Muslim Violence in Paris Continues, Spreads to Other Cities

As the rampage continues in Paris' suburbs and has now spread to other cities, apologists in the news media are blaming the riots on unemployment and seeking new euphemisms to disguise the rioters' ethnicity and savagery. Meanwhile, French politicians try to decide how best to reward the rioters.

From CNN.com:

EPINAY-SUR-SEINE, France -- Violence erupted again in poor suburbs of Paris where youths torched buildings and dozens of cars and sporadic unrest spread in the early hours of Saturday to at least three other French cities.

Rioting by youths, many of whom are Muslims of North African or black African origin, has partly been stoked by their frustration at high unemployment and the perception they lack economic opportunities.

From the BBC:

Some 220 cars have been burnt on the ninth consecutive night of unrest in mainly immigrant-dominated areas near Paris, despite a heavy police presence.

Unrest has also spread to Rouen, Lille, Nice, Marseille and Toulouse.

"Unrest" seems like a quaint way to describe it, especially in light of this piece of brutality; from the Associated Press:

Attackers doused the woman, in her 50s and on crutches, with an inflammable liquid and set her afire as she tried to get off a bus in the suburb of Sevran Wednesday, judicial officials said. The bus had been forced to stop because of burning objects in its path. She was rescued by the driver and hospitalized with severe burns.

And finally, we have this, also from the BBC story:

On Friday, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met youths from urban areas hit by the unrest to discuss the crisis.

"We get the impression that we have been heard," Anyss, a student from Bondy, told AFP, adding that Mr de Villepin "was genuinely seeking to deal with the problems".

Good move. Make it absolutely clear that rioting and burning helpless people is the way to get what you want. Yep, that'll put a stop to it alright.