French Riots: It's the Economy, Not Islam, Stupid

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French Riots: It's the Economy, Not Islam, Stupid
by J. Edward Tremlett, Columnist

February 3, 2006

"Down On the rANT Farm"

J. Edward Tremlett Never at a loss for a chance to bash both Islam and France - the twin enemies of the civilized world - the Use-America Right was gleefully exercising its schadenfruede back in October and November: laughing at France's woes while warning that the riots were the long-awaited herald of the European Islamofascist Revolution. "Today France, tomorrow the Netherlands, then us!" they warned.

Of course, they were full of it - and on several counts. The truth is a lot less conspiratorial, and a lot more complex, but it can be summed up in a simple phrase: it's the economy, stupid.

The "youths" out rioting in France's outer urban areas were the beurs - children of under-employed and impoverished immigrants from former colonial holdings. Their grandparents were brought over in droves to help with France's post-war period, as much of their own workforce had been decimated. And they were housed in hideous, go-nowhere "suburbs" - read "projects" - well away from the nice, proper neighborhoods their supervisors went home to at night.

But once France got back on its feet, such jobs vanished, and the immigrants got the short end of the stick. This situation has not improved all that much for their children, thanks in equal parts to France's entrenched racism and sputtering economy. Especially the latter: their government's dangerous flirtations with socialism have left it resembling a prize-winning turtle in a shoebox - walled in by all-too-visible hands and fettered by its own safety nets.

It doesn't take a degree in social science to understand some simple, socioeconomic arithmetic. When people are poor, they look for a way out of it. When they can't find a way out, they become desperate. When they become desperate, they crave release. And when they get an excuse for such release - such as the electrocution of two young beurs fleeing from the police - there's a good chance they'll take it.

So how were these riots about Islam, other than the fact that many of the beurs out in the streets were at least nominally Muslim? Well. they weren't about Islam. In spite of many armchair pundits' attempts to spin this outrage into something it wasn't - and a few would-be jihadis' attempts to make it so - the riots remained a firmly secular affair.

Further proof of the non-Islamic credentials of the storm could be found in the more conservative - and genuinely Islamic - neighborhoods. These were islands of calm within the riots, with most of their citizens closing their windows to the shameless violence outside. And while Muslim religious organizations issued fatwas against the riots, it turns out that the government-imposed curfew seems to have had more effect to quell them than the edicts of well-meaning religious leaders.

(As an aside, this couldn't be blamed on "multiculturalism" either. France is not remotely multicultural. If it were, they wouldn't have laws barring schoolchildren from wearing tokens of their religious affiliations - such as Islamic Hijab - to school, now would they? No, they'd be actively encouraging it, instead. Oh oft-despised multiculturalism, ye be not here.)

Now, as much as I might like to engage in some schadenfruede of my own, I find I can't be too harsh on the shills of the Use-America Right. It's in their nature to jump at the crack of a possible Muslim connection to anything, just so they can sink their rabid fangs into something other than a dead horse. That this often leads to embarrassing false alarms - such as the "jihad" at Oklahoma State - should be a sign that they should be more moderate in their tone. But then they wouldn't be half as much fun to read.

That said, they do everyone - especially the saner corners of their own cause - a massive disservice by applying jihadi status to any Ahmed, Mohammed or Tariq who breaks the law, or does something catastrophically antisocial. This only acts to draw our attention from the real threats, such as the terrorist assholes responsible for blowing up three hotels in Jordan, just as the riots were dying down. And this can only weaken our ability to wisely pick our targets in the War on Terror.

French of all colors and creeds have turned to rioting to voice their displeasure at the government before. Doubtless, they will do so again. The question remains as to whether the French government will finally make good on their promises to help those people, or whether they will allow foul-mouthed ministers to be their only response, as opposed to serious social and economic reform.

If so, then the genuine Jihadis might truly be able to turn any future riots into what the Use-America Right tried to claim they were: a prelude to Islamic revolution. ***

J. Edward Tremlett is a published author, political thinker and self-described "mean-spirited crank." He lived with his wife and two cats in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before returning to the Midwest.

Angry? Confused? Hooked? Be sure to get more hot, rANT action at J's blog! - http://rant-farm.blogspot.com/

Photo of J. Edward Tremlett courtesy of staff files