The Third Intifada?

This is a brief comment at a slight tangent to the riots in Paris. Many Americans of the 'muscular' disposition, think that France and its government are aiders and abettors of political Islam, because Chirac is putatively anti-war and most French people are anti-American. In fact, Sarkozy/Chirac France is far more repressive than Patriot Act America, with very aggressive policies towards Muslim youth, far more draconian anti-terrorism legislation than Blair would dream of introducing, and as much racial segregation as pre-Katrina Louisiana. This is the context for the riots.

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Oddly, there doesn't seem to be much blog comment on the riots, certainly not in my corner of the blogosphere. Two exceptions are Big Lizards (which I reached via Myopic Thoughts) - see Is Paris Burning? and and Arms for the Poor - and No Pasaran.

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Jogo would disagree with my comment the context of the riots, as he would no doubt see this as leftist "root cause" thinking, on which he says:

Who can blame "the youths?" What else can they DO? Forces are operating upon them.

Checking out today's edition of the Voice of the Stockholm Syndrome -- i.e., the BBC News website -- sidebar on the page carrying the story on the riots -- shows that of seven ancillary stories, FIVE are basically editorials of the "root cause" variety:
Anger grips Paris riot suburb
An unequal job market is feeding racial tensions
Deaths that set Clichy ablaze
Headscarf defeat riles Muslims
Ghettos shackle French Muslims

Yup, it's obvious to me there is no choice these people have but to riot.

I get a laugh out of the Root Cause people. You know why?

Because when they're tallying up the root causes, the causes are always THEMSELVES. Root causes never inhere in those other people, the Left's Fanonian suffering saints.

As I have said before in this ...uh, forum: in Leftist vision the white man has Motives and Agency, whereas the dark man is tossed about by Forces. If that's not racist condescension, tell me what is racist condescension.

Trackbacks:
1. Weapons of Mass Destruction: Riots Getting Worse in France?: "Bob From Brockley sees chickens coming home to roost for our French friends." (This page is a very good round-up of blog comment on the disturbances, from an angle a little to the right of mine.)
2. My Amusement Park: Paris Is Burning. "It's nice to see the Louisiana comparison. Bob knows what's up." (This is also a very good round-up of blog comment on the violence, from an angle a little to the left of mine.)

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Tags: paris riots, france, islamism