Comments on: Intifada or Welfare State Fallout?

By: earl

earl — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 01:10:49 +0000

A friend grew up in Niger, and hence is a native french speaker. On his way to America he was in France for several weeks. He was repeatedly publicly harassed — because of his skin color. One (white) man stood in a street and screamed obscenities at him for visiting France! I think that if this were a daily experience for me I’d be kind of pissed too. Compare it to racial tensions in 1960s America.

By: Max Lybbert

Max Lybbert — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 20:21:49 +0000

Now that American media is starting to say, "oh yeah, there are riots in France," it's interesting to see the number of people who believe this is an intifada.

I'm more inclined to believe this is a backlash against laws meant to "protect" people who don't want protecting.

However, I'm also interested that only after more than a week of rioting have French Islamic leaders decided to publicly oppose the violence. I'm curious if they consider the riots something of a way to flex their muscle. So that in future negotiations there will always be the air of "don't forget who listens to me, and what they are capable of."

Perhaps I'm smearing people who don't need to be smeared. Perhaps they felt it made sense to let riots continue for over a week, getting worse each day, before walking into the affected neighborhoods and talking one-on-one with the rioters. I really don't know.

By: mike

mike — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 19:51:06 +0000

To add, French Jews are suffering well over 2 antisemitic incidents a day. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/308duchp.asp?pg=2 They are advised not to wear yarlmukes in public.

It’s often good to apply an economic lens to current events – it explains a lot. But sometimes, you have to look a little deeper – and recognize evil when it slaps you in the face.

By: Ceteris Paribus

Ceteris Paribus — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 07:34:25 +0000

The Welfare State Intifada

One thing that really surprised me about the ongoing Paris Riots has been the almost total news blackout that surrounds it. Hardly anyone (any news outlet, that is) talks about it, and no one speaks about the possible reasons for the riots.

Althou…

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 05:51:14 +0000

You mentioned that there have been no reported religious overtones to the rioting in France. Reporting this is almost as unpalatable as relating *who* is rioting.

However, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9891709/page/2/ mentions an attempted synagogue firebombing.