Riots in France

Thanks nimh, had some difficulty with the big foreign words.

Molly Moore's piece is evidence for nothing at all except as we say in these parts, the bleeding obvious.

Fundamentalism in French Workplace


Private employers wrestle with expressions of Islam, while study alleges criminal links.

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This is exactly the **** what I said.

On a more sinister level, the study asserts that Islamic networks are trying to establish a presence in firms involved in sectors such as security, cargo, armored cars, courier services and transportation. Once they gain a foothold, operatives raise funds for militants via theft, embezzlement and robbery, the study alleges.

"Parallel to these sect-like risks, the spread of criminal practices has been detected in the heart of companies [with] two goals: crime using Islam as a pretext; and in addition, local financing of terrorism," concludes the study by the Center for Intelligence Research in Paris.

[...]
Conversions also result from militant recruiting in workplacesSome were concerned about being called racists."

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I can understand that. I said the same thing this article does--and was called xenophobic and the usual litany...

Denece's study cites a case examined in 2004 by Renseignements Generaux, the domestic intelligence agency, involving the discovery of "about 10 clandestine prayer rooms" on the grounds of Euro Disney.

"I thought it was exaggerated to talk about prayer rooms," Boterman said. "During Ramadan, they took a few minutes to pray somewhere. We made it clear that we thought the work floor was not the place to express your personal religion."

The report describes a case in which police investigated a cargo company at Charles de Gaulle International Airport with about 3,000 employees. Managers complained that a small group of radicals had tried to gain influence by preaching to co-workers and threatening repeated strikes. Some of the activists "expressed satisfaction" with the Sept. 11 attacks, the report says.

The French intelligence official confirmed that authorities closely monitor the notable presence of Muslim fundamentalists among the many immigrant employees at the airport.

In 2002, a 27-year-old systems engineer working in the airport's control tower was abruptly barred from secure areas. Police had discovered that he was a devout disciple of a radical imam and frequented militant mosques here, in his native Morocco and in the Middle East. The Iraqi-born imam is now under house arrest, accused of hate speech.

"There are worries about the presence of extremists at the airport," the intelligence official said. "There was no link found to violent jihad groups, but [the engineer] was certainly very active in a fundamentalist movement with anti-Western, anti-American ideas. Because of the particularly sensitive job he had, a decision was made, in the name of caution, to reassign him."

Nonetheless, the intelligence official took issue with parts of the think tank report. Hard-core networks often finance themselves through small businesses and the underworld, he said.

"The most radical extremists tend to exclude themselves from corporate employment because of their dress, their behavior," the intelligence official said. "They have to resort to small business, the ethnic economy. A lot of financing comes from traffic in fake papers and armed robbery."

In fact, Denece also discusses the emergence of "gangsterrorism," in which extremists team with mafias for mutual gain. But the private sector faces a more subtle and slippery challenge from nonviolent militants, the report says.

Executives say pressure groups in supermarkets and other companies advance oppressive ideological agendas: They pressure co-workers to wear religious garb, defy the authority of female managers and demand boycotts of products such as alcohol, pork, Israeli oranges and American brownies, Denece said.

"For French companies, the rise in power of radical Islam represents a new threat," the report states. "This trend expresses above all a move to take control of behavior and ideas of other workers in order to impose a value system conforming to extremist ideology."

Who actually - besides me - did read that report? (Le développement de l'islam fondamentaliste en france : aspects sécuritaires, économiques et sociaux

Interesting as well Eric Denécé's opinion re the London attack and if such could happen in France, connections etc: «Si les Anglais n'ont pas prévu ces attentats, probablement personne d'autre n'aurait pu le faire»

Nevertheless, Denéc' is not only a strong anti-communist/anti-socialist but a well known Islamophobic

The summaries are for those who dont want to read the whole thing, duh. You copy-paste a whole article, noone reads it. Its a kind of teaser to pull you in. Also service to the public, kinda (arent people railing about integral copy/pastes all the time?) - you can quickly check whether theres something in it for you.

nimh wrote:

The summaries are for those who dont want to read the whole thing, duh. You copy-paste a whole article, noone reads it. Its a kind of teaser to pull you in. Also service to the public, kinda (arent people railing about integral copy/pastes all the time?) - you can quickly check whether theres something in it for you.

the summaries are for me to read at work while I'm listening to people fuss on the phone

the original/full articles are to read when I get home - if I'm still keen

so - thank you!

France on New Year alert for renewed bout of riots

By John Lichfield
Published: 31 December 2005

Sales of petrol in cans have been banned in Paris and other French cities as France prepares for a possible New Year's Eve resurgence of last month's suburban riots.

Violence and car burning on 31 December has become a macabre tradition in France in recent years. The authorities fear that multiracial gangs of youths in poor suburbs may use the festivities tonight to resume the violent confrontations which destroyed 12,000 cars and scores of public buildings in November.

New Year's Eve is one of the nights when young people from the deprived suburbs traditionally pour into Paris, taunting police and causing minor scuffles. More than 4,500 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilised to protect the capital, especially the Avenue des Champs Elysées, where large crowds of Parisians and tourists are expected to gather to welcome 2006. Although the authorities have said they have no firm warnings of any plans to foment violence, there will be a heavy police presence at the suburban stations of the Metro and the RER regional train network. Any groups of youths heading towards central Paris will be watched closely and denied access to the city if necessary.

All sales of petrol in cans have been banned in Paris and many other areas of France in an attempt to prevent a reprise of the orgy of random car burning which marked the riots in November. On New Year's Eve last year, 330 cars were set on fire across France. This compares with an average of 100 cars burnt on a "normal" day in the country. At the height of last month's riots, 2,400 cars were burnt in one night.

The Paris Préfecture de Police said its officers would be ordered to avoid unnecessary confrontation but would be expected "to dissuade and repress" all acts of violence. This might involve taking pre-emptive action if necessary.

The Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who was blamed by some for provoking last month's riots by describing violent, suburban gangs as "scum", will take personal command of the security arrangements in the capital. He will be spending most of tonight in the Centre Opérationnel, incident control room, at the ministry. M. Sarkozy is expected to make a public appearance (televised, no doubt) at a place of heightened tension some time during the evening.

The November riots were provoked by the deaths of two teenagers who had climbed into an electricity sub-station to try to escape a police check.

Since the violence subsided, France has examined its national conscience on the racism, social exclusion and poor education faced by many young people living in the multiracial banlieues, or suburbs, of French towns and cities. The riots have also led to a new political awareness in the suburbs themselves. According to a survey conducted by the newspaper Le Monde, town halls in poor suburbs have been besieged by young people wanting to register to vote before the next presidential election in 2007.

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Sales of petrol cans have been banned in Paris....

On New Year's Eve last year, 330 cars were set on fire across France. This compares with an average of 100 cars burnt on a "normal" day in the country. At the height of last month's riots, 2,400 cars were burnt in one night.

Poor France.

Poor France.

Thank you, JW, for your heartfelt concern...

You can be glad that you don't know such violance in the USA.