Rioters now shooting at French police
The situation in France continued to be out of control today - shots fired at police, over 300 cars set ablaze not just near Paris but across several towns. This is day 11 of the unrest.
President Jacques Chirac has vowed to restore order:
"The Republic is quite determined, by definition, to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear," Chirac said after a domestic security council met to respond to the violence in which thousands of cars have gone up in flames.
Would that he had such resolve against terror. The Muslim community has spoken out as well:
One of France's largest Islamic groups, the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF), issued a fatwa against rioting on Sunday after officials suggested Muslim militants could be partly to blame for the violence.
"It is formally forbidden to any Muslim seeking divine grace and satisfaction to participate in any action that blindly hits private or public property or could constitute an attack on someone's life," the fatwa said.
No, I'm not going to say it (but I'm thinking it, and so are you). Personally, I feel that this is close to a peak, if today wasn't it already. Expect it to die down quickly when it turns. But this will not go away. It will fester below a veneer of relative quiet, and resurface as something more resembling terrorism.
As far as I'm concerned, this is just more proof that multiculturalism breeds misunderstanding, undermines nationalism, and fosters downright hatred. The failure of the French government to quell the violence has allowed the situation to evolve into class warfare. Had France worked harder to integrate these people into French society and culture as a condition of naturalization, much of the frustration the ethnic minorities now feel would have been avoided.
Other nations would be foolish not to take note.
