A Tale of Two... Three... Four Cities

Violence in Fréjus: Fire and Blood

There have been two nights of violence in the southern city of Fréjus (photo above). Numerous sources give accounts of the outbreak. First, Novopress:

For forty-eight hours, Fréjus has seen fire and blood after the death in an accident last Sunday of Mohamed el-Matari, a motorcyclist who was trying to avoid a police check (he was riding a 250 cm3 without a license plate). Very soon riots broke out in Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël. Some one hundred forty police, riot police and gendarmes were mobilized.

Multiethnic gangs repeatedly threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the police and firemen in the Gabelle ghetto in Fréjus. The deceased man's family challenges the official version of an accident. Regarding Mohamed el-Matari's attempted flight, one Abdelhaoui is quoted by Le Parisien on October 27 as saying: "You must understand. If Mohamed ran off like that, it is because with everything we've seen in the ghettos, ever since we were children, we're afraid of the police."

Burnt cars, beatings, drug trafficking... Is it the police who create fear in the explosive ghettos?

Regarding the second night of violence, Le Point reports:

Monday night into Tuesday was once again shaken by violence in Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël. (...) Groups of youths were dispersed by tear gas and by the arrival of a helicopter from the Gendarmerie equipped with an anti-riot projector and an infrared thermal camera capable of guiding the actions of the troops on the ground, according to the prefecture. Three cars were burned in the Gabelle ghetto and two others in Agachon (Saint-Raphaël). Two youths in possession of white spirit were arrested around 10:30 p.m.

Below, a photo of a sympathy march in Fréjus. "May God bless Mohamed" says the second line of the banner.


H/T: François Desouche


Violence in Le Havre: "Nothing Stops Them"

Here is an article from the local publication Paris-Normandie, dated October 26:

"You have to see them tear down the street at 100 km/hour, at the wheel of cars or at the handlebars of quads and motorcycles, honking to violate all rules of the road. You wonder why there aren't more accidents. They drive like madmen."

"They" refers to the young people that the inhabitants of the triangle formed by the neighborhoods of Aplemont, Frileuse and Sainte-Cécile can no longer put up with. The residents have had enough and want everyone to know it. But there is no way that they can say it openly, for fear of reprisals. Pretty houses, impeccable gardens, most have lived in this residential area for ten, even twenty years. They know how to preserve the village spirit. And yet behind this outwardly calm atmosphere lies a real malaise. The neighborhood has lost its quality of life. "We no longer feel safe in our homes. Their behavior on the roads is not the worst thing. Break-ins are on the rise as well as uncivil conduct. The deterioration began about two years ago, but it worsened this summer. We often hear about the bad neighborhoods of Le Havre, but no one can imagine what we put up with here."

Among themselves the residents paint a somber portait of the situation. "Every week we see the list of burglaries get longer." Some have lived through the trauma four times. "We quickly returned from our vacation only a week after we had left to find our house had been invaded." Fear eventually gripped the neighborhood. Almost all the houses have alarms, and iron bars protect garage doors. Residents keep their keys on them to ensure all entryways are locked. "We aren't at ease when we leave for work in the morning. Our front door could be broken into when we return. Even during the day, nothing stops them."

Note: This is all too familiar to Americans. We went through this long ago, throughout the 60s and 70's in the big cities, and then in the suburbs and rural areas. The French are now paying the price for decades of immigration.

In France, as here, the authorities make light of the situation, as the last part of the article illustrates:

The city authorities are not unaware of the problem. "We mustn't minimize the problem, but what is happening is not comparable to other more sensitive neighborhoods. It is normal, for those who have lived in greater peace, to become emotionally agitated by new phenomena," acknowledges Bertrand Binctin, the city official in charge of security. But he warns of the danger of irresponsible judgments. "The latest newcomers have become a scapegoat. These families are not necessarily responsible for the reported crimes", he says to tone down the effect, and he points to the efforts of the neighborhood police.

But will this police presence be enough to reassure the residents? Even though they would hate to do it, some are considering moving out.

Note: As we know here, this is how neighborhoods and entire cities go "down the tubes." People, justifiably afraid, leave. More and more thugs move in. And in short order, a once civilized existence is gone.

H/T: Le Salon Beige


60 Gangs in Paris

The following article from Novopress does not give information that is really new, but it is still worth repeating:

The Paris prefecture has created a law-enforcement section whose purpose is to fight the multiethnic gangs that proliferate in the capital. These gangs are responsible for assaults, murders (at least three, and ten wounded in 2009), drug trafficking and anti-white racism, as was the case during the latest Techno Parade.

The result of an inquiry shows that 60 gangs operate within the boundaries of Paris. René Bailly, head of intelligence for the Paris prefecture, estimates that the "primary motivation (of the gangs) is confrontation for the sake of confrontation". Around 1300 persons, accused of being gang members, have been arrested since the beginning of 2009. More than fifty percent of the time, a weapon is used by these multicultural groups. Three quarters of the gang members implicated in these crimes were minors. Notable also is the emergence of gangs of girls. When the uprooted populations become transformed into enraged gangs, it is the French who pay.


Tours - Being Blond Is Not Good

A post at François Desouche reveals the disintegration of tranquility in the city of Tours. Tours, as you may know, is (was?) a lovely city in the heart of the château country along the Loire River. How long before the châteaux themselves become the target of vandals? The post is a condensation of a series of articles at La Nouvelle République where readers send in their complaints:

First Marie-Claire writes: "I've been living here since 1973, and yes, it was much better before. The situation has been deteriorating for twenty years. (...) Come here after 6:00 p.m., come here over the week-end when you have to listen to the racket made by small motorcycles or quads. It's not for us to play at being gendarmes, or so we're told whenever we complain. It isn't yet Chicago, but it will be soon..."

Another reader who calls herself "a mother afraid for her son" narrates for us the daily life of an 18-year-old: "He cannot go out with his girlfriend without being hit by a volley of stones, insults, kicks in the back that make him fall of his motor bike. His motor bike was stolen from its parking place one Sunday afternoon (it's how he gets to work)...

We asked for a surveillance camera and some lighting because the entryway is deserted and dark, but nothing has been done as of now.

When he walks his dog at 11:00 p.m., the youths who squat in the entryway block the doors in such a way that he cannot get back in! These youths use the lobby of the building as a garbage dump and nonchalantly smoke their reefers. Many people watch, but no one dares say anything for fear of finding their car burnt! The police intervened. They began making rounds, so the youths changed their schedule and squat later.

It's a cosmopolitan group, of course, but they don't accept 'the Gauls or blonds'. It is no longer good to be a Frenchman in this neighborhood. I myself have been insulted. They are on 'their territory' as they say. Even some pizza shops in Tours are no longer willing to deliver." (...)

The mayor's assistant Gérard Gernot has said that the need for security in Tours "makes the prefect, who comes from the Parisian region, smile." To which a resident, Joël Guillemain retorts: "The voters who are victims of insults will certainly appreciate the sense of relativity of their elected official. Of course, things are always worse somewhere else, but that is precisely why we must look at what has happened to those big cities to learn how to proceed so that it doesn't happen here.

"Moreover, to say repeatedly that these problems are the work of a minority, and then to be incapable of neutralizing that minority, says a lot about the impotence of our society. Without demonizing an entire neighborhood, it's really too easy for these politicians who live in comfort in their peaceful neighborhoods to minimize these incidents."

Note: Several readers at François Desouche point out that these residents who complain elected a Socialist mayor, and therefore should not be surprised at the outcome. But an UMP mayor would be no better. As for a Front National mayor, there is little chance of that happening.

In the cartoon below, as her bag is stolen, the woman shouts: "Help! Help!" To which her husband replies: "Be quiet, you're playing into the hands of the Right!"