Riots in France -- What to Do? Walter Laqueur Has Some Suggestions

There’s a fascinating new blog out there – one I highly recommend. It’s supported by Die Welt and titled “The Free West.” It is written by Dutch novelist, Leon deWinter, but recently features posts written by one of the most distinguished living historians, Walter Laqueur. Both are commenting extensively on the current crisis in Europe.

I have not commented on the Eurabian Intifada thus far because I have had a hard time figuring out why the riots are taking place. What is happening doesn’t fit easily into any of the standard templates we use to explain things. DeWinter explains:

The standard explanation is povery and unemployment. And it is of course true that the attacks came not on Boulevard St.Germain, nor in the 1th and 8th and 16th arrondissements but in the banlieue, “ la zone”—the outer suburbs. But it did not necessarily happen in the poorest places either….

Then it is said that it is all the fault of the government ( or governments), of many years of neglect. But in truth billions were invested in these suburbs and many of today's slums were reasonable, if not very beautiful, housing estates not that long ago...

Others say that it is all the result of unemployment and there is no denying that unemployment, especially of the young is very high, up to 40%. But—a curious fact:—Arab and African young women have no particular difficulty to find work, it is the problem of young males. Why?

How to explain that a great many of the Molotov cocktail throwers are thirteen and fourteen years old and for them the issue of unemployment cannot possibly be the decisive one.

Is it the negative impact of Islam? But many of the rioters are of West African origin and are not Muslims, and the young Muslims are not particularly religious, do not keep the religious commandments. They are sans foi et sans loi, as one of them put it—without respect for religion and the law.

Were the attacks systematic, planned and coordinated or were they spontaneous? This is not clear at all. There is no doubt that the “echo effect” played a role…, But some form of organization must have existed for even the production of the most primitive Molotov cocktails involves a certain amount of technical knowledge.

Why the concentration on cars and trucks? Well, the psychologists explain , a car is a status symbol , bombing a car expresses defiance of the establishment as well as envy.

This is all very well, except that they bombed also a great many schools , kindergarten, youth clubs and similar such places. According to observers not a few militants arrived on the scene on powerful motor bikes to carry out the torching—motor bikes which cost about as much as a second hand car.

Or was it perhaps the desire to have some fun and excitement with an admixture of the wish to cause destruction…?

I must confess, I'm just as confused as Leon deWinter. What is important right now, though, is not to understand the deep processes underlying the spreading civil unrest (that will be debated for decades), but to devise measures to contain it.

Professor Lacqueur notes that both the Euro- and the Islamic elites are failing to control, or for that matter even to comprehend, the developing crisis. This is beyond their understanding or experience. He suggests that after the restoration of order the French government undertake a program of "positive discrimination" [indistinguishable so far as I can see from America's "affirmative action" programs] and PC censorship that will eliminate from the language terms that offend Muslims.

As irritating and offensive as such programs have been in the US [and they certainly are], they have been an effective response to the urban disorder of the 1960's, which in many ways resembles what is going on in France today. These programs have promoted the creation of an ever-growing Black middle class that [importantly] is dependent on government action for its continued existence and therefore subject to government control. They have split the disaffected Black population along class lines and enlisted the Black middle class in an effort to promote responsible behavior among the Black lower classes. By enabling Black "race hustlers" like Jesse and Rev. Al to jerk around White dominated institutions almost at will, they have provided American Blacks with at least the illusion, if not the substance, of real power. The result has been to restore order and a degree of racial harmony to a nation that forty years ago seemed to be coming apart at the seams, as Europe does now.

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James Lileks feels much the same as do Mr. deWinter and I regarding the riots. He writes:

I’ve been hesitant to say boo about the French situation, since I actually think this is not Pure Undistilled Jihad-O-Rama, but something more complex; I mean, just because there’s an economic underclass aspect to it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have religious roots, but just because it does have religious roots doesn’t mean it’s not a blend of ethno-cultural identity politics mixed with racism and economics. Which doesn’t mean it’s not, etc. You can go on all day and settle nothing; meanwhile, cars burn. We are dealing with a Gordian Wad here. At least with a knot you can see the individual strands.

Of course, what seems complex and muddled to us is very clear to the rioters. They have the West’s number, and it’s pi: endlessly irresolute.

Read it here.

Of course, to an historian, confusion is a challenge. The French situation is more complex than any of the standard templates will allow, which makes it a challenge to our easy assumptions that we understand how the world works. Things that don't quite fit our preconceptions are valuable because, if we are serious about historical inquiry, they make us reconsider our cherished beliefs and search for better answers.