Recently in Europe Category
That's the take of French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on the violent demonstrations over the Danish cartoons:
"I am totally shocked and find it unacceptable that -- because there have been caricatures in the West -- extremists can burn flags or take fundamentalist or extremist positions which would prove the cartoonists right," he told LCI television.
Indeed. It's interesting to see Europe struggling with multiculturalism, after years of claiming superiority in this area. But it also highlights the dangers of multiculturalism to every nation - many European nations are now deciding whether to shift their national values with the introduction of each new immigrant.
We've been struggling with the same issues over here, to the point that we actually ignore immigration laws in some cities so that illegal immigrants feel safe applying for college grants and food stamps. But there is at least one major difference in the conflict here and that being waged across the Atlantic.
Our response to the pressures of multiculturalism has been timidity and appeasement in the face of protests, lawsuits, and media pressure. Europe, on the other hand, is threatened with violence for it's offence of publishing a few cartoons. And surprisingly, there are a few in the European media willing to fight back.
But the cultural clash has grave consequences stemming directly from the larger conflict between Islam and the rest of the world:
Early Friday, Palestinian militants threw a bomb at a French cultural center in Gaza City, and many Palestinians began boycotting European goods, especially those from Denmark.
"Whoever defames our prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of others in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.
In mosques throughout Palestinian cities, clerics condemned the cartoons. An imam at the Omari Mosque in Gaza City told 9,000 worshippers that those behind the drawings should have their heads cut off.
"If they want a war of religions, we are ready," Hassan Sharaf, an imam in Nablus, said in his sermon.
About 10,000 demonstrators, including gunmen from the Islamic militant group Hamas firing in the air, marched through Gaza City to the Palestinian legislature, where they climbed on the roof, waving green Hamas banners.
"We are ready to redeem you with our souls and our blood our beloved prophet," they chanted. "Down, Down Denmark."
Religion of peace indeed. But while Europe's press is taking the high road, European governments are taking the traditional liberal tack of appeasement. I hope Europe realizes that it's liberal tendancies toward appeasement will ill serve them in this era. The behavior they reinforce will be used again, with perhaps consequences closer to home.
The muslims interviewed in the media would have you believe that this is about respect. Respect, though, is earned - and not through threats of violence. Respect is not earned by burning flags, or firing weapons into the air. Respect is not earned by holding a sign calling for a second holocaust.
When a government chooses to make religion it's cornerstone, it opens itself up to political critisism on that cornerstone. Since muslims can't draw a distinction between religion and politics, it can hardly expect westerners to do so either.
It's been said by many before, and it's worth saying again - when Islam cleans it's own house of the rampant killing in the name of Mohamed, maybe there will be some reason to protest the stereotypes depicted in the Danish cartoons. Until then, blaming others for the stereotypes that they themselves have reinforced deserves contempt.
... against terrorists, that is:
BREST, France (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it would be ready to launch a targeted nuclear strike against any state that carried out a terrorist attack on French soil.
In a speech defending France's costly nuclear deterrent and toughening policy against terrorism, President Jacques Chirac said Paris must be able to hit back hard at a hostile state's centers of power and its "capacity to act."
"The leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who would consider using in one way or another weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and adapted response on our part," Chirac said during a visit to northwestern France, where France's nuclear submarines are based.
"This response could be a conventional one. It could also be of a different kind."
Imagine what Chirac's response would have been if the same right to defence was publicly claimed by President Bush...
The situation in France is improving - that is, if you call nearly 500 vehicles burned an improvement.
It appears that bribes and increased socialism has worked - for the rioters. Same as addressing a child's angry tantrum with toys or candy, the "disaffected youths" have learned how successful these tactics are with the French government. If it worked once, it will work again - so expect more riots, burning, and thuggery in the future.
Update (9:50 EST): Looks like thugs in Belgium have paid attention.
There are some signs that the violence may have peaked and is declining:
"The intensity of this violence is on the way down," National Police Chief Michel Gaudin said, citing fewer attacks on public buildings and fewer direct clashes between youths and police. He said rioting was reported in 226 towns across France, compared to nearly 300 the night before.
If this is indeed the turning point, as I expected, expect the violence to die down quickly. Absolutely none of the underlying problems will be addressed, and these thugs will organize to commit organized Al-Qaeda - style attacks. This isn't going away anytime soon.
According to some in the fantasy world of the Daily Kos, Bush is responsible for the French riots.
Why not? These hate-filled zealots blame Bush for everything else...
The politics of appeasement - alive and well in France:
President Jacques Chirac, in private comments more conciliatory than his warnings Sunday that rioters would be caught and punished, acknowledged in a meeting Monday with Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga that France has not integrated immigrant youths, she said.
Chirac deplored the "ghettoization of youths of African or North African origin" and recognized "the incapacity of French society to fully accept them," said Vike-Freiberga.
France "has not done everything possible for these youths, supported them so they feel understood, heard and respected," Chirac added, noting that unemployment runs as high as 40 percent in some suburbs, four times the national rate, according to Vike-Freiberga.
And from Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin :
Villepin said he wanted to speed up a $35.5 billion urban redevelopment plan, triple the number of merit scholarships for talented students and offer jobs, training or internships to disadvantaged young people.
"We must offer them hope and a future," he said.
Maybe they should offer each of the rioters a new car as well. Uh, never mind - there's a car shortage right now.
In the meantime, tourism is expected to suffer as France is given the leper colony treatment:
The list of foreign governments urging tourists to exercise caution in France is growing, with Australia, Austria, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Slovakia and the Czech Republic on Monday joining the United States, Russia and Hungary in issuing warnings to avoid riot-hit areas, especially at night. None are advising travelers to avoid France altogether — at least, not yet.
Further evidence of the superiority of socialism in France
Via AP/Yahoo:
French to Impose Curfews, Deploy Forces
You'd think they would have thought of this a few days ago...
Over 1400 vehicles burned in 274 towns Monday as French rioting continued for the 12th day. More disturbing is this:
Apparent copycat attacks spread to other European cities for the first time, with five cars torched outside Brussels' main train station, police in the Belgian capital said.
I doubt that the spread outside of France will have much traction. The rest of Europe has watched the situation closely and will be better prepared than the Chirac government to deal with any violence before it escalates.
Question for the readers - could this happen here in the USA? What could be done to prevent it?
I look forward to your comments.
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.
