Chirac Demands End of French Intifada - Sort of

The deteriorating conditions of the French Intifada have even gotten the attention of a French leader who in the past has been most reluctant to use force against terrorism, President Jacques Chirac:

Chirac

President Chirac stated that the violence could not be allowed to continue:

That Chirac intervened personally was a measure of the crisis. He acknowledged the "profound frustrations" of troubled neighborhoods but said violence was not the answer and that efforts must be stepped up to combat it. "Zones without law cannot exist in the republic," the French leader said.

Before you decide that Chirac has woken up to the dangers of extreme Islamic Militants, in this case within the borders of his own country, don’t draw that conclusion too quickly. The Emperor has not put his fiddle down just yet:

"If French society accepts that there are tinderboxes within its borders, it can't be surprised when they explode," he said.

So in the end Chirac seems to be saying that he wants the Intifada to end but he understands that their grievances might boil over into rioting and manifest itself into the current French Intifada. They have justifiable grievances that logically could end up being displayed in this manner. Ah, that understanding French element of foreign – rather domestic policy. Not exactly a strong, measured and confident demand to end the Intifada and restore law and order to the French suburbs………………………………………….

Some might say that it’s a stretch to label what’s going on in the Paris suburbs the “French Intifada. I don’t think it’s a stretch at all when you read things like this:

The violence, sparked initially by the deaths of two teenagers, has exposed the despair, anger and deep-rooted criminality in the poor suburbs, where police hesitate to venture and which have proved fertile terrain for Islamic extremists.

Sounds a lot like Gaza and the West Bank to me…………………………………………….