How a New Year’s celebration reveals France’s divided society
BY RICHARD PALMER
Fireworks are the most traditional way to celebrate the New Year. But there are other traditions. In Japan, Buddhist monks hit a gong 108 times. In Spain, people eat 12 grapes. And in certain French cities, they burn cars.
That’s right. The New Year’s Eve car burning has become so regular it is almost a tradition. Every year, youths run riot. This time, 1,193 cars were burned.
Naturally, the story has gathered a lot of media attention. But all the mainstream reports on the subject are strangely vague about one thing—who is doing the burning. Every student of journalism learns that his or her article should answer the “five Ws”: who, what, when, where and why (and sometimes “how”). Who is invariably listed first.
Why have so many journalists suddenly forgotten their basic training?
It’s tempting to look for a conspiracy, but the answer is more likely political correctness combined with laziness (or tight deadlines). Perhaps the French media are keeping quiet for fear that publishing the truth will pour oil on the flames.
Who are these rioting youths? The mainstream reports contain the hints necessary to put it all together.
“The practice reportedly began in earnest among youths—often in poor neighborhoods—in the 1990s in the region around Strasbourg in eastern France,” writes the Associated Press. Strasbourg is the home of France’s biggest mosque and a large population of Muslims.
SOURCE: WWW.TRUMPET.COM
Categories: Europe, European Union, France
Dear Rafique
I have sent the following to Richard Palmer.
Bashy
___________________
“How a New Year’s celebration reveals France’s divided society”
By Richard Palmer From theTrumpet.com discloses the true crusading intention of this article when he writes : European civilization will not lay down and die. Already the French people are turning on Islam. Will 2013 be the year they push their politicians to do the same? The push will come sooner or later. The Bible prophesies that Europe will take the lead against radical Islam”.
Dear Richard, the problem in France and other European countries is not Islam, radical Islam or Muslims because those young people you so name are actually not at all religious. They do not go to mosques, practice their religion or live a righteous life. They are French youth, deeply in love and practicing the French culture and norms.
While on the surface, problems like this always seem very simple and we want an immediate action against those who commit such horrible acts, the reality is very complex and needs to tackled on long term basis.
My organization EMISCO – The European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion has head office in Strasbourg. I travel there often and have close contacts with NGOs who work with youth in France.
I did try to get the facts of the matter behind this latest episode of car burning on New Years Eve there.
Most young people who took part in this orgy of violence live in suburbs in run down buildings, come from broken families without education, a stake in future, harassed by police on daily basis and felt angry at the socialist government of France who sent a representative to Strasbourg just before the New Year to openly admonish the Arab youth. In this day and age, it is a recipe of disaster. Anyhow, these youth are very difficult to talk to, feel marginalized and look at the French society as an enemy. On top of this Islamophobia has played a great deal of influence in escalating the situation. They are all born and bread in France but are heavily influenced by both the French and their own parent’s upbringing. The combination of all these factors has made it very hard to find a solution at present. More and strict sentences is counter productive and produces hardened criminals instead of reformed youth.
I personally believe that through the education of the next generation, the problem of violence would reduce.
Thanks Quraishy Sahib, Yes, if one puts the headline “Muslims burn cars” one wants to point out that they are burning cars because they are Muslims. Of course that is not the case. Muslim behavior on New Year’s eve would be to stay at home and pray to Allah for a blessed New Year (although personally I tend to favor the opinion that it is not the Islamic New Year and therefore of no special significance to Muslims).