STILL LOST IN THE CLOUDS OF FRENCH TEAR-GAS

[***Welcome, Instapundit readers. BTW I'm not saying the reports of riots are exaggerated, simply that we need to be careful about reading too much into the accounts that have come in so far. At the moment there seems to be a complex mix of causes. Words like "intifada" are a bit loaded, I think: remember how lots of people on the loony Left liked to call the LA riots an "uprising"?

If anyone can recommend a list of good French blogs, I' d love to hear about them. So far, we're not getting enough views on the ground.]

Lots of Cassandras are shouting out across the ether, but we're still not much wiser, are we? "Will the whole of Europe be burning by next week?" asks Brussels Journal beneath the heading "Intifada spreads to Brussels and Berlin". Ominous brink-of-civil-war noises, too, from the National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The BBC has a round-up of French blog opinion (via Ann Althouse). Sadly a large section of the blogworld elsewhere continues to sound much like talk radio host Neal Boortz:

This isn't the first time that France has been under attack by Muslims. It happened before. It happened in 732. The French (amazingly) turned them back.

Don't you love that "amazingly"?

Although No Pasaran! has some tantalising snippets about Islamist ties to the riots, I'm still waiting for detailed reports about what exactly is going on. The Times's Charles Bremner has filed a useful piece on the part that Muslim spokesmen have been playing. It's a mixed picture:

Bearded Muslim activists have been wading into the night-time mayhem of the housing estates, megaphone in hand, and addressing the rioters "in the name of Allah". Far from inciting the violence, they have been urging the rioting teenagers to stop destroying property and go home. For the Government, the Muslim mediators have been playing a useful role calming youngsters from the mainly Arab estates who respect their authority far more than that of the police and local officials.

However, the Muslim mentors, who style themselves "big brothers", are also causing unease in France because they symbolise what many see as a root of the unrest: the isolation of the ethnic Arab and black minorities into ghettos where Muslim law and outlook prevails. There is also a widespread belief — denied by the authorities — that the unrest is being fostered by the Islamists.

The mediators were bolstered yesterday by a fatwa issued by one of the main Muslim organisations, the Union of Islamic Organisations of France, quoting the Koran as saying that "God abhors destruction and disorder and rejects those who inflict it".

The fatwa sparked a dispute with the mainstream Muslim Council, which said that the edict equated Islam with the current vandalism.

Some on Left and Right were angered when police withdrew one evening last week from Clichy-sous-Bois, where the rioting started, in order to let Muslims keep the peace...Non-Muslim mediators who are active on the estates also disapprove of the presence of the Islamic brothers as peace-keepers. Magid Tabouri, 29, who leads a team of municipal, secular, big brothers at Bondy, in the troubled Seine-Saint-Denis département, said: "It is a scandal that they have asked imams to calm down the kids. You can’t apply a religious response to a social revolt."

The authorities are also concerned because many of the estate militants are part of the radical networks who preach the extremist cause and recruit potential jihadists, according to police.

A street version of radical Islam permeates the youth culture of the estates, where Osama bin Laden is a hero, George Bush and Israel are evil and President Chirac’s State wants to stifle their religion and identity by banning Muslim headscarves in schools.

The young wreckers refer to one another as brothers and they cite the "disrespect" of the State for their religion as part of the origin of their revolt.

The chief target is Nicolas Sarkozy, the tough-talking Interior Minister, who has so far refused to apologise for an incident in which a police teargas grenade was thrown into a Clichy mosque.

However, the radicals are not behind the present violence, say experts such as the Renseignements Généraux, the police intelligence service that keeps close tabs on the prayer rooms and mosques on the estates. Yves Bot, the Paris chief prosecutor, said that the attacks were co-ordinated locally among the young wreckers using mobile telephones and text messages but there was no central command.

The Muslim mediators are exploiting the unrest to enhance their authority among the alienated youths who go out to smash at night, say the police. "They are playing a clever game," one police officer said. "They are preaching peace but profiting out of the mess to promote their ideology."

UPDATE: Patrick Belton has touched down in Paris. He'll be filing more later, after he's made it out to the banlieues.

UPDATE 2: From IRIS (Information Regarding Israel's Security) a list of links backing up the "intifada" interpretation (with interesting video footage of riots in full swing.) Melanie Phillips also takes that view (Via Andrew Sullivan).  La Shawn Barber draws parallels with African-American history.

What's French for "gallows humour"?  (Via Harry's Place)

Thought for the day:  "It has been said that the government of France is a dictatorship interrupted by riots."  (David Brooks, The Atlantic, Oct 2003)

MORE: Libération’s blog has images of street debris. Le Monde’s reporter interviews youths in Aubervilliers. Mixed signals again: fighting words about one day taking up Kalashnikovs - the police are clearly the enemy - but in this case it sounds closer to gang-talk than holy war. These kids also don’t seem to care whose cars they burn (in contrast to the IRIS report about non-Muslim autos being singled out for torching.)

Pourquoi brûler ces voitures qui, le plus souvent, appartiennent à leur entourage ? "On n'a pas le choix. On est prêts à tout sacrifier puisqu'on n'a rien" , se justifie Bilal. "On a même brûlé la voiture d'un pote. Ça lui a foutu les boules, mais il a compris."

The Guardian newsblog notes that France’s newspaper of record has a piece on the origin of the word racaille (whose use by Nicolas Sarkozy was supposedly a provocation) . According to the Guardian, translating the term as "rabble" is less insulting than “scum”. The Web has already seen the arrival of a new site, vivelesracailles, bearing the motto "Vivre en pyjama n’est pas un crime" ["Living in pyjamas is not a crime."] A good rallying-cry for Pajamas Media, perhaps.

PLUS: Neo-Neocon has background on Nicolas Sarkozy, the most interesting mainstream politician in France.  And in the Financial Times one of the country's leading analysts, Olivier Roy offers this take on the Islamism connection:

Extremist networks in Europe do try to recruit in socially deprived immigrant communities, according to Olivier Roy... A radicalisation of the youth movement could eventually give it a more religious flavour.

"But this isn’t the Palestinian intifada, there’s no Middle Eastern connotation to the riots. The rioters aren’t defining an identity, except that of their neighborhoods," he says. "It’s a revolt of youth, of young men, an anti-police and anti-society movement, in a very French tradition of anarchism...It’s an expression of a youth sub-culture, not tied to Islam. And not all the rioters are Muslims."

[Go here for Still Lost In The Clouds - 2]

Comments

[Tom Blumer]

I would think riots that spread from a few Parisian suburbs to 200-300 cities and towns in less than 2 weeks reflect either a pretty well-organizaed on-the-fly ccriminal or moblike enterprise, or a pervasive anger that is about more than economic and social frustration, or both. To deny that a twisted faux-religious Muslim mindset isn't behind this to some extent seems to me an exercise in willful blindness.

[starboardside]

A society, like everything else man builds,is only as strong as its weakest link.
In this case,what was the link and what caused it to break.
Was it poverty,unemployment,racial,religion,vandalism or some ulterior motive?
Until the cause is found,things aint going to change.
Society is like a car,if you don't do periodic maintenance it's going to break down,or in the case of France,BURNED.

[tcheni]

I recommend this blog :
http://emeute2france.skyblog.com/
Neutral and precise description of the events. Maybe a bit redundal. The comments are really interesting too, as skyblog is a very "popular" place for the youngsters, and especially for those in the cités (skyblog is an emanation from skyrock, a popular hip-hop radio). A bit hard to read for a non-french speaker (abreviations, misleading faults), but you can find there many informed people, living in the areas concerned by the riots, some pro-riots, and some anti-. Interesting indeed.

[tcheni]

About "racaille" : in fact, the term is used by the youngsters living in banlieues to describe themselves, often reversed in "caillera" (Kaïra). You can find "Kaïra" sweat-shirts everywhere in a streetwear shop. So the word is not really insulting. Some guys are proud to be racailles. But they don't accept the use of this by the minister. A bit like "niggaz" in the US, it's used in every rap song, but don't try to call niggaz someone you don't know in a place you don't know. All the same.

[Clive]

Thanks for both tips, Tcheni. Really helpful...

[Half Canadian]

I could see some influence via Al Qaeda, but it would be similar to that of Communist influence with the civil rights unrest in the U.S. during the 60s and 70s. Low key and carefully placed.
Ultimately, the problem is social. Religion is a facet of this, but not a necessary facet. France has to face up to its racism problem, but how, I don't know. Let's hope that they don't grow their own Jesse Jackson. That route has not worked.

[Will]

Hi,

Nice to read a balanced piece and an open declaration that you are seeking to learn more to better understand the situation. The sheer joy of many US commentators is a bit disgusting. As to the mistranslation of racaille: my Larousse dictionary says riffraff, little devil (in a humorous sense), or rogue.

I am a Canadian living in Geneva (2 minutes from France) and actually moving to France next week (my first house -- great timing)! The recent events are obviously very concerning. The cause is multilayered IMHO.

First, much of it are just stupid youngsters excited to see themselves on the news. There was an interview of a 15 year old saying "it's fun to burn cars."

Second, more seriously, muslim immigrants have been ghetto-ised (partly by choice, partly by policy/economics) and unassimiliated. The weak french economy hurts. Poor social policies are much to blame as they chase the rich from France (see the wealth tax), chase corporations away (see labour laws and 35 hour week), and yet France maintain generous welfare type benefits -- the pie keeps getting smaller. The least prepared get hurt the most (read: poorly educated foreigners). Net huge unemployment and a huge disaffected youth with too much time on their hands and no hope.

The irony of course being that France badly needs immigrants to jump start the economy and combat aging demographics - but for many reasons not this sort of unassimilated ghettoized immigration.

Third, part of the disaffectation has been caused by the failure of even the educated young muslims to succeed. This is in large part to an underlying racism in the society. Corporations have long been known to not even read resumés from certain postal codes (zip codes) or from people called mohammed, etc. In other words even those immigrants that have "played by the assimilation rules" have often failed.

Fourth, the failure of the family in poor neighbourhoods (the average family size is huge - usually headed by an unemployed father). I won't expand but ..

Fifth, I don't think its stretching to say that the war in Iraq and the Middle East problems play some role. Although hopefully this will remain tiny. Pro War advocates would argue that the french bainlieus (suburbs) are a nest of potential terrorists. Anti-war people would argue only because the americans are making is so easy to recruit as they polarize everyone in the world that doesn't live near Texas. But I'll stop here.

Again, tremendous to see someone writing what they know and writing that we all need gto learn more before claiming to understand the situation.

An interesting side point is that the french government consistently caves to strikers (one reason why there are so mayn strikes) and they are today to some degree caving to the rioters by announcing various programs. Dangerous in my mind for obvious reasons.

Regards

[liam moredburn]

I'm confused. Olivier Roy, the French state and many in the media claim that there is no religious angle to these riots yet we read above that the police in one banlieu effectively let the imams do the policing. Since the police do not act without the approval of the government does this not imply state recognition of the fact Islam (if not Islamists) is playing a role in this? Could it be that no one - least of all on the Left - wants to admit this fact because it gives lie to the claim that those who sat out Iraq are safe from Muslim reprisals?

[reliapundit]

a lot of schmucks said that the two intifadas the palis waged against Israel were not jihadist, but "nationalist."

ditto the "uprisings" in the moro islands and kashmir and chechnya and southern thailand etc etc etc and so forth and so on.

they say this as if it was mere coincidence that ALL these hotbeds of terror are Msulim versus non-muslim.

which is the simple truth. unpleasant perhaps. very un PC, sure. but true nevertheless.

a lot of schmucks said that atocha and the london bombings and the bali bombings were because the usa invaded iraq.

a lot of schmucks say the french riots are spontaneous expressions of disaffection that muslim youth have with the lack of assimilation - and an abundance of discrimination.

this is the most schmucky and stupidest statment of all.

the muslims of the banlieues DON'T WANT TO ASSIMILATE!

if they did, then they'd go to school - and graduate, and they wouldn't threaten muslim women who don't wear the hijab!

sheesh.

this is how THEY go about carving out sheikdoms.

by attacking and threratening anyone who opposes them.

get real. accept that we ARE in a religious war BECAUSE OUR ENEMIES WANT ONE.

still think I'm all wrong!?

well then, tell me one other creed that practices honor killings, suicide bombings, and massive misogyny!?

there is NONE.

contemporary Islam is the nexus - the culture in which the hatred to commit atrocites, genocide - and widespread rioting in france - GROWS.

SURE SURE SURE: not every Muslim is a terrorist - or even a radical militant.

but almost every single terrorist attack in the world is perped by THEM.

and these racaille only understand one thing, that's why the french army should go into the banlieues the way we went into Fallujah: annihilate the enemy.
it's the only thing muslim radicals understand.

in france, the problem ain't a lack of "affirmative action" - and villepin's proposal is nothing more than giving into blackmail.

what france must do is FIGHT BACK.

though that would be a first. just about.

[Al Superczynski]

"I don't think its stretching to say that the war in Iraq and the Middle East problems play some role."

Say again, Will??? In case you forgot, France vehemently opposed the Iraq war and still opposes it. Not to mention that France is big buddies with most other Arab countries.

Why would anyone riot against the French government for its opposition to the war???

[Will]

Sure France vehemently opposed the war. And I didn't say it was a major reason. But in small part, the war has created instability in the world. Violence breeds violence. Intefada breeds intefada.

[Samira]

No Pasaran has some guys on the ground in Paris. They have very good coverage.

http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com

[tcheni]

Again about the use of "racaille" and "kärcher" by the interior Minister. In Le Monde, dated 11/11/05 :

"Mais qu'on vienne à les assimiler à la crasse qui les entoure pour parler de Kärcher ou qu'on les traite indistinctement de racaille, ils voient rouge. Non qu'ils soient choqués par des mots qu'ils utilisent eux-mêmes ; mais parce que leur usage en l'occurrence révèle les confusions d'une incompétence épaisse, une sottise politique exaspérante, des recherches d'effets qui les tournent en occasions médiatiques, ça fait plusieurs générations que ça dure, ça suffit comme ça !"

Marc Hatzfeld, writer, author of "Petit traité de la banlieue", Paris, Dunod, 2004.

Translation (attempt of) : "But when you assimilate them with the mess surrounding them, talking about Kärcher, or when you called them "racailles", they get angry. Not because they are disturb by words they use themselves, but because using these words in these cases reveals an amazing incompetence, a very annoying political sillyness and the search for effects which will turn the words into media magnets. It lasts for several generations, enough of that !"

[DM]

Sarkozy's background is incorrectly related in the article that
Neo-neocon cited. See:

http://letterfromgotham.blogspot.com/2005/11/nicolas-sarkozy-french-tough-guy-has.html