that a listener recently watched a BBC program and noticed that not once did the BBC refer to the rioters as Muslim. Mr. Pryce-Jones responded:
The BBC has completely given up its integrity. It is now just a
propaganda organ for the Left.Look, what’s actually happening is that thousands of French people are being put out of work. And many thousands of people have lost their livelihood, they’ve had their shops burned out, their businesses burned out, banks have been burned out and robbed. This is the beginning of anarchy. Can that be a good thing?
Bill Bennett asked: why should America be concerned, and what are the policy implications?
It means that we all have to consider very, very carefully what we’re going to do with the Muslim communities in our midst. We have to make quite sure that they assimilate. If they don’t assimilate and go the way of separatism, there can only be violence, and we are seeing that now in France.
The first recorded death due to the riots has occurred today, as a 61-year-old man beaten into a coma has died.
As urban unrest spreads to neighboring Belgium in apparent copycat attacks (5 cars have now been torched outside a Brussels train station) and possibly Germany, the French government faces growing criticism for its inability to stop the violence, despite massive police deployment and continued calls for calm. The police are also afraid that the types of weapons they face could soon include grenades.
The match has been struck; it is apparent that other fuses are now being lighted.
That was a great analysis. I must be sick in the head, as I love watching socialism fall apart and the lefties with their heads spinning, wondering what went wrong. I mean, this is a government that “appeases” its criminals. How could they fight back against such a peaceful central government that only wants love and handouts for its citizens?
The difference between the Muslim community in France and that in America is that the Muslim community in America is affluent. Since America makes it so difficult for people from certain countries to immigrate, the majority of Muslims who make it through the screening process are the cream of the crop, the most educated of the bunch. The last census showed Arab-Americans as some of the highest income earners in the country. Rich people don’t riot.
France has a socialist system, which breeds an incredible amount of poverty. Anytime you have 20% unemployment, immigrants are going to bear the brunt of the bad economy and ultimately be the ones who lash out when something happens. This is not going to happen with Muslims in America.
11 07 05
Well Ms. II has come to add some analysis. Good insight. You know that is a part of the issue that I hadn’t considered either and that makes sense. But it also goes back to something II said on my commie article: that capitalism is a race to the top and communism takes people to the bottom! The fallout of these opposing philosophies is quite clear. And like I said before, they had better figure out a way to balance ridding themselves of extremists and still retaining their democracy. This situation is a real big mess! I wonder what Mr. Chirac’s plan is to deal with this, like what will they REALLY do?
Eddie: France is now talking about simply “writing a check” and is also considering what would amount to Muslim “reservations” in their country. That would be, essentially, the final death burble for the country formerly known as France. The problem here is the same as that of socialism: when no one has a sense of “investment” or “ownership” by way of things given to them or provided for free, everything else somehow manages to be perceived as free too.
IntelInsurg: affluence is relative. Almost 30% of the “poor” in America own homes; a lesser percentile of the “affluent” in France own homes. The “poor” Algerians in France are light years above the “poor” in Algeria, who are flat-ass destitute. They don’t have health care and housing and a stipend.
America rightly should make it a challenge to immigrate, particularly in light of the world geopolitical situation. And yes, the wealthy don’t riot. French unemployment is at 14% but hey, a mandatorily-limited 35-hour work week and 8 weeks of vacation isn’t too bad. The US, quite frankly, simply kicks French ass when it comes to work production — despite the fact that we’re becoming more socialized year by year. The French system + a group that A. really doesn’t want to assimilate and B. isn’t given the chance = a recipe for disaster. The fact that the “yoot” of France actually know little about Islam because, quite frankly, they’ve never learned, yields a malleable product for the true, corrupting Islamists. If I were AQ, I’d be making a hairy beeline for France most ricky-tick.
Because the French are floored and clueless, they are paralyzed. The police don’t or won’t shoot back — the whole thing is a disaster already spilling into neighboring countries.
It may have started locally, but it’s about to go global for an entirely different reason: MOMENTUM.
My job currently has a project in France so we called over there to find out if we should be concerned. They laughed at us, saying that the American media is making a bigger deal out of it than it is. The riots are in parts of Paris that most people wouldn’t want to go to anyways.
It reminds me of when the Rodney King riots happened here in LA. The poor neighborhoods in LA were out of control, but those of us in the suburbs weren’t too worried about it. The riots spread to poor neighborhoods throughout the country for whatever reason and we all lived to tell about it.
Oh we’ll live, if we all keep our wits. But this is one point on a myriad-pointed compass where it’s all part of a loose but demonstrably highly-motivated religious effort to fan the flames of Islamism. We ignore these signs at our collective peril.
I think it is pretty obvious the French, by omission or commission, have practiced apartheid. So much for their superior social awareness and inclusivity. That the “spark” for this should be two kids killed accidentally…Huh? The areas involved are nearly combat zones anyway. The rioters are just really on a tear instead of the usual light boil.
Should the rioting spread out of the rioter’s home turf into “nice” parts of Paris, the police with fall even further on their asses in coping. The French people, disarmed by their govenment and its strict gun controls over all citizens, not just criminals, will have no viable means of self-defense.
Socialism and its more virulent form, communism, just don’t work except through massive state control over all aspects of life and suppression of dissent. Such soceities cannot be free and stable, and freedom is lost to acquire stability. Why we in the US seem eager to emulate the Europeans or have concern for the ROW and what they think of us is really amazing, considering that very few countries have more freedom, mobility (social and economic)and justice. Imperfect, sure. If you want to live in Cuba, go there. Don’t bring it here.
TX Racer: I do believe you’ve hit a major nail on its major head.
Intellectual Insurgent,
There is no comparison between what’s going on in France and what happened in LA. For beginners, LA happened for one night, and the riots in France for 11, and counting, nights.
Also, the riots have been spreading far outside of poor neighborhoods. I don’t remember the LA riots happening in 300+ small towns, do you?
The only valid comparison is that the former President Bush was a sissy back then, like Chirac is now. That’s one of many reasons he never won re-election, appeasement. When riots occured in Cincinatti a while back, President W. refused to even comment on it, as he certainly wasn’t going to provide criminal acts with attention or validity.
Eddie,
Your facts are wrong. The L.A. riots went on for at least three days (here in LA) and they spread to other cities across the nation.
As the senseless violence reached it’s peak in Los Angeles on Thursday night, reports began to be received that it had spread to other cities and states across the country.
The following is an excerpt from the news stories:
1. In Northern California, 1,400 people were arrested in San Francisco as rioting engulfed the city’s downtown area. A State of Emergency was declared there and a curfew established.
2. In Las Vegas, a mob of two-hundred (200) people went on a rampage, setting fires, and engaged in sniper fire and drive-by shootings. Local law enforcement officials admitted that they were overwhelmed and requested the activation of the Nevada National Guard. The Governor complied and control has reportedly been somewhat re- established. Reports were received of several arson fires.
3. Seattle was struck by mobs of 50-100 people, who randomly broke windows and and looted numerous cars in downtown Seattle during the night Thursday and early Friday. Police say that forty-five (45) people were arrested and five (5) injuried during the violent spree. Firefighters responded to twenty-eight (28) fire calls during the unrest, including five (5) buildings that were termed “suspicious in nature”.
(4.) Further East, Black protestors in New York City reportedly pulled two white men from a truck, stabbed one and beat the other. An estimated two-hundred (200) protestors attacked the doors at Madison Square Gardens causing injuries and property damage. Another crowd of four-hundred (400) black youths reportedly stormed a popular shopping mall and smashed windows and stole merchandise. Shops and businesses were damaged as the “melee” traveled over several blocks. As many as eighty (80) arrests were made and several police officers injuried. Many NYC employers were said to have released workers from work early to avoid further occurances.
(5.) Police in Atlanta, GA were confronted on Friday, by hundreds of black protestors. This followed a night of three-hundred (300) arrests and fifty-seven (57) injuries. It also prompted the use of teargas and a call for the Georgia National Guard to help combat large crowds of people looting and throwing rocks and bricks. Mayor Maynard Jackson called for calm and understanding, as he counselled college students that had originally begun peaceful protests which escalated into wide-spread violence.
Sporadic acts of violence, arson, and property damage were also associated with the Los Angeles Riots in such cities as Tampa, FL, Pittsburg, PA, Birmingham, MS, Omaha, NE, and several other locations.
Intellectual Insurgent,
I LIVED through the riots, and the copy cat “incidents” across the nation were not fellow “riots,” but small thugs of criminals trying to capitalize on the incident.
Again, it was liberalism and the lack of affirmative action in California that caused it to go on long after it should. Nights 2 and 3 weren’t even comparable to night one.
Outside of CA, we viewed it as a CA problem. Trust me, I live in the midwest. It’s nothing at all compared to what is going on in France. They are saying it is calming down now, 1300 cars torched one night, compared to only 1100 the next night.
Night 11, and counting.
I also lived through the riots. I’m from LA and spent a day taking photographs through the city on Day 2 of the riots. What’s your point?
According to your logic, “the copy cat ‘incidents’ across the nation were not fellow ‘riots,’ but small thugs of criminals trying to capitalize on the incident.” Why doesn’t that logic apply to the incidents in France that spread outside the original neighborhoods in Paris? Why aren’t those copy cats also?
You neither live in Los Angeles nor in Paris, but you are the expert on what works and does not work in quelling long-standing civil discontent in each town?
Great analysis Blo. Great comment, eddie as well.
I am sorry, but i have to laugh at them. Seriously, it is like a cartoon watching Chirac trying to keep his cool, and his ‘frenchy’ simle while his country is falling apart.
The whole climax so far is when ole’ ‘jock’ put a curfew out, and 1500 more policemen. Is that not laughable?? A CURFEW?? Like these people who are killing the police and murdering people are going to say.. “Uh oh. i better go in now it is 12:00!!”
The greatest difference is that America, oddly enough, knows how to unite its immigrant population, legal or not (absent its Islamist destructive sleeper cells now present), and France does not, despite its alleged history, sophistication, culture, education and superior worldview. Our people tend to meld, which is why ENGLISH is the best uniter of peoples we possess.
BloZep,
I’m not sure that I agree with your point about assimmilating immigrants, but how do you account for the Rodney King riots, which seemed to be sparked by similar racial profiling/discrimination issues as those complained about in France?
The RK riots occurred at a low point in LAPDs history whereupon a single parolee driving a stolen vehicle gets Tazed and sticked on video. This was further complicated by a stupid desk officer who was offered the tape by the videographer, but essentially told the videographer to go away and pound sand. Very stupid. Only THEN did the videographer seek the media.
Essentially the two events are incomparable. Religion is the overarching issue, coupled with French cultural attitudes. We have our riots over solo incidents, which may or not be justified. As far as, for example, black Americans being an oppressed, unseen, unachieving strata of our society not unlike the Algerians; nope, not buying it. Too many success stories, too many middle class black Americans. And growing.
So the blacks in ghettoes across America were rioting why?
It was easy, simple, and everyone else was doing it. When people are faced with doing something difficult or something easy, what do most persons choose?
Yes, correct, thank you.