Criminals Have Feelings Too

Earnest attempts to explore the deep-seated frustrations of rioters in Molly Moore's dispatches from Paris, including Sunday's Rage of French Youth Is a Fight for Recognition and today's Chicac Speaks Out On Rioting. No such slack for the French Interior Minister, however. From today's story:

The tensions have been exacerbated by comments from Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose references to the rioters as "scum" prompted youths participating in the violence to demand his resignation. Sarkozy has been considered a likely contender in the 2007 presidential election.

What's really going on? A French intifada? Generic Frustrated French Youth Riots? Instapundit has a terrific roundup showcasing arguments from all sides. What strikes me about Moore's reporting, however, is the delicate tiptoeing around the queston of whether there is a fundamental cultural battle between large numbers of Muslim immigrants and the values of the West. When the problem is acknowledged, it's used as an opportunity to shift blame away from anyone setting fires. Moore, on Sunday:

"It's not a political revolution or a Muslim revolution," said Rezzoug. "There's a lot of rage. Through this burning, they're saying, 'I exist, I'm here.' "

Such a dramatic demand for recognition underscores the chasm between the fastest growing segment of France's population and the staid political hierarchy that has been inept at responding to societal shifts. The youths rampaging through France's poorest neighborhoods are the French-born children of African and Arab immigrants, the most neglected of the country's citizens. A large percentage are members of the Muslim community that accounts for about 10 percent of France's 60 million people.

Moore reports on the frustrations experienced by rampaging French youths, including one Abdel who says:

"This has nothing to do with religion...But non-Muslims are afraid of people like me with a beard. I look suspicous to them. Discrimination is all around us..."

Well and good. But why are non-Muslims afraid of people like Abdel with a beard? Do we hear from any of them? We do not. Are there any patterns of behavior exhbited by any people in this group that we're allowed to find objectionable? For the Post, it's all about unemployment and disenfranchisement--with the emphasis on "all." Mark Steyn:

For half a decade, French Arabs have been carrying on a low-level intifada against synagogues, kosher butchers, Jewish schools, etc. The concern of the political class has been to prevent the spread of these attacks to targets of more, ah, general interest. They seem to have lost that battle.

More so every day. Or, to use the Post's terminology, French Youths Are Demanding More Recognition this evening.