[Spliffdaddy]

"On Friday, a total of 277 vehicles were set on fire across the country, according to the Le Monde newspaper, but the authorities refused to confirm the figure."

"That figure was three times higher than the number of vehicles torched on a normal day in France."

So, um, on any given average day there are 90 vehicles torched in France? What the hell?
Maybe it's just me, but that seems very much out of the realm of normalcy. Does French society consider this to be *not* a problem? Well no damn wonder they have such a high threshhold of tolerance before they decide to commit militarily to solve another nation's problems. I mean, geez, they probably wish their nation was as safe as downtown Baghdad is.

You know, I make fun of the French quite a bit. But mostly tongue-in-cheek. I don't really dislike people because of their nationality. Stuff like this is starting to make me wonder if the French really ARE a bunch of nutcases.

Anyhow, I found that little tidbit in an article centered around the firebombing of a bus yesterday that left a young woman with burns over 60% of her body. Seems there were a dozen people on the bus when masked "adolescents" (love how they avoid using the proper term) stormed the bus after dousing it with gasoline - and threw some firebombs in it. But, hey, I'm sure that's just normal behaviour in France.

I guess this marks the 1st anniversary of "the largest thread ever" in the Political/War Forum. Brought to you by me. Here's a recap of events, in case you forgot:


Night after night for three weeks, mainly north African youths clashed with police, torching more than 10,000 cars and firebombing 300 buildings in around 275 towns, until order was officially restored on November 17.

[hey!_Zeus]

I agree with you. They treat these hooligans with kid gloves. I watched as they threw stones at busses and cars and people. Burned the busses and hundreds of cars.

Time to shoot to kill.

France another Israel?

[Sky Captain]

I want to know why the citizens haven't refused to be intimidated by holligans.
3-4 adult males could easily stomp a few hoolignas.

This guy stomped 4.

[Millennium]

Is there anyone left who considers this to be nonviolent protesting?

[badidea]

I think anyone left and right do not consider this nonviolent protesting!

[marden]

Riots in Marseille

By AP

MARSEILLE, France -- France's interior minister sent riot police to patrol the southern port city of Marseille yesterday after a group of marauding teenagers torched a bus, gravely burning a young woman.

French police braced for violence this weekend, the anniversary of last year's riots in poor neighbourhoods where immigrants from former French colonies in Africa live with their French-born children on the fringes of society.

On Saturday, 46 people were taken into custody, most of them in the communities around Paris, and two police officers were slightly injured. The most serious violence was the brutal bus attack in Marseille.

A group of young people burst onto the bus and tossed in a bottle of flammable liquid before fleeing, police said, citing witnesses' accounts. The resulting fire injured a 26-year-old woman, who suffered second- and third-degree burns on her arms, legs and face and was in a medically induced coma yesterday.

edmontonsun.com - World - Riots in Marseille

Lovely.

France to hold emergency riot meeting
From correspondents in Paris
October 30, 2006 06:21am
Article from: Agence France-Presse

THE French government is to hold an emergency meeting on boosting transport security, after an arson attack on a bus left a woman on the verge of death, the prime minister's office said today.

The attack by youths in the southern city of Marseille was the worst incident in an upsurge of urban violence during the weekend, on the anniversary of the riots that shook France last year.

Bus drivers in the city refused to return to work today until security was reinforced, prompting Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to double the number of riot police in Marseille to more than 3000.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called a meeting for 10am (8pm AEDT) tomorrow with Mr Sarkozy and other officials to discuss security on public transport, his office said.

The injured woman, a student identified as 26-year-old Mama Galledou, was on the bus with some 10 other passengers when it was forcibly boarded by at least three teenagers wearing hoods.

They doused the inside of the vehicle with flammable liquid and set it on fire before running away.

Although the driver and other passengers escaped in time, Ms Galledou was unable to do so and suffered burns to 70 per cent of her body.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed his horror at the attack today.

In a telephone call to Ms Galledou's family, Mr Chirac spoke of his "horror at this despicable act" and vowed that everything would be done to bring the perpetrators to justice, his office said.

Other politicians also expressed their shock, with the opposition Socialist party quick to cast it as evidence of what it said was Mr Sarkozy's failure to improve security in dangerous neighbourhoods.

The Socialists' leading contender for next year's presidential race, Segolene Royal, expressed "horror and consternation", describing the young people's actions as "urban guerilla war", while also criticising Mr Sarkozy for his "failure".

A spokesman at the Marseille hospital said Ms Galledou was in a "very worrying" state between life and death.

Elsewhere in France, other vehicles were torched, including another bus in a poor suburb west of Paris, but no other serious casualties were reported.

There were overnight skirmishes with police, who said 46 people were arrested, most of them in the Paris area, and two officers were slightly hurt. The incidents followed earlier violence and bus attacks on Saturday.

In the western Paris suburb of Trappes, a gang beat up a bus driver and forced his passengers to get out before they set the vehicle alight. Police and youths also clashed in the northeastern city of Reims and in Toulouse in the southwest overnight.

In the northern city of Lille, 25 cars belonging to the electricity company EDF were torched in their compound, and dozens of private vehicles were burned in other areas.

The central police service nevertheless said last night was "relatively calm" nationwide.

The violence recalled the riots that raged in mostly poor suburbs around the country last year - the worst civil strife in France in four decades.

Gangs of youths, most of them from families of African and Arab origin, torched more than 10,000 cars and firebombed 300 buildings in around 275 towns.

Social alienation, high unemployment, racial discrimination and tensions over integrating France's sizeable Muslim community were all cited as reasons for the riots.

Fears that the still-tense suburbs could explode again this year prompted the government to draft 4000 extra police into areas outside Paris on the weekend.

Transport Minister Dominique Perben will also attend tomorrow's security meeting in Paris, along with top transport officials including the heads of the SNCF national rail company and the Paris regional rail service.

Officials in Marseille emphasised that the bus attack in their city was an isolated act and not indicative of more widespread violence.

The public transport authority in Marseille said services would be back to normal there tomorrow.

AdelaideNow... France to hold emergency riot meeting

[villalobos]

Murder rate in the good ol' US of A : 0.042802 per 1,000 people
Murder rate in France : 0.0173272 per 1,000 people

I'd rather lose a few cars...... You, Spliffdaddy?

[villalobos]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

Is there anyone left who considers this to be nonviolent protesting?

Did anybody say that? Ever? Do you guys have even the slightliest clue what you are talking about?

[yakkiebah]

Well nothing compares with the murder rate in Brazil, not even Iraq.

[marden]

Originally Posted by villalobos 

Murder rate in the good ol' US of A : 0.042802 per 1,000 people
Murder rate in France : 0.0173272 per 1,000 people

I'd rather lose a few cars...... You, Spliffdaddy?

What each one says about the nation's underlying problems are far more revealing.

A good deal of America's murders are drug/gang related and if you don't do or sell drugs or belong to gangs the murder rates would look much different. Plus these populations are insular by nature, the people who get into a gang stick together and they spend time patrolling their turf and their drug markets.

The French 'miscreants' are quite differently motivated, I think. Could someone do a thumbnail characterization of the French fryers?

[villalobos]

Originally Posted by marden 

What each one says about the nation's underlying problems are far more revealing.

A good deal of America's murders are drug/gang related and if you don't do or sell drugs or belong to gangs the murder rates would look much different. Plus these populations are insular by nature, the people who get into a gang stick together and they spend time patrolling their turf and their drug markets.

The French 'miscreants' are quite differently motivated, I think. Could someone do a thumbnail characterization of the French fryers?

So the 'it's not in my backyard' mentality prevails eh? That's nice.

[marden]

Originally Posted by villalobos 

So the 'it's not in my backyard' mentality prevails eh? That's nice.

The attitude is similar to that of posters who only seldom venture into the P/L. They know what goes on in here and they know that those who get nailed in here have chosen to be here and know the score.

Are you saying that the French fryers are in your backyard???

[Spliffdaddy]

40,000 vehicles were torched in France over the last year.

With any luck, they were all Renaults and Peugeots

Which probably saved the lives of tens of thousands of French folks.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy 

40,000 vehicles were torched in France over the last year.

With any luck, they were all Renaults and Peugeots

Which probably saved the lives of tens of thousands of French folks.

Finally some common sense in this discussion

-t

[Kerrigan]

No, the Muslims were burning Skodas in a symbolic protest against East European immigrants.

"They took our jobs! Infidels!"

[Pendergast]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

Is there anyone left who considers this to be nonviolent protesting?

U-huh. Previous assertions were that there is civil war in France.

No one here said burning cars was non-violent as far as I recall.