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November 10, 2005
Paris is Burning
Starting decades back, the French brought in low-wage workers from North Africa to do the jobs their citizens didn't want. In the bargain they granted the immigrants citizenship. But, they apparently did not grant them equal access to better paying jobs, thus another glass ceiling, ala Francaise'!
The French are trying to resolve this inequity by looking at how the USA employed affirmative action, and that's a start. The other problem is more difficult to fix. The immigrant-workers number over 5 million strong and that's a sizable force for change. They generally do not see themselves as French, French-Algerian, French-Moroccan or any other hyphenated connection to a previous homeland. They are Muslims first, citizens of Islam and they are challenging the French authority over them as well as their more justified social grievances. Their identity as Muslims has made them a society within a society that pits them against France's tradition drive to assimilate cultures into the French mold. This culture war is a growing concern, not just in France, but over many parts of Europe where tens of millions more Muslims reside.
The rioters also see themselves as "Jihadists" seeking redress for their religious humiliations, as well as for social justice. Therefore, many of their demands are not negotiable. To accommodate them it will require a major shift in the traditional French culture. The French are perplexed and further divided by a mix of empathy and compassion to find a middle ground and those who are strict nationalists.
As new Mosques are springing up around France, radical French Nationalism has been gaining ground, led by Jean-Marie LePen. This conflict is far from being over... even when the current fighting subsides.
For more information, I suggest...:
http://financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp? cnd=11/11/2005§ion_id=4&newsid=6348&spcl=no
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=5682
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1110/p01s01-woeu.html
Posted by Post Scripts at November 10, 2005 08:25 AM
Comments
The media in this Country is doing a full court press to get all of us to believe the pace of terrorist activities in France is slowing. I think the terrorists took note of that and burned 502 cars on the 16th night of terror in France. I saw a headline but could not get the story to load, it said "France bans public meetings in Paris." maybe they were talking about Hilton and not the city. Thank you, I am here all week. lol
Posted by: Toby Stahler at November 12, 2005 01:45 PM