Watts Riots, European Style

For once I really take no glee in the troubles of Europe. I suppose I could note the smug condescension they showed regarding our own racial problems, and the country's alleged racism and hard-heartedness in failing to redress the "underlying issues."

Our racial problems are largely getting better -- black home ownership is at an all-time high, for example -- and Europe's are getting worse, and, the thing is, they're likely to get exponentially worse.

The sixth day of rampant violence and rioting in a Parisian ghetto of North and Central African immigrants angry about the deaths of two criminals who died when fleeing from police. They weren't even shot. They were electrocuted when they ran into a power transformer (or something like that; I don't grok power distribution).

In Arhus, Denmark, a riot of immigrants (Palestinian and Turkish) wasn't even spontaneous. It was planned for three weeks. The goal, shockingly enough, was to claim a piece of land for Muslims:

Rosenhøj Mall has several nights in a row been the scene of the worst riots in Århus for years. "This area belongs to us", the youths proclaim. Sunday evening saw a new arson attack.

Their words sound like a clear declaration of war on the Danish society. Police must stay out. The area belongs to immigrants.

...

[A rioter declared:] "The police has to stay away. This is our area. We decide what goes down here".

And then the bit with the drawings of the prophet Muhammed comes around:

"We are tired of what we see happening with our prophet. We are tired of Jyllands-Posten. I know it isnt you, but we wont accept what Jyllands-Posten has done to the prophet", he says aggressively, and the others nod approvingly.

...

Two of them are Turks, and it is the first time, that Turks and Palestinians act together, the 19-year-old says.

"We have planned this for three weeks. That is why only two were arrested saturday nigh. The police will cordon off it all. But we know the ways out", he claims, and then disappears, munching on a piece of pizza from Fun Pizza.

Back in June 2001, similar race riots engulfed Leeds, England. In that case, as in Paris, the riots were sparked because the legitimate authorities of the state had the termerity to arrest a man of Bangladeshi descent.

The problem here isn't religious per se. It's political, or the political aspects of the religion. There are certain politically-oriented commands in the Muslim religion -- take territory to expand the Muslim world, do not submit to any authority except a Muslim one, etc. -- that are going to make it very hard for any state to accomodate a rising population of often-poor and unemployed young Muslim men whose sense of self-worth comes chiefly from a radical, violent vision of Mohammad the Conqueror.

The usual caveat: Of course not all Muslims are like this, or believe in rioting for purposes of expressing cultural solidarity and superiority, or to effectively conquer a territory through lawlessness and mayhem. But a distressing number do, and it's getting harder and harder to finesse the problem away with happytalk and pointless meetings with "Muslim leaders."

French Chickens Coming Home To Roost? Update: Shtetl G doesn't even have my moderate level of sympathy for the French--

I've have no sympathy for the French at all. Intifadas are real bitch, oiu? France has been shilling for Arafat for years precisely to keep their muslim population in check. They practically started the most recent antifada(in Israel) with their bogus staged video of palestinian boy being shot.

Fuck 'em.

I guess there's something to that. A nation can't be one of the foremost advocates for the proposition that an angry minority is justified in using violence to achieve its political desires and not expect similar angry minorities inside that nation to think, "Hmmmm..."

posted by Ace at 12:15 PM

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