GySgt said:
You could be right, but the problem won't go away. The problem will come back and it will be worse next time as the Islamists gain more numbers and continue to remain seperated from the French society by their own choice. It's the same all over the world.
You're totally right by saying the problem won't go away.. but it's not the problem you think of (surprise? :lol: )
The problem is that, since at least 15 years, there are episodic riots in the cités. Every politician at the time promised, promised and promised more.
Those cités in France are quite specific for Europe. They are "parking places", some 30 kilometers from town centers, where impoverished people are "parked", through very low housing costs. They are totally segregated from the town centers, where the price of housing is a lot higher. There are usually no more busses after 9PM, etc.. The police patrols a lot in there (quite the opposite of what Sarkozy says), and makes continuous violent controls (only against people posing no threats... they leave drug dealers and the like alone, as those could be dangerous). The youngsters living there, having usually the wrong name (eventhough there are more and more white people in those cités) and the wrong address, cannot find a job.
So, what developed there is a modus vivendi that includes violence, and hopelessness.
What happens now is NOT a muslim riot. That's what Sarkozy tries to make people think, but it's NOT true. If it were so, there would be revendications. There are none. These are just kids from the cités showing off, by what looks to them as the only way they can be seen and heard.
What they are doing is just plain stupid, and even they know it (see the few interviews of the rioters that could be done). But they don't see any other solution.
Entering politics? They would be the flower pot that traditional parties put in the foreground to show they are not racists.
Sport? Some of them did and did very well (Zidane is just one example). But of course, it's difficult for ALL of them (even 5% of them) to reach that level, seeing also the total lack of infrastructure (most sport facilities are in the town centers.. and communications with the town centers is difficult..)
Creating their own business? Some did, and did very well. The latest statistics I saw was 1%. Not something you can count on.. Furthermore, if you need investing, don't try to get backed up by a bank if you have the wrong name and address.
Let's also not forget that the basis of this crisis was put in place by Sarkozy, who would like to get the 20 % of French voters who voted Le Pen (extreme-right) during the last presidential elections. Since he came in office, what did he do?
1/Suppress all funds for the cités (social and cultural/sports programs).
2/Suppress the proximity police (police stations in the cités themselves, where the policemen came mainly form the youth of the same cité).
3/Fuel the existing racism by using words as "racaille" (scum) and "Karcher" (I will clean this place with a high-pressure waterhose).
4/ Fueling basic racism by generalising the riots as a race problem, what they are not.
So, the basic problem will remain even after the riots end.. the racism, Sarkozy, poverty, hopelessness, .. will all remain in place. It will even be worse, as now, there will be more people "fighting" each other (working north-africans from the cités against jobless north-africans of the cités against white jobless from the cités against working muslims from the town centers aginst...). Sarkozy did a perfect job, as Bush lite, to divide more and more the French society,
And that is the cause of the riots, not any form of "religious warfare". The muslim integrists tried to recuperate the movement, they couldn't. The youngsters trust only the people of their own cité, noone else. They will eventually step down, but the problems will still remain.
You can view this a a muslim riot.. It is only in the eye of the French politicians trying to play a role in the next presidential elections.
CU
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