The french riots

After staying silent all this time, reading and listening to all the non-sense that has been said about those riots in the media, here are a few ideas that need to be spoken. First of all I should begin by stating that Fox News has once again proven its total lack of intellectual, journalistic, moral and just plainly “human” integrity. Treating the riots the way they did was an absolute disgrace to journalism and we all know that history will punish them for their “work”.

So France had three weeks of riots in October/November 2005, and it has shaken the country in the right way. Of course we can all shout that burning cars is not a solution to social problems and that dialogue is the key, but let’s be honest, if the kids hadn’t burnt cars, NO ONE in France would’ve listened. They haven’t been listening for the past thirty years so why would they this year? Now they do. Well actually they don’t. People are treated with the colonial arrogance that characterises the 5th republic France, which eventually must end. However until then, let’s try to understand what happened.

Unfortunately the English speaking world did not get any “inside” look to the events and journalists had to speculate and elaborate theses, which in some cases were right but nonetheless far from the “ground”.

I won’t go over the events themselves, nor the causes which have already been stated hundreds of times. However, the fascist role, police harassment and the manipulation of future real estate deals are three key facts that haven’t been raised in the media.

In France there is a nationalist movement called the “Front National”. It is a politically fascist movement that also includes racist theories at its ideological base. Its youth supporters have strangely been very absent during the whole rioting problem, which seems rather unusual to anyone familiar with our society, and should’ve been considered by observers. It is more than probable that some fascist militants burnt public property too. For example, it seems obvious that the gym in Clichy wasn’t burnt by anyone from the neighbourhood…or the foreign worker shelter in a nearby town! No little brother would burn that, on the other hand, hateful fascists would…
They know people will accuse the project guys. They also know that with a scarf around your face you can pause as a rioter from the project; I mean it’s not like the older brothers go asking identity cards around the neighbourhood to check if everyone is from here…

This brings us to the second and probably main cause of anger, police harassment. “Young” people in the projects are fed up by the police. Being controlled in your street dozens of times a year gets on your nerves. Being asked to “prove” that you’re French because your skin is darker than the mayor’s, is upsetting. When you live in an area plagued by unemployment, poverty and violence, you get very sensitive about the authorities adding to your misery. When you see them handcuff, insult and beat your older brother, as a child you keep in mind that they are not here to help, but more to kick you when you’re down. When you see a police officer, throw a teargas grenade at your grand mother while she’s praying…you get really REALLY mad. And that’s the truth of the matter! As long as the kids can’t walk downtown to get grocery without being stopped and harassed by a drunken state sponsored criminal, trust won’t come back. The police institution is a noble one, however it seems the authorities choose to send to the sensitive areas: young inexperienced men (some who watched “Dirty Harry” too much) and old time tough guys who usually got into trouble in other parts of the country (like those who killed someone for no reason. They never get condemned but sent far away)

Finally it seems the third key to understanding the riots comes from the “dark side”. To put it simply, Paris is a city with housing problems. Everything is very expensive and people struggle to find nice places to buy or rent. Everyone knows that the projects are monstrous and must be destroyed. However it seems some people have thought of the perfect plan. Push excited kids to burn a few cars and make a lot of noise about it. Show the whole country how it is urgent to invest public money into destroying the projects. Buy the land for really cheap. Rebuild nice buildings, very close from Paris and make tones of money on real estate. At the same time, relocate the poor people into new style projects, with gardens and 2 floor high buildings instead of 30. However to build that you need space, which can only be found VERY far from Paris…
The media are owned by interests, which work hand in hand. For example the main TV channel TF1 belongs to…a…construction business! That goes by the name of Bouyges (one of the 5 big “families” who control many of our politicians). The media insisted on, and exaggerated the riots. They excited the country just like they have for the past 7 years. First to get the right in power, by convincing the people that the project youth were about to devastate the country with brutality…! And for the past 3 years they’ve been helping the extreme right (Sarkozy, De villier and Le Pen) for the next elections, by convincing the people that the state will be overtaken by violent Islamic militants disguised in the shape of 300 school girls…and now through the riots…

I am French. I refuse to let that happen. My country is sick and I call on the other nations to help us.