CHINA, INTERNATIONAL, NEWS, EDITORIAL: Thinking Over the Unrest in France
By Zhu Chaoli (Julia)
Listening to the BBC the other day, I came across what a Muslim living in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois said when he was interviewed: "You only need to walk around the roads to realize what it's like to live here. Being Muslim adds to the problem, being foreign and Muslim is bad, being foreign and Muslim and black is catastrophic."
I was shocked and stunned. So far as most people see it, France is a state of liberty, equality and fraternity, or a garden of romance and fashion; but never would it be related as the picture this Black man portrayed. Yet the mayhem, which took place on 27 October in the low-income Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, and did not quiet down until recently, tells us everything.
It is France's worst civil unrest in more than a decade. The spiraling violence and the inability of authorities to bring it under control have shaken France and stunned neighboring nations. Many people imputed it to the deaths of two teenagers of Mauritanian and Tunisian origin. The youths, who thought they were being chased, were accidentally electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation. Yet the story is far more complicated.
In my opinion, the most crucial cause is the improper disposition of the immigrants from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and other African countries. Until a decade or so ago, immigrants proudly referred to themselves as "French Arabs," "French Algerians," "French Moroccans," and so on. However, now they find only great disappointment. Though the government continuously preaches equality among all people, advocating a policy of racial integrity, what it does is totally opposite. They send the immigrants to the suburbs where they are isolated in bad neighborhoods with poor schools and little or no opportunities and no one caring how they feel or what their problems are.
Many Africans and their French-born children live on society's margins, struggling with high unemployment, racial discrimination and despair. Instead of being treated equally, they are abandoned. What is more pathetic than living in a community with no one knowing who you are? What is more tragic than being treated unequally when you deserve equal respect and the same rights as others? What is more desperate than holding onto a hope that you know can never come true?
These are all tortures the immigrants in France experience and endure. Under such circumstances, rage and anger are due to build, and when these reach a certain point it is fertile terrain for crime of all sorts as well as for Muslim extremists offering a way out.
Triggered by discrimination and social exclusion, other problems also come up. According to statistics, the disparity between rich and poor, namely the urban and suburban areas of Paris, is more than ten times apart. The average high family income reaches 50,961 euros, yet the lowest family income is only 6,864 euros. In recent years, the average national rate of unemployment in France has consistently been within 8% - 10%, but in the suburban areas, this number reaches as high as 30%. The widespread poverty and high unemployment rate, together with their lack of social recognition and acknowledged identity, are beyond a normal human being's endurance.
And there is more. In the course of suppressing the unrest, the French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, called those young people "trash" and "motley crews." Some racists in the police force even put forward the slogan of "remove the mosque." It is like adding petrol to a flaming fire.
Clearly, this is not an issue concerning France only. Estimates vary, but somewhere between 15 million and 20 million Muslims make their homes in the 25 nations of the European Union. Countries like Britain, Germany and Holland, also have restive Muslims of their own and the same problems; the whole of Europe is adopting a similar policy in the migrant integrity issue. It is as Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Muslim Forum, an organization of Islamic groups in Britain, said: "What is happening in France could trigger copycat reactions elsewhere in Europe."
Then, how to cope with the crisis? The French government has offered a way out--the use of force. President Jacques Chirac, whose government is under intense pressure to halt the violence, promised stern punishment for those behind the attacks: "The law must have the last word--France is determined to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear, and they will be arrested, judged and punished."
And he did what he said. The government has, with no hesitation, imposed curfews and widened police search-and-seizure tactics all through the country.
Though it did work in France at present, I don't think it is a good way in the long-term. To straighten it out, it is necessary for us to have an overall view of the unrest. Apparently, it started as an outburst of anger in suburban Paris housing projects and fanned out nationwide among disaffected youths, mostly of Muslim or African origin.
Why are these people angry? At this desperate point, they are the victims. They want to change their situation, but due to their underclass social status, the only way they can think of to raise attention, to pour out their dissatisfaction, is to protest, to burn garbage cans, cars, and buildings. But when they do these things, they are committing crimes, producing social instability and hurting other people. They are now criminals facing punishment according to the law. Victims, hopeless and desperate, burst out and choose to be criminals. What an irony!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that because they were originally victims and, to some extent, still are, they should be spared lawful punishment. What I really want to say is that the government and the whole of society should also claim responsibility.
Please put down your guns and listen to this voice: "Just allow us the dignity of good jobs and a chance to make better lives, then the French will have nothing to fear from 'dangerous Muslims.'" This was said by Zoubidia, a 29-year-old Muslim living in Clichy-sous-Bois, as she nervously led her two small boys past cordons of riot police guarding a fire station. Clearly, we get everything.
The root of the problem exposes the ridicule of using force. What really needs to be done is to give the immigrants equal rights, equal chances and equal respect. When that is realized, it will be time to take constructive actions.
Listening to the BBC the other day, I came across what a Muslim living in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois said when he was interviewed: "You only need to walk around the roads to realize what it's like to live here. Being Muslim adds to the problem, being foreign and Muslim is bad, being foreign and Muslim and black is catastrophic."
I was shocked and stunned. So far as most people see it, France is a state of liberty, equality and fraternity, or a garden of romance and fashion; but never would it be related as the picture this Black man portrayed. Yet the mayhem, which took place on 27 October in the low-income Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, and did not quiet down until recently, tells us everything.
It is France's worst civil unrest in more than a decade. The spiraling violence and the inability of authorities to bring it under control have shaken France and stunned neighboring nations. Many people imputed it to the deaths of two teenagers of Mauritanian and Tunisian origin. The youths, who thought they were being chased, were accidentally electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation. Yet the story is far more complicated.
In my opinion, the most crucial cause is the improper disposition of the immigrants from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and other African countries. Until a decade or so ago, immigrants proudly referred to themselves as "French Arabs," "French Algerians," "French Moroccans," and so on. However, now they find only great disappointment. Though the government continuously preaches equality among all people, advocating a policy of racial integrity, what it does is totally opposite. They send the immigrants to the suburbs where they are isolated in bad neighborhoods with poor schools and little or no opportunities and no one caring how they feel or what their problems are.
Many Africans and their French-born children live on society's margins, struggling with high unemployment, racial discrimination and despair. Instead of being treated equally, they are abandoned. What is more pathetic than living in a community with no one knowing who you are? What is more tragic than being treated unequally when you deserve equal respect and the same rights as others? What is more desperate than holding onto a hope that you know can never come true?
These are all tortures the immigrants in France experience and endure. Under such circumstances, rage and anger are due to build, and when these reach a certain point it is fertile terrain for crime of all sorts as well as for Muslim extremists offering a way out.
Triggered by discrimination and social exclusion, other problems also come up. According to statistics, the disparity between rich and poor, namely the urban and suburban areas of Paris, is more than ten times apart. The average high family income reaches 50,961 euros, yet the lowest family income is only 6,864 euros. In recent years, the average national rate of unemployment in France has consistently been within 8% - 10%, but in the suburban areas, this number reaches as high as 30%. The widespread poverty and high unemployment rate, together with their lack of social recognition and acknowledged identity, are beyond a normal human being's endurance.
And there is more. In the course of suppressing the unrest, the French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, called those young people "trash" and "motley crews." Some racists in the police force even put forward the slogan of "remove the mosque." It is like adding petrol to a flaming fire.
Clearly, this is not an issue concerning France only. Estimates vary, but somewhere between 15 million and 20 million Muslims make their homes in the 25 nations of the European Union. Countries like Britain, Germany and Holland, also have restive Muslims of their own and the same problems; the whole of Europe is adopting a similar policy in the migrant integrity issue. It is as Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Muslim Forum, an organization of Islamic groups in Britain, said: "What is happening in France could trigger copycat reactions elsewhere in Europe."
Then, how to cope with the crisis? The French government has offered a way out--the use of force. President Jacques Chirac, whose government is under intense pressure to halt the violence, promised stern punishment for those behind the attacks: "The law must have the last word--France is determined to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear, and they will be arrested, judged and punished."
And he did what he said. The government has, with no hesitation, imposed curfews and widened police search-and-seizure tactics all through the country.
Though it did work in France at present, I don't think it is a good way in the long-term. To straighten it out, it is necessary for us to have an overall view of the unrest. Apparently, it started as an outburst of anger in suburban Paris housing projects and fanned out nationwide among disaffected youths, mostly of Muslim or African origin.
Why are these people angry? At this desperate point, they are the victims. They want to change their situation, but due to their underclass social status, the only way they can think of to raise attention, to pour out their dissatisfaction, is to protest, to burn garbage cans, cars, and buildings. But when they do these things, they are committing crimes, producing social instability and hurting other people. They are now criminals facing punishment according to the law. Victims, hopeless and desperate, burst out and choose to be criminals. What an irony!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that because they were originally victims and, to some extent, still are, they should be spared lawful punishment. What I really want to say is that the government and the whole of society should also claim responsibility.
Please put down your guns and listen to this voice: "Just allow us the dignity of good jobs and a chance to make better lives, then the French will have nothing to fear from 'dangerous Muslims.'" This was said by Zoubidia, a 29-year-old Muslim living in Clichy-sous-Bois, as she nervously led her two small boys past cordons of riot police guarding a fire station. Clearly, we get everything.
The root of the problem exposes the ridicule of using force. What really needs to be done is to give the immigrants equal rights, equal chances and equal respect. When that is realized, it will be time to take constructive actions.
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