I’ve long said that Europe is a tinderbox, with its increasing Islamic pockets serving as the fuel waiting to ignite. I had thought that the Paris riots would have settled by now, and still think they will, but that has yet to be the case. In fact, the situation is worsening as blood has been drawn and the mayhem has crossed borders.
French integration model fails, no back-up in sight
With every night of violent rioting that scars France’s rundown suburbs, more and more French say their distinctive model of integration, based on the revolutionary ideal of equality for all, has failed.
But President Jacques Chirac and his conservative allies are unlikely to join the critics, as that would mean accepting the approach France considers superior is no better than integration policies abroad.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy is the only top politician saying France’s “republican model” falls short and that the U.S. or British “melting pot” approach could help break the cycle of minority exclusion, unemployment and revolt.
[…]
Michel Wieviorka, a leading sociologist, said the recent riots indicated “the decline — perhaps historic — of the so-called French model of republican integration”.
“This is a total crisis,” he said at the weekend. “They (the riots) tell us we cannot continue with politicians who tell us to carry on with an exhausted model.”
Take note, multiculturalists, stability of liberty and society lies not in steadfast maintenence and seperation of individual cultures. Rather, a solid future lies in the old American integration model — accepting the strengths (and selective delicious dishes) of immigrant cultures into the overall society while that members of that said immigrant culture adapt to the overall nature of the pre-existing society.
Leaders fiddle as France burns
France was struggling to overcome one of its gravest post-war crises last night as every major city faced the threat of fierce rioting that began 12 nights ago and now seems to have spun out of control.
Despite an assurance from Philippe Douste Blazy, the foreign minister, that France was “not a dangerous country”, the spread of violence prompted the Foreign Office in London to warn travellers that trouble could break out “almost anywhere”.
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Although the disorder began on the intimidating sink estates of Paris’s northern suburbs, trouble had been reported yesterday in the early hours from most regions of the country. Even areas such as Brittany, the Loire and Bordeaux, favoured by British holidaymakers and second- home hunters, have now been drawn into the worst wave of unrest in France since the spring revolt of 1968 set in motion the downfall of Gen Charles de Gaulle.
Yesterday the violence also claimed its first life. A 61-year-old man died in hospital three days after being beaten unconscious when he left his home in a northern Paris suburb intending to stop rubbish bins being set on fire.
Blood, and yet the French leadership dither. Yet again, and within only months, Chirac faces the ghost of de Gaulle’s downfall.
France set to use curfews to halt riots
France will impose curfews “wherever it is necessary†and call up police reservists to stop rioting that has spread out of its suburbs, the prime minister said today, calling a return to order “our No. 1 responsibilityâ€.
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Asked on TF1 television whether the army should be brought in, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said “we are not at that pointâ€.
But “at each step, we will take the necessary measures to re-establish order very quickly throughout France,†he said. “That is our prime duty: ensuring everyone’s protection.â€
The new measures followed the worst overnight violence so far on Sunday-Monday. Foreign governments warned their citizens to be careful in France.
Apparent copycat attacks also spread outside France, with five cars torched outside the main train station in Brussels, Belgium. German police were investigating the burning of five cars in Berlin.
Belgium? Possibly Germany? Looks like that is the case. Heck, in case you haven’t heard, and Lex doubts you have, Islamic riots have even reached Denmark.
Hey, Doll, how ’bout we scratch Europe off the list of possible honeymoon sites?