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Comment: Explosion in the suburbs
The riots in France are the result of years 
of racism, poverty and police brutality.
By Naima Bouteldja 
In 1991 there was violence between young 
men and police in the suburbs of the French 
city of Lyon. Alain Touraine, the French 
sociologist, said, "In a few years we will 
have the same kind of problems the 
Americans have in their big cities." In the 
past few weeks there have been many nights 
of violence in the suburbs of French cities. 
Perhaps Touraine’s pessimistic prediction is 
now becoming reality. 
The violence followed the deaths of two 
young Muslim men of African origin in a 
Paris suburb. The two men lived in Clichy-
sous-Bois, a poor northeastern suburb of 
Paris, and this was where the violent riots 
began. Clichy-sous-Bois was like a time-
bomb waiting to explode. Half its 
inhabitants are under 20, the unemployment 
rate is more than 40% and police check the 
identity of young men regularly.
Young French citizens born into first- and 
second-generation immigrant communities 
from France's former colonies in North 
Africa usually lead the riots. The cause is 
almost always the deaths of young black 
men at the hands of the police. The reaction 
of the French government usually makes 
things worse.
Four days after the deaths in Clichy-sous-
Bois, the situation was beginning to calm 
down when the police fired teargas into a 
mosque. The official reason for the police 
action was that there was a badly parked car 
in front of the mosque. The government has 
not offered any apology to the Muslim 
community. But riots have now started in 
other poor suburbs across France and this is 
something new. Laurent Levy, an anti-racist 
campaigner, is not surprised by the situation. 
"When you do not give any respect to large 
sections of the population, and when they do 
not have the right to work and the right to 
proper accommodation, what is surprising is 
not that the cars are burning but that it 
doesn’t happen more often," he says. 
Police violence and racism are major factors 
in the riots. In April a report by the human 
rights group Amnesty International 
criticized the way in which the French 
police treated young men of African origin 
during identity checks. But the actions of the 
interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, have also 
caused a lot of anger. He called the rioters 
"vermin” and "scum" and said it was 
necessary to clean the suburbs with 
industrial cleaner. 
Sarkozy's will probably be a candidate in the 
French presidential elections in 2007 where 
his opponent will be the current Prime 
Minister, Dominique de Villepin. Sarkozy’s 
words might gain him votes from right-wing 
voters.
What can France do to stop the violence? It 
would obviously help if ministers stopped 
talking about "scum" and if Sarkozy lost his 
job. A simple “sorry” could help to make the 
situation less tense. The morning after the 
gassing of the mosque, a young Muslim 
woman expressed what many people feel, 
"We just want them to stop lying and to 
apologize." Then some of these young 
people might feel they were full and equal 
citizens of the French republic.
Naima Bouteldja is a French journalist and 
researcher for the Transnational Institute. 
Guardian Weekly, 13/11/05, page 14 
©
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005 
Taken from the 
News 
section in 
www.onestopenglish.com

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