danieldrezner.com :: Daniel W. Drezner :: The rioters really <i>are </i>French, part deux

Sunday, November 13, 2005

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The rioters really are French, part deux

Following up on this post from earlier in the week about the rioters acting within the political traditions of France, we have Mark Landler's, "A Very French Message From the Disaffected" in today's New York Times:

More than 7,000 vehicles have been set ablaze since the civil unrest began in the suburbs of Paris on Oct. 27. The daily damage report posted by the French police is a car owner's nightmare: 502 burned on Friday night, 463 the previous night, 482 the night before that, and so on.

No other country in Europe immolates cars with the gusto and single-minded efficiency of France. Even during tranquil periods, an average of 80 vehicles per day are set alight somewhere in the country.

"Burning cars is rather typically French," said Michel Wieviorka, a French sociologist who has studied the phenomenon. "The last two weeks have been unusual, but it is more common than people realize."

posted by Dan on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM

Comments:

Your attempts at satire are hopelessly bad.
here is a link to a blogger in France with first hand knowledge of the situation:
http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2005/11/i_received_a_tr.html
For more read the bloggers I like column on the Uppity Negro.com blog.

posted by: Robert M on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

Stop reading NYT!! and stop watching CNN... I laughed out soooo much when I saw their version of the France's map...(for those familiar with la France you've gotta to check that one) and I wasn't pleased to hear one of the presenter not knowing the name of the French Prime Minister and saying "whatever his name is....".

I am actually in Paris right now and the situation here is less serious than what I could read on US press...

Instead come and visit France. It is lovely!

posted by: EE on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

One of my friends pointed out I sent the wrong site on the French riots. Will correct shortly.

posted by: Robert M on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

EE's determination to view American coverage of the French riots as caricature and his/her invitation to come and visit la belle France - sounds a lot like the French attitude before the riots started.

Pre-riot Question - "Is it possible that racism and an unemployed underclass jammed into sink estates could be a problem in the future?"

French response - "Racist!!! Racist!!! Mon dieu ... you call us racists??? It's not possible. We are all equal here ... everything is lovely!"

posted by: Aidan Maconachy on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

"Even during tranquil periods, an average of 80 vehicles per day are set alight somewhere in the country."

True. And that makes the present rioting unimportant how?

Ask yourself who burn the cars today and who burn the cars 'usually.' Answer: the same people. Hint: they're not your average Catholic white Frenchmen.

So we have disaffected black muslims burning more cars than they do usually. How does that make their activity French? North African muslims are currently also burning cars in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Germany, although their numbers are small as compared to the current French situation. Kinda like the situation in France until the present rio... erm, intensification of usual 'French' activities.

I suppose a good argument could be made that the rioters are really French in their activities by pointing to the amount of cars burnt during rioting in 1968 and 1789. Oh, wait... :P

posted by: Sarko on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

Interesting email address Sarko

posted by: Sandra on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

Yeah I noticed Sarko's interesting email address also.

Isn't Nicolas Sarkozy's nickname "Sarko"?

Just being sarkastik :)

posted by: Aidan Maconachy on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

How many cars burn in the USA each night ?
Aren't they burned by discriminated poor crime prone minorities ?
The french aspect of this is that the rioters and the people have few guns and that they destroy cars and public property, rather than looting stores for private profit (remember LA 1992)
A rather strange practice anyway, in some aspect suicidal and in some aspect sacrificial.

posted by: df on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

Hey ..love the new site!!! Keep up the good work. I'll send you text sometime. If you're home at any time we'll have to meet up for a pint in the Crown again. Have a good one

posted by: Semen on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]

Hey ..love the new site!!! Keep up the good work. I'll send you text sometime. If you're home at any time we'll have to meet up for a pint in the Crown again. Have a good one

posted by: Semen on 11.13.05 at 03:40 PM [permalink]