You can’t discuss some issues in PC-Nanny State-Europe. You shove important issues(immigration etc) under the rug, it alawys comes back yo haunt you in an ugly way (LePen in election, riots in the streets).

Islam or not, any state unwilling to apply the law is doomed (Lebanon pre-75 and still). I want to see what the chic Paris leftists will have to say about the “poor unfortunate” hooligans when rioting reaches the nice neighborhoods, and Jags are burnt instaed of some crappy Renaults.

BTW, I could not find a single French blogger on this issue, as of 2 days ago. Know one?

I couldn’t find any bloggers either, but i would assume that they would be in denial and upset at “Anglophone” Schadenfreude.

Here’s an introspective Le Monde editorial:

Yes, LeMonde is inviting pols to think about the issues, while they cling to their outmoded and useless views (only in America, look at New Orleans, schocking to see people with nothing after a force 5 hurricane, insensitive Bush, in France? Jamais Monsieur).

Re: the missing French bloggers. Unless they are well hidden on the Web, it further tells you about the lack of discussion in the cowardly/complacent EU on its path to destruction.

Even though I dislike Tarek Ramadan’s philosophie about many issues I can’t but agree with him on that social vs religious issue. Moslems (from N. Africa & black Africa) have been in France for decades, way before what you call the dark ages of Islam. The problem, in my opinion (You’re going to call me a racist) is in the fact that the north african (moslems) and the african (moslems & christians) have always relied on the state for wellfare unlike other minorities like the italians, the armenians and the jews (which by the way are the most succesful minority in France) who gained respect, recognition and jobs by relying on their own resources; drawing from education & very hard work. It’s true every french is prejudiced and will not let the arabs & africans here be/feel integrated.
Instead those minorities should snatch that integration by sending their youths to school & work hard & gain that respect.
Moving up the social ranks will be automatic.
My message is that if you want something in France you have to go & get it done yourself because nobody (specially the french) will give you an half inch of anything.

Michel - Paris

Here is a comment from the BBC’s “Have your Say” section:

I lived in France for 8 years and I have never understood why the “youths” deal with “social problems” only through riots. Until one day, I was admitted in a meeting of a so- called “cultural association” subsidized by the local council. A Muslim “brother” talked for about an hour on the difference between “us” and “them”, to conclude that whatever we do to “them” is of god’s will, a kind of Jihad. Well, the French authorities should start inquiring on the kind of “culture” they are subsidizing.

Chadi Bou Habib, BEIRUT, Lebanon

Hey, Mustapha, you rule. Power to you brother.

I have found no bloggers on this topic either, but check out this rather spirited and sophisticated debate on Belmont Club regarding the various meanings of the riots:

http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2005/11/once-in-france.html#113125290072988313

And yes, I do find it ironic that immediately after Hariri’s assassination, many of us in Beirut were struggling with our pathetic dialup connections to get the word out. Perhaps the DSL-using French do not see these events as all that important.

With reference to your article here, and the comments you left on my blog regarding my article on the paris riots in perspective.

It is an overly simplistic arguement to say “the muslims did it”. “the others are not”.

Lets not forget that in europe (particularly france), the Senegalese, Cameroonians, Brazilians and Cubans are not pushed to the edge of society as a collective. This we know to be an increasing effect of the war on terror and islamaphobia toward muslims.

Surprisingly you are of the opinion that Islam is going through the “dark ages” because of the violence by muslim youths, but is this violence not very small compared to the level of violence caused by western states in “fighting” terror, and the subsequent backlash of hostility caused towards muslims in respective countries. Would this not imply (according to your rationale) that it is the western states that are going through the dark ages and not Islam?

Jamal,

I’m of the opinion that Islam is going through the “drak ages” because of this:

“the report discusses a host of difficulties teachers encounter in dealing with specific subjects in the classroom. Most Muslim kids refuse to participate in sports or swimming, the girls out of modesty, the boys because they do not want to swim in “girls’ water” or “non-Muslim water.” When it comes to literature, French philosophers such as Voltaire and Rousseau are very often boycotted because of their supposed Islamophobia. Molière, the father of French satiric comedy, is among the writers most often boycotted.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, these pathologies are now present across France.

Jamal, with all due respect, the western states “fighting” terror is a very recent thing. For 25 years the United States took hits from the Islamists starting in 1979 Iran to 9-11. We just started fighting back 3 years ago. You have yet to face up to the fact that your religion has been hijacked by radicals and the peace won’t come until muslims themselves reform their religion and guarantee basic human rights to all. Especially your own women that you treat like dogs.

Ironic how pro-Israeli as well as Saudi-controlled Islamic fundamentalist media are actually (for once) BOTH 100% aligned with the official Neocon talking points coming from Washington: I happen to know France fairly well and the truth is that the so-called “North-African riots all around the French capital” are just minor incidents involving a handful of disaffected Muslim teenagers…

This factual reality seems to have evaded the Jerusalem Post and Al-Arabbya’s highly imaginative journalists: why bother with boring facts when you can serve the colorful anti-Gallic clichés cooked by Dick Cheney and his Wahhabi fundamentalist friend cum business partner-in-crime Prince Bandar Ibn-Saud??

The decline of Islamic society as internationally vital started long before 2001 or even 1979, basically mirroring the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The rise of radicalism and subsequent terrorism is but a symptom, not a cause, of Islamic weakness in the international arena. Mustapha is right - Muslims need to hold themselves to higher standards if they want to be taken seriously, and it does not help that European governments pander to lowered expectations in the name of “multiculturalism.”

Here’s a very good roundup of the Paris Riots from a French Perspective.

Eddiep, your posts shows your evident level of bias.

Ive listed some otherFrench Perspectives too:

Islam Didn’t Cause The French Riots

HEY MUSTAPHA,KEEP ON THE GOOD WORK.I AM REALLY SURPRISED,FRENCH WERE NOT KNOWN AS RACIST.WHAT MADE THIS CHANGE?

There are Snegalese and Africans in these riots. True, most of the mob comes from a Muslim bacground, but from a poor Muslim background - you can’t dismiss social factors altogether. I lived in France and I speak a perfect French, but I can tell you that the French society has a relatively low acceptance of immigration.

And read le Figaro, not le Monde.

Issam, I showcased your comment as a new post.

Hi Josey,
I’m half French (you were looking for a French blogger), but my blog is mainly about Lebanon. I haven’t posted on the French issue because I am blown away by the proportions these events are taking place. I have trouble “digesting” and making sense of them.
Maybe I will post about it later this week.
I don’t know about the rest of the French bloggers out there or how they feel about it. Have you tried Google’s blog search engine: http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch ?
I found one in English
http://benedictblog.com/
Of course, running the search in French helps since most French people speak only French!
http://bigblogis.blogspot.com/
http://michaelbullara.blogs.com/le_blog_de_michal_bullara/
just to name a few

Actually, I wonder if blogs haven’t contributed to the spread of violence in France, connecting youth across the country through discussions and propoaganda… any thoughts?

Oh! and last anon, FYI there are plenty of Africans (mainly Senegalese) who are Muslims.

(Sorry about the format for my web adresses, I’m not sure how to turn it ino a link here if anyone could help me with that for future reference!)