Riots in the outskirts of Paris threaten French authorities
Within the French government, there is currently no clear understanding of what to do with the youth gangs ransacking the suburbs of Paris. The last time such a massive and demonstrative flouting of the laws of the republic occurred was back in 1968, when students built barricades on the streets of the capital. However, at that time the children of the French were rebelling against the society of their fathers. Now ethnic and religious factors have come into play: the descendants of migrants from Muslim North Africa, who have never integrated into French society either culturally or economically, are fighting against the law established by the native population.
This frightens many French people and only intensifies anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. But in democratic France, where respect for minorities is one of the fundamental principles of social order, few dare to discuss the role of the ethno-cultural factor in the development of the suburban pogroms.
The most drastic measures against the rebels are proposed by Interior Minister Sarkozy, who has already incurred the wrath of the left with his harsh remarks about the rioters. The minister called the bandits a French word that translates as 'scum' or 'trash'. He noted that 'the time has come when politicians must speak with the words of the French', and added that softening words are not enough, and that one must act firmly and fairly. In response to accusations from the left, Sarkozy said that 'if someone shoots at police officers, they are no longer a "young person" but a scoundrel'.
On the other hand, the authorities are trying to calm the rebels not only through police methods. President Jacques Chirac called for strict compliance with the law 'in a spirit of dialogue and respect for the individual'. Prime Minister de Villepin, trying to quell passions, received at the Matignon Palace the parents of two teenagers who died in a transformer box. The Prime Minister promised to investigate this case (the police and Sarkozy himself, by the way, deny that they were chasing the Arab teenagers). Nevertheless, the street riots are gaining momentum and seizing more and more territory, for there are plenty of disadvantaged suburbs near Paris populated by poor immigrants. The chairman of the French Council for the Muslim Religion, Dalil Boubaker, also went to rebellious Clichy-sous-Bois, but his car, too, was pelted with stones. As Libération reports, local 'imams' helped bring the situation in Clichy-sous-Bois under control, which, however, looks more like a substitution of French secular laws with Islamic religious authority.