One year after riots, "civil war climate" in French suburbs
By Siegfried Mortkowitz
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday October 21, 2006
Paris- The "anniversary" of last year's three-week explosion of urban rioting is approaching, and France's rundown suburban ghettoes are again seething with potential violence. Joachim Masanet, secretary-general of the UNSA Police trade union, said he recently made a tour of French cities, and heard the same message everywhere: "Everyone fears that November 2006 will be the same as in 2005. The tension has not stopped mounting."
As a consequence, the National Syndicate of Police Officers (SNOP) has demanded that reinforcements be deployed in the departement of Seine-Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, because "the delinquents in certain housing estates are preparing to violently 'celebrate' (last year's) events."
So great is the fear about a renewal of violence, that Interior Nicolas Sarkozy said this week he will draw up a bill that would make it a crime - rather than a misdemeanor, as it is currently - to attack police officers, gendarmes or fire-fighters and will propose a law to treat juvenile repeat offenders as adults in court.
While the proposals are intended to polish Sarkozy's law-and-order credentials for next year's presidential elections, they also reflect the fear running through the country that it could experience another orgy of violence like last year's.
For three weeks beginning on the night of October 27, 2005, minority youths rampaged in more than 300 towns and cities throughout France, burning cars and buildings, smashing windows and clashing with police, and ultimately forcing the government to declare a state of emergency.
The current fear has been fed by a recent series of attacks on law officers in the same dilapidated pre-fab suburban housing estates that were the scenes of last year's rioting.
The damage of last year's rioting was primarily to property, with more than 10,000 cars and several hundred buildings set on fire. Miraculously, no one was killed.
However, this year's violence has been directed much more at people. According to Interior Ministry data, an average of 15 acts of violence a day have been committed this year in the French ghettoes against police officers, fire-fighters and similar Establishment figures.
A 38-year-old officer in an elite unit responsible for a northern suburb of Paris called the deteriorating situation "a civil war climate under any other name."
According to many politicians serving these neighbourhoods, a renewal of suburban rioting is possible because nothing has changed to defuse the forces that led to last year's violence.
"There is still the same precariousness, the same social desperation," said Manuel Valls, Socialist mayor of Evry, south of Paris. "We are still sitting atop a tinderbox."
Statistics bear him out. Unemployment in neighbourhoods officially classified as "fragile" remains more than twice as high - 22 per cent - than that of the nation in general. And for those 25 years of age or younger living in the suburban ghettoes, the jobless rate can run as high as 40 per cent in certain neighbourhoods.
According to Marie Ocana, jobs counselor in a Paris suburb, "Some employers say straight-out they will not hire youths from a certain neighbourhood."
Following last year's rioting, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin put forward a number of proposals to improve conditions in the affected areas, including an urban renewal programme that will affect the lives of some 4 million people by the year 2013 and cost 30 to 35 billion euros (38-44 billion dollars).
But in the short term, France's minority ghetto residents are as disadvantaged and frustrated as they were last year.
Claude Dillain, the mayor of the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where last year's rioting began, said his town's residents are growing increasingly disappointed and frustrated.
"They see that society has not changed in regard to them or the suburbs," he said. "Their disillusionment is all the greater because they were incited and encouraged a great deal this year. The next stage is rage."
Radio Netherlands does some very interesting balanced programming. You do not get that half sneering condescension that is standard fare at the BBC. This program is a discussion about Muslim radicalization in Europe. Play it while you scan the posts or just Listen here .
There is a recognizable and growing trend in Europe to deal with islam as it is, a militant dangerous cult. That may not be obvious in the press but it isa growing reality. This story will never be the lead on MSNBC, CNN or any of the majors:
Dutch Author Hiding from Islamic Extremists in Holland
October 21, 2006 03:40 PM EST
by Jim Kouri - The Conservative Voice
From 1998 until 2006, W.G. Van Dorian worked as an attorney in Criminal Law and Immigration Law in The Netherlands and Aruba. As such, Van Dorian came into close contact with terrorism and religious extremism.
After the recent murders of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh and Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn (supposedly the next president), Van Dorian decided The Netherlands was no longer a safe haven to write anything that is critical towards extremism.
He emigrated from The Netherlands to South America to publish his novel without having to fear repercussions from extremists.
Part One of a series titled The New World Order, the fictional thriller, The Invisible Invasion, describes a possible escalation in the world of (nuclear) conflict in the future with very realistic roots of religious extremism in present day Europe.
Recently, contributor Jim Kouri spoke with Van Dorian via e-mail. He remains in hiding in South America.
Jim Kouri:
The Invisible Invasion is a fiction novel. Nevertheless, events that occur in the book don't seem to be far from reality. How much is fiction and how much is already occurring?
W. G. Van Dorian:
As a defense attorney I was close to the fire. I had to defend suspected terrorists. Not just as my clients but also in daily life one noticed the aggressive behavior with which many Islamic immigrants refused to adapt to European culture and lifestyle (backed by overanxious leftist interest groups) and eventually turned against that society by renouncing anything that is different to Islamic culture, such as: fair treatment of women, tolerance, freedom of speech, human rights (except when they can appeal for discrimination, etc). The European societies backed by leftist politics let them for years and now someone who dares to criticize or even discuss Islam is a dead man. It's like this was their plan all along, thus I chose the title "the invisible invasion". Even though it's just a fiction thriller, I see these events as the beginning of the end of democracy and freedom of speech.
Kouri:
You call the 'Bad guys' "Radicals" yet all directions in the book go toward Radical Islam. Why not call them such?
Van Dorian:
Radicals come in many ways: not just religion but also Ideology. I used this example because I consider this group one of the most dangerous groups for world peace in this day and age and I was right in the middle of their thoughts and ways.
Kouri:
It's a Fiction novel but you mixed elements of the past (holocaust / Sign of David on clothes, etc) into a possible future. Why this unique mixture?
Van Dorian:
Simple. History repeats itself all the time and we see things happen all over again because people don't seem to learn from history. Jew hatred, a passive Europe that let's extremists hide behind and manipulate human rights so they can continue without people noticing it or wanting to notice it. I wanted to try to shake some people and groups awake.
Kouri:
In the book, one of the characters, Sean Gallagher, thinks human rights are a relic from the past. Isn't that your own assumption?
Van Dorian:
First of all, this is what the character thinks but if you want my opinion: People will blame the way the west has treated certain countries of the rise of extremism but I've seen differently. I think the reason why we are in this extremist mess today, in Europe at least, is because people were too nice and let extremists do their thing because people are much more afraid to be linked to fascism and discrimination, especially in Europe after WW2. Questioning, debating and, if necessary, disciplining a group's behavior is hardly fascism nor discrimination. Democracy and Human rights are nice but it shouldn't be used against a society by extremists that want to harm that same society that feeds them.
I think there's nothing wrong with severe disciplined and strong leadership and behavior by society if this preserves security.
Kouri:
You had to move to South America to publish the book without danger for your own life. How's that?
Van Dorian:
Specific groups, extremist Muslims, may see the book as a threat, even though it's just a fiction novel. Let's be honest: Muslims are very touchy about their religion. Look at what happened to the Pope, but also to Theo van Gogh who criticized Islam for it's bad treatment of women in his film "Submission" He was ritually slaughtered in the middle of broad daylight Amsterdam. That tells you something about the madness these religious people carry inside of them. I wanted to prevent some religious idiot doing the same in name of a God for a fiction novel.
I do have a message with this book: beware of Radicals, extremists, but the reason why I turned it into a fiction novel is so that a Fatwa against my person becomes even more ridiculous, after all it's fiction, right! (still). Remember: extremists are full of hatred.
Good luck on having a fiction work release you from the terror of a fatwa. Now how to make Islamic Radicals in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe ingredients are surprisingly the same as in America, Europe or anywhere.
Take one human with an IQ of left out overnight pizza. Then you add a Detroit Pistons T shirt and some worn out Nikes.
Teach from a young age to do butt ups (H/T Buddy) five times a day and listen to his elders and leaders talk about Jews as monkeys and everyone as infidels.
Around puberty they're ready for martyrdom training, which includes getting their first woody drained so they'll have the true feeling of what 72 virgins must be like.
Measure chest (under the arms) and fit custom vest. Make home video.
Go blow up pizza parlor where Jews hang out.
This is the very rudimentary garden variety Islamic radical recipe. As with any recipe a number of exotic variations can be cooked up.
Once forensics has identified Mohammad (they're all Mohammad something or something Mohammad something) you take the big chunks and wrap with bacon, place over a nice grill and burn until crisp. Then feed the pieces to the goats and camels, or better the infidel pig.
There it is The Making of Islamic Radical In Europe. In certain parts of Europe, such as Germany you can pre heat. Certain Buddist sects enjoy the "open flame BBQ"..simply seat the Islamic in the middle of a busy intersection, douse with gasoline mixed with styrofoam pour over and add flame.
It should be noted that no part of the IR is worth eating by other than swine.
Ok Mr. Smarty-tater when do they blow up?
ReplyDelete"Gud-lawd Mztah habu you stuck on dum. you see sum o dat raodkill puff up in a day and 'plode what wit dat heat down here"
Yeah Possum-tater I forgot about that. So how do they taste?
"Mztah habu you wicked, I woooden eat no damn muzzie raw or cuked..man you knows da got real bad juju."
Did ya ever try perssimmon on em?
"Habu you is dum..i don't eats 'em da hogs iz big,mean, an da like dat stuff."
Ok,ok ..well lets wait to see how others make their Islamic radicals.
Bon Appetit !!
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
ReplyDeleteSomeone's in a fix'in muzzie I know oh oh oh
Someone's in the kitchen with Din-ah
Barbequing ole Mohammad's soul.
I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher
And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire
u iz amzin habu and tator, wherever y'all b.
ReplyDeleteVILLA MADERO, Mexico Oct 21, 2006 (AP)— The drug lords at war in central Mexico are no longer content with simply killing their enemies. They are putting their severed heads on public display.
ReplyDeleteIn Michoacan, the home state of President-elect Felipe Calderon, 17 heads have turned up this year, many with bloodstained notes like the one found in the highlands town of Tepalcatepec in August: "See. Hear. Shut Up. If you want to stay alive."
Many in Michoacan's mountains and colonial cities are doing just that: They are tightlipped, their newspapers are censoring themselves and in one town, 18 out of 32 police officers quit saying they had received death threats from drug smugglers.
Down down down
ReplyDeleteand the flames went higher
In Mexico or Afghanistan, rufus?
ReplyDeleteOr both?
While the White House is spending the weekend inventing a new face for TWAT, it might give some thought to Joseph Farah’s shot into White House sails. H/T to All Things Beautiful.
ReplyDelete“The only thing that seems inevitable to me is that the Bush administration will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again never learning from them…”
Friday, October 20, 2006
The 'Humiliation Of Occupation' Rears Its Ugly Head Again
This is the path we were headed on in the 70's. The solution that Reagan implemented was to "Cut the Welfare." It did wonders.
ReplyDeleteSo when Clinton "ended welfare as we know it" what was that, chopped liver?
Well, after three and a half years the "Voice" of the WaPo has discovered the answers to the Iraq challenges.
ReplyDeleteTwo fold
1) The Regional Peace Conference
2) "... It should adopt a strategy of supporting the Iraqi government and army in a long-term effort to win the war. The elements of such a strategy might include substantially upgrading the training, advising and support missions -- which have been woefully undersupported so far. U.S. airpower could back Iraqi troops, and U.S. money and equipment could flow to the Iraqi army, conditioned on government steps to demobilize Shiite militias and respect the constitution. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iraqi governments should formally agree on a plan for turning the fighting over to Iraqi troops, province by province; Mr. Maliki himself has said he wants that transition to occur by the end of next year. A reserve force of U.S. troops could remain as a guarantor against a military victory by insurgents and as a rapid reaction force that could strike al-Qaeda targets.
Train & Equip the Iraqi Army and let them go on their own.
Will wonders never cease
Man, wish I had been able to think of that. The Iraqi Army, help stand 'em up. What a concept.
ReplyDeleteWould have thought the Generals would have figured that out, but the Camp Tanji allied troop segregation policy proves that they did not. Still do not.
We command their Army, rufus.
ReplyDeleteWe are still the ones large and in charge.
Mr Maliki is a puppet on a string. His Security Forces are under the US thumb, not his to command, control or equip.
As "Occuppiers", which we are under Law, it is US responsibility to train and equip the Iraqi.
We volunteered for the job, no quitting now.
The fact we have done that job so poorly reflects on the US Military, not the White House. Mr Bush's fault is in not reacting sooner to the inept leadership in the field.
Both Political and Military
We've been standing the ISF up now for three years, it's not so tough a job that it could not have been accomplished by now.
Good grief, when will contributors to the EB understand: There are NO radicals! Once again, conservative radicals must understand: Islam IS the “Religion of Peace.”
ReplyDelete"The Palestinian people deserve a better life, a life that is rooted in liberty, democracy, uncompromised by violence and terrorism, unburdened by corruption and misrule and forever free of the daily humiliation of occupation," she said. "I promise you my personal commitment to that goal."
"I believe there could be no greater legacy for America than to help bring into being a Palestinian state for people who have suffered too long, have been humiliated too long," she said.
"I know that, sometimes, a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel must seem like a very distant dream but I know, too, that there are so many things that once seemed impossible that after they happened they simply seemed inevitable," she continued.
Doctor Rice did not observe that 9/10 of her Palestinian buds support Hamas’ call for the destruction of Israel, the US, and the conversion (by force) of the rest of the world.
allen, put a word or two, just after the link. Then if it "goes blue" those words will light up, not just the line under the time and date.
ReplyDeleteLittle lessons I've learned myself.
Ms Rice's next speach
ReplyDelete"The IRAQI people deserve a better life, a life that is rooted in liberty, democracy, uncompromised by violence and terrorism, unburdened by corruption and misrule and forever free of the daily humiliation of occupation," she said. "I promise you my personal commitment to that goal."
"I believe there could be no greater legacy for America than to help bring into being an IRAQI state for people who have suffered too long, have been humiliated too long," she said.
"I know that, sometimes, an IRAQI state living side by side in peace with INTERNAL SECURITY must seem like a very distant dream but I know, too, that there are so many things that once seemed impossible that after they happened they simply seemed inevitable," she continued.
DR,
ReplyDeleteWhen next you are attacked as a negativist, take heart, you have a friend in the State Department.
"We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq…"
___ Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department
Envoy: U.S. showed 'arrogance' in Iraq
Little Green Footballs
ReplyDeleteState Dept. Offical on Al Jazeera: US is Arrogant and Stupid
Although Mr. Fernandez's remarks were rendered in perfect Arabic, he now claims to have been misquoted. O, the perils of diplomacy.
Link
That's is what my friends at Fort Kobbe told me about Central American soldiers, too, rufus.
ReplyDeleteI heard all the tales.
The Hondos, Guats and Salvadorans I met were great soldiers, good guys.
I had to learn Spanish though, to help train them. I had to live with them, to train them. I had to eat with them, to train them.
Hell, I got some of 'em drunk, to train them.
Jr and his cohorts, hate Haji.
The people & the place.
They do not respect them.
Don't learn the language.
Then rotate out after a short deployment.
You can't train people you hate.
Look down upon or disrespect.
Especially in locales where "Honor" is a primary motivator.
And segregation, rufus, is disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteIt is Army Policy in Iraq.
DR,
ReplyDeleteTo get a sense of the clash of civilizations in TWAT, consider marriage.
American troops have enthusiastically married the women of whatever culture in which they have found themselves. Go to any BX/PX and you will find spouses from the Phillipines, Korea, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South and Central America etc. Try to find a spouse from Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, etc.
DR you are scary right about the foreign troops. Maybe we can learn from the French and create a foreign legion. We outsource a lot of things. No one will ever say the Brits did not get their money's worth out of the Gurkhas, the Hessians. The one problem, of course, in using mercenary armies is that although jihadis are getting Geneva Convention protection, guess who does not.
ReplyDelete"Article 47 of the 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention stipulates that ‘a mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war’ but leaves a party to the Protocols the freedom to grant such status if so wished."
Allen, that ME absence could probably be fixed if GI's were allowed to marry men.
ReplyDeleteLegion of the Americas.
ReplyDeleteFunded $ commanded by US, open to any man from the Americas, North Central or South. Primary language of Command - Spanish.
Pay $1,500 per month, room & board
Use US NCO's & Officers for first 6 years, migrating those position to internal promotions.
Retirement and US citizenship in twenty years.
2164th,
ReplyDeleteGranted, there would be resistance to intermarriage from the American command, fearing offending our Islamic allies. However, in every conflict, American troops have found the means to evade or overcome such command impediments. Love will overcome all odds.
TWAT, however, is different. The troops have shown no interest. There is a mutual revulsion.
Could raise a 50,000 man force in no time.
ReplyDeleteJust ten nights of infiltrator traffic.
Long overseas deployments guarenteed.
That, allen, is telling.
ReplyDeleteThere is no blending of cultures.
Who is the enemy?
What is the enemy?
rufus says we're not at war,
I've said we're not fighting a war
Mr Bush says we are Wrong Wrong Wrong!
And we're on his side.
2164th,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I misread. You are a bad man. The Arabs do prefer their boys young.
If some imam were to permit the marriage of GIs and Iraqi goats, the American command would embrace the imam's fatwa. We want to be good guests, you know. If the goat also turned out to be a terrorist killer of American troops, well, so what - what are a few IEDs among hosts and guests.
This is what makes Dr. Rice's nonsensical statements about Arab humiliation repugnant. The only humiliation in TWAT is that of the US administration. I have never felt personal humiliation other than from the words and actions of Mr. Bush and Dr. Rice, for example.
Correction:
ReplyDelete"Humiliation" is not the precise word for my personal feelings concerning administration impotence. "Rage" is probably a better choice.
This is a good start. Unfortunately, I see the administration intervening on behalf of the insulted Muslim lady and CAIR.
ReplyDeleteJudge Tosses Case When Muslim Refuses to Unmask in Court
Link
For Michelle Malkin’s view of State’s Mr. Fernandez’s indefatigable work in the ME:
ReplyDelete“If showing "politeness" towards suicide bomb-embracing jihadi clerics and showing contempt for our country on enemy airwaves is how we plan to win "hearts and minds," we're screwed.”
al Jazeera's pet State Department mouthpiece
Link
Link
American troops have enthusiastically married the women of whatever culture in which they have found themselves. Go to any BX/PX and you will find spouses from the Phillipines, Korea, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South and Central America etc. Try to find a spouse from Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, etc.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's probably because Muslim chix don't exactly get a chance to flash some leg at some prospective GI husbands when they're covered in burquas.