Bring it on

The riots are getting serious. And the tone of the reportage is accordingly changing. Notice that this AP story uses the word “Muslim” in only the second graph, after earlier stories had not used it at all. If the riots continue, maybe the AP will put “Muslim” in the headline and the lead.

Rioting Spreads to 20 Towns Around Paris
Rioters Shoot at Police, Torch Car Dealerships, Buses
in Eighth Day of Violence in Paris Suburbs

AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, France Nov 3, 2005—Rampaging youths shot at police and firefighters Thursday after burning car dealerships and public buses and hurling rocks at commuter trains, as eight days of riots over poor conditions in Paris-area housing projects spread to 20 towns.

Youths ignored an appeal for calm from President Jacques Chirac, whose government worked feverishly to fend off a political crisis amid criticism that it has ignored problems in neighborhoods heavily populated by first- and second-generation North African and Muslim immigrants.

That’s the only hard information in the story. The rest of the article speaks repeatedly of “meetings” being held by the government leaders, and of their announcements that the restoration of public order is their highest priority. But meetings and announcements are not the way you restore public order, are they?

Still, I say, let the Muslims bring it on. The more they show their real face now, the more chance there is that Europe will wake up before it’s too late.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 03, 2005 03:53 PM | Send