Bastille Day, the day the French manifest the spirit of Republican France and celebrate French Republican values.
200 CARS SET ON FIRE IN
BASTILLE DAY VIOLENCE
PARIS, July 14 (AFP) - Violence that spilled over from France's Bastille Day celebrations saw about 200 cars set on fire, dozens detained and clashes between youths and security forces, police said Thursday.Most of the incidents happened in the greater Paris region Wednesday night as the French began festivities for the country's July 14 national holiday.
Clashes between youths and police in the suburbs of Paris saw police use shoulder-held grenade launchers. One police officer was injured and taken to hospital.
The door of a synagogue in Stains, a suburb north of Paris, was damaged by a Molotov cocktail.
Police called to deal with a car fire in Etampes in the Essone region south of Paris were met by stone-throwers.
Burning cars and rioting are fun French Republican traditions. In a land where everything is peachy the traditional torching of French metropolitan centers gives Frenchmen pause to be grateful that France is not some economically stalled, poorly thought of, and wholly ineffectual sideshow among the community of nations. Imagine if French rioters were discontented beyond the confines of holiday tradition.
Imagine if Frenchies wished to give a good impression of France. But then if you are French, why care about any opinion other than your own?
PFFT (What is this?): Good French fun 4 | Republican values 5 | Rayonnement français 0
Back in Detroit, there is/was a tradition on the night before Halloween to go out and firebomb houses, cars, and generally riot. Some people took hotel rooms at the RenCen in order to watch the fires and police/fire vehicles going around the city.
Paul,
We would make the following distinctions:
1. The traditions of Devil's Night are unique to Detroit. And the comportment of the citizens of Detroit is local, not national. The French rioting has a more general national character.
2. The French rioting is associated with and triggered by the fête nationale, which has everything to do with the establishment of modern France. Halloween does not speak to the founding of the United States.
3. Rioting in America, Detroit notwithstanding, is exceptional. Rioting in France is a commonplace of political expression.
4. When making a case for equivalence, the American examples need to be at the same scale as the French, France being 1/5 the population and 1/18 the geography of America. To achieve parity with French rioting would require several American urban centers, coast to coast, to join in the Detroit fun.
5. And finally, unlike the French who tolerate rioting leaving the gendarmes and pompiers to deal with it, Detroit's citizens organized a volunteer effort to fight Halloween rioting called Angel's Night.
Regards,
DGB
Nice dodging, Damian.
Hoodlums everywhere use mass celebrations to vent their stupid tendencies. We've seen it in the UK at football matches and in the US, where Halloween night is no different. Finally, if you want to compare the rate of violent crime between the US and France, be my guest.
"Rioting in France is a commonplace of political expression."
Any relevant recent examples?
M. Zmx,
Happy belated Bastille Day, or if memory serves, fête nationale is your preferred styling. We are in agreement with you regarding hooliganism, whether American, British, or, as here, French. A dodge would be inconsistent with our condemnation. Were the above distinctions lost on you?
As for recent examples, how disappointing a request. Pave had counted you among its regulars, which would mean you were better informed about French rioting than you appear to be. But of course you enjoy having us do your research. Beside the current item, here is a sampling:
January 1, 1998: Jack used the occasion to remark: "There is too much violence in our country, too much insecurity - in the schools, on public transport. Every day new limits are broken beyond which our society will disintegrate."
March 16, 2002: "But for a third straight day, Spanish police at the border with France turned back cars and buses with people whom they suspected were planning to join Saturday's march."
March 8, 2005: "The eyewitness accounts of victims, teachers, and most interestingly the attackers themselves gathered by the left-wing daily Le Monde confirm the motivation: racism. Some of the attackers openly expressed their hatred of 'little French people.' ... The general sentiment was a desire to 'take revenge on whites.'"
Now, M. Zmx, none of this is news to you. And if it is, go do some homework.
Regards,
DGB
Hi Damian,
I wasn't making any kind of equivalence at all, or perhaps just that some people take any excuse to riot. Heck Deetroiters even rioted when they last won the baseball World Series, 2-3 people died. The best view of Deeeetroit is in the rear-view mirror, getting smaller by the minute. Are you from around there?
Paul
Paul,
My acquaintance with Detroit is limited to briefly passing through its airport on two occasions. I understand that it was once a great and vital city though sadly declined today.
Regards,
DGB
