RE: [Marxism] riots in france

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to Andy Pollack for the Washington Post link. 
==============================================================
("There appeared to be no coordination between separate groups 
in different areas, Mr. Hamon said. But within gangs, he added, 
youths are communicating by cell phones or e-mails.")
==============================================================

November 6, 2005 7:26 a.m. EST
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Vandals Torch 28 Vehicles In Paris as Unrest Spreads
Associated Press
November 6, 2005 7:26 a.m.

PARIS -- Vandals torched at least 28 vehicles in Paris as unrest, in
its 10th night, spread late Saturday and early Sunday from the poor
suburbs into the capital, France's nerve center and seat of power,
officials said.

Police made 186 arrests nationwide, the Interior Ministry said. The
number of cars torched -- 918 across France -- was the highest yet.
Of those, 545 were outside of the Paris region, it said.

At least 810 vehicles were set ablaze across France in arson attacks
that reached from the verdant Normandy region in the west to the
German border and cities on the Mediterranean, said the Interior
Ministry's operational center tracking the violence.

The partial count as of 3:30 a.m. Sunday could rise. It didn't
include the shops, gymnasiums, nursery schools and other targets
attacked by marauding bands of youths around the country. The
previous night, 900 vehicles were torched across France in the worst
wave of arson since the urban unrest began Oct. 27.

The violence had begun in a low-income suburb northeast of Paris
after the deaths of two teenagers accidentally electrocuted as they
hid from police in a power substation, apparently thinking they were
being chased. It has taken on unprecedented scope and intensity, and
took a potentially alarming turn with the report early Sunday that
arsonists had struck inside the well-guarded French capital.

It wasn't immediately clear whether anything other than vehicles was
targeted in Paris.

In the town of Evreux, 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Paris in
rural Normandy, arsonists laid waste to at least 50 vehicles, shops
and businesses at a shopping center, a post office and two schools,
said Patrick Hamon, spokesman for the national police. Five police
officers and three firefighters were injured battling the Evreux
blazes, Mr. Hamon said.

In Paris, firefighters moved out to douse the flames of blazing
vehicles around the city -- 13 burning vehicles were counted by 1
a.m. Sunday; 19 by 2:30 a.m. and 22 by 3:30 a.m., the Interior
Ministry said.

The neighborhoods where the attacks occurred weren't identified.
However, Paris police headquarters said that three cars were damaged
late Saturday by fire in the Republique section, northeast of City
Hall. The office in charge of roadways indicated the attacks on
vehicles were spread out in several districts.

Some 2,300 police poured into the Paris region to bolster security on
what had been expected to be a restive Saturday night. For the second
night in a row, a helicopter equipped with spotlights and video
cameras to track bands of marauding youths combed the poor, heavily
immigrant Seine-Saint-Denis region, northeast of Paris, where the
violence has been concentrated. Small teams of police were deployed
to chase down youths speeding from one attack to another in cars and
on motorbikes.

'Long-Simmering Anger'

The violence is forcing France to confront long-simmering anger in
its suburbs, where many Africans and their French-born children live
on society's margins, struggling with high unemployment, poor
housing, racial discrimination, crime and lack of opportunities. Such
suburban blight has fed frustrations and a sense of disconnect for
many of those dwelling on the rims of big French cities.

Arson attacks were reported in the Paris region and cities to the
north, south, east and west, many normally known for their calm, like
the cultural bastion of Avignon in southern France and the resort
cities of Nice and Cannes, where cars were torched, a police officer
said.

Arson also was reported in Nantes, in the southwest, the Lille region
in the north and Saint-Dizier, in the Ardennes region east of Paris.
In the eastern city of Strasbourg, 18 cars were set alight in full
daylight, police there said.

Dozens of vehicles, two gymnasiums and at least three classrooms were
set afire in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, outside Paris, local
officials said. France-Info radio reported residents catching two
14-year-olds trying to light a fire in Drancy, northeast of Paris,
and turning them over to police.

Mr. Hamon called the spreading arson attacks "copycat" acts by
vandals.

Evreux, 60 miles west of Paris, appeared hardest hit by marauding
youths. The number of vehicles burned was likely to rise well beyond
50, Mr. Hamon said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the vehicles
were in a lot or scattered about the city.

That the shopping center was partially burned shows that "there is a
will to pillage," Mr. Hamon said. "This has been true since the
start," he added, referring to grocery stores, video shops and other
establishments that have been set afire. He blamed the spreading
arson attacks on "hoodlums." There appeared to be no coordination
between separate groups in different areas, Mr. Hamon said. But
within gangs, he added, youths are communicating by cell phones or
e-mails.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy -- blamed for inflaming violence
with tough talk and calling troublemakers "scum" -- visited the
hard-hit Essonne region early Sunday to "give police support," he
said.

Nursery schools haven't been spared the unrest. Five classrooms of
the Sleeping Beauty Nursery School in Grigny, in the Essonne region
south of Paris, went up in flames late Saturday along with two
classrooms of another school, police said. It was at least the third
nursery school set ablaze in several days. In quiet Acheres, on the
edge of the St. Germain forest west of Paris, arsonists torched a
nursery school late Friday.

Mayor Alain Outreman tried to cool tempers as some residents demanded
the army be deployed, or suggested that citizens band together to
protect neighborhoods. "We are not going to start militias," he said.
"You would have to be everywhere."

Copyright © 2005 Associated Press

====================================================================

Rioting Spreads into Central Paris

Paris, Nov 6 (Prensa Latina) Unrest spread from the poor suburbs into
the central part of the French capital early Sunday, where youth
gangs torched 28 vehicles on the 10th consecutive night of riots.

French media quoted police as saying that Sunday early morning there
were 1,295 vehicle burnings with 312 arrests across France, the
highest figure since the unrest began on 27 October.

The violence had begun in a low-income suburb, northeast of Paris,
after the deaths of two North African teenagers accidentally
electrocuted as they hid from police in a power sub-station.

Four cars were sizzled on Place de la Republique in central Paris
along with others in the central 17th District.

Police helicopters patrolled the skies over the capital, attempting
to pursue and identify those responsible for the attacks.

Shops, gymnasiums, nursery schools and other facilities have been
also targeted by the gangs attacks around the country.

About 2300 police officers had poured into the Paris region to
bolster security on what was expected to be a restive Saturday night.

Five police officers and three fire-fighters have been reported
injured battling blazes.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, accused of fanning violence with
tough talk and calling troublemakers "scum," visited the hard-hit
Essonne region early on Sunday to "give police support."

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has been holding a series of
meetings with public figures and ordinary people from the affected
areas in a bid to bring an end to the crisis.

hr/ajs/mf
====================================================================

Rioting Still Flares in France

Paris, Nov 5 (Prensa Latina) The Paris riots of the last few days,
which began with African immigrants, have now spread to the youth of
other cities and continue to be strategically organized, avoiding
direct clashes with police.

Parisian DA Yves Bot told Le Monde daily Saturday that the movement
seems to be aimed at State institutions and informed that the
Interior Ministry has increased the number of police in affected
areas and is filming from a helicopter.

Nightly violence in the last nine days in Paris´ poorest districts
began with an eruption of youth enraged by the electrocution of Bouna
Traore, 15, and Zyed Benna, 17, when their vehicle hit a power
substation while presumably being pursued by police.

According to Liberation daily, the violence is youth´s rejection of a
model which fails to meet their expectations and the result of
problems neglected for 30 years.

Minister of Interior Nicolas Sarkozy admitted as much Friday, citing
high unemployment and a perceived lack of economic opportunities.

In an attempt to solve the crisis, Prime Minister Dominique de
Villepin met on Friday with 15 young people, including immigrants and
unemployed, from urban areas hit by the unrest, but was strongly
criticized by a group of 30 mayors and other elected officials from
the affected areas, who said this was no time for a plan.

mh/ccs/rma/hav



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