'We hate France and France hates us'- Rioters vent anger at Gov.(Guardian)

(As "The Guardian" tends to do, they get "the other side of the story" of the Riots in France. WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE!)

'We hate France and France hates us'

· Rioters vent anger at government and police
· Curfews imposed under law used in Algerian war

Jon Henley in Sevran
Wednesday November 9, 2005
The Guardian

They are gathered, as every night, on the edge of the car park at the foot of the block. Far enough into the shadows not to be easily seen; close enough to the stairwell to leg it inside if the police come near.

Sylla, Sossa, Karim, Rachid, Mounir and Samir are the names they give. The oldest is 21, the youngest 15. One is an apprentice plumber; another is on work experience as a cook at a cafe in nearby Aulnay-sous-Bois; one is claiming benefit; two are (sort of) at school. Three are "known to the police".

This estate, the Rougemont in Sevran, about 15 miles north of Paris, was one of the first to flare in France's outbreak of rolling urban violence, which has lasted 12 nights and in which nearly 6,000 cars have gone up in flames, dozens of schools, community centres and shops have been wrecked, and 1,500 people arrested.

There are many reasons for the violence. "Because we hate, because we're mad, because we've had it up to here," said Rachid, parka hood up against the cold. "Look around you. This place is shit, it's a dump. We have nothing here. There's nothing for us."

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1637213,00.html?gusrc=rss>
(more at link above)

Seriously, though, the violence these youths are promoting is not going to make their lives any easier. They need to find more productive ways to redress their grievances.

(Here's the latest AFP story, according to this, it sounds like tonight wasn't quite as bad as the last few nights. {13th night})

Police say riots waning after French curfew threat

09/11/2005 06h44

PARIS (AFP) - Violence flared again in riot-hit parts of France but the threat of emergency curfews appeared to have taken the edge off the urban unrest that has gripped the country for almost two weeks. The ritual of car-burnings that has plagued poor city suburbs picked up again after nightfall, but police said there were far fewer incidents pitting rioters against the security forces and no reports of shots fired.

The government Tuesday declared a state of emergency in the worst-hit parts of the country under a decree, applicable from Wednesday, which will allow regional authorities to declare curfews to combat the violence. The first to act under the new powers, the town of Amiens north of Paris, declared an overnight curfew for unaccompanied under 16-year-olds and a ban on petrol sales to minors, even before the decree comes into force.

Mayors have already declared separate, local curfews, in Orleans and Savigny-sur-Orge, both south of Paris, and in Raincy northeast of the capital. Across the country, 558 vehicles had been torched at 4:00 am (0300 GMT), compared with 814 at the same time on Tuesday, and 204 people arrested, against 143 the previous night, according to national police figures.

Despite the car-burnings, police said the overall situation was calmer than on recent nights, when dozens of police officers were injured, two by gunshot. "There has been a marked decrease (in violence), particularly in the provinces, and the downward trend is continuing in Ile-de-France (the greater Paris region)," a national police official said.

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/051109064201.t43ubfhk.html>
(more at link above)

(Why do I get the feeling that this is NOT going to help?)

France's Sarkozy orders foreign rioters expelled

Wed Nov 9, 2005 01:25 PM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered the expulsion of all foreigners convicted of involvement in two weeks of urban riots. Sarkozy, who has previously thrown radical Muslim preachers out of the country for breaching French laws, told the National Assembly lower house of parliament on Wendesday that 122 foreigners had been convicted of playing a role in the unrest.

"I have asked prefects that foreigners here legally or illegally, who have been convicted (over the unrest) be expelled without delay from our territory," he said of the top government officials who oversee France's 96 administrative districts. The order would also include those who have a residency permit, Sarkozy said.

"For when one has the honor of having a residency permit, the least one can say is that one shouldn't be going around getting arrested for provoking urban violence," he said. Sarkozy did not give the nationalities of any of the foreigners whose expulsion he had ordered, and did not say how many would be expelled.

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=10220447§ion=news>
(more at link above)