|
A Kurd, restaurant owner in Paris: I agrees with Mr.
Sarkozy tough language
10.11.2005
By TOD ROBBERSON |
|
|
|
Fed-up French insist
crackdown is overdue
Curfew quells riots as anti-immigrant sentiment
brews
PARIS - Fed up with television images of her
country in flames, Paris hairdresser Vesna Djoric
said it is time for the French to stop being so
tolerant of immigrant troublemakers and consider
replacing compassion with toughness.
"It's about time somebody said what we're all
thinking," Ms. Djoric said, adding that she fully
supported a recent call by the hard-line interior
minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, for France to "pump out"
its rioting "scum."
After nearly two weeks of nightly riots across the
country, France shows growing signs of an
anti-immigrant backlash as horrified citizens demand
a harsher crackdown on troublemakers. Some French
are warning that the country's current mood could
damage relations with Muslims and bolster support
for a right-wing extremist party.
Police said violence around the country, occurring
mainly in North African immigrant communities that
ring major urban centers, diminished considerably
after a new curfew went into effect late Tuesday,
enforced by more than 11,000 officers. Michel Gaudin,
director of the national police, told reporters that
the number of arson attacks on cars dropped by
almost half overnight to 617.
Mr. Sarkozy warned Wednesday that any foreigners,
whether here legally or illegally, who are convicted
of violating the curfew would be expelled from the
country "without delay."
Mr. Sarkozy is expected to challenge his rival,
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, in
presidential elections in 2007. In contrast to Mr.
Sarkozy, the prime minister has called for measures
to create jobs, reduce discrimination and address
concerns among immigrants that they are being
neglected. Some critics say Mr. de Villepin is being
too conciliatory.
In well-to-do neighborhoods of central Paris,
shopkeepers and residents offered high praise for
the combative interior minister.
"He's right to speak out. Sarkozy says what everyone
else feels but is too afraid to say," Ms. Djoric
said. "It's time to get tough, but I'm afraid that a
bigger explosion might be coming. These people are
like mad dogs. Sometimes a little poke can make them
attack."
Most back crackdown
In a poll published by the newspaper Le Parisien, 73
percent of respondents backed the government's new
get-tough measures to halt firebomb attacks by
rioting gangs of youths. The French Riviera city of
Nice joined a growing number of municipalities
imposing emergency measures.
"The government needs to take stronger action. These
are delinquents and drug dealers, and Sarkozy is
right to say it. You have to call a cat a cat," said
a Paris pharmacist who would identify himself only
as Mr. Parienti. "Their problem is they don't want
to integrate into our society. They think they can
live here and maintain their own culture apart from
ours."
Even though central Paris has largely been spared
from attack over the past two weeks, residents said
they are still taking precautions.
"We wanted to decorate our store with big,
gift-wrapped boxes for the Christmas season, but we
don't dare. They might set fire to them," said
Nathalie Normand, a clerk at an eastern Paris toy
store.
"After 5 or 6 at night, most women won't go out on
the streets," she added. "I won't drive my car to
work now because I'm afraid they'll burn it when I
drive home."
Ms. Normand disagreed with Mr. Sarkozy's use of the
word "scum" to describe the rioters but said she
approved of his overall response, especially
concerning measures that would reduce the growing
immigrant population and help cut the nation's
double-digit unemployment rate.
"French fathers and mothers are going jobless while
employers give jobs to the immigrants. We need a
French-first policy when it comes to jobs," she
said. "I think Europe in general has been far too
liberal in opening its borders. They need to make a
rule: If you don't have a work agreement with a
specific company, you can't come in."
'Point of no return'
Marie Sirra, a janitor who lives in a northwestern
suburb afflicted by the violence, expressed horror
at such sentiments.
"My biggest fear is that all of this is going to
give more power to the right wing," she said,
referring to the National Front, a white-only party
that advocates expulsion of foreigners.
"I'm afraid we've reached the point of no return.
This could be like a civil war if we keep going in
this direction," Ms. Sirra added.
Writing in the French daily Le Figaro, international
affairs specialist André Grjebine warned that
Islamist gangs are using the violence to recruit
members in the suburbs, while mainstream French
citizens appear to be losing patience with what they
see as a threat to their way of life.
"Intolerance and aggression toward immigrants could
grow, as will voter support for the extreme
right-wing party in the next election," Mr. Grjebine
wrote.
Members of the National Front staged a small
demonstration Wednesday in Paris, unveiling a new
campaign with T-shirts declaring, "France: Love it
or leave it." The party shocked the French political
establishment when its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen,
won 17 percent of votes in the first round of
presidential elections in 2002, only 3 percentage
points behind incumbent President Jacques Chirac.
The backlash was not limited to white
French Christians. In the Paris suburb of
Aulnay-Sous-Bois, a Turkish Kurd restaurant owner
who identified himself only as Ali said he agrees
with Mr. Sarkozy's tough language.
"I work for a living. When I see these immigrant
kids outside smoking marijuana late at night, I
can't help but wonder: Where are their parents, and
why aren't these boys at home?" he said. "We're
living in fear because they think it's their right
to roam the streets. In a democracy, it's not
supposed to be like this."
www.dallasnews.com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 