The Anger of the Suburbs - Report from France The Anger of the Suburbs by Laurent Mouloud Translated by Henry Crapo
l'Humanite - 2005/11/06 http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/ http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/pro/art.php?artid=426&PHPSESSID=8f9f788f44d 0f4d277f6f98078ccdcec [excerpt] Incidents continued these recent days in several cities, and have even spread outside the department of Seine-Saint-Denis. Our reports from Clichy-sous-Bois and Aulnay-sous- Bois show a real social exasperation of the youth. The Anger of the Suburbs "An immense hopelessness", sums up the situation, Vincent, 21 years of age. This was the week that flames rose in (the department of) Seine-Saint-Denis. Overnight Thursday-Friday at least 150 cars were destroyed by fire in this one department. There had been as many the night before. The death of two adolescents, electrocuted in a transformer enclosure of the EDF (public electricity company) in Clichy-sous- Bois, Thursday 27 October, after a police control, doubled by provocations by Nicolas Sarkozy, crystallized an anger that awaited only such a signal to awaken it. And started a veritable guerilla movement, the end of which one sees with difficulty. [Photo: Last Saturday, the people of Clichy joined in a silent march dedicated to Ziad and Bouna, whose deaths by electrocution provoked an explosion in neighborhoods where discrimination and misery rule.] Vincent is not surprised. He lived in Aulnay-sous-Bois, and knows Clichy-sous-Bois like the palm of his hand. For him, the observation is evident. "Everyone knows that misery reigns in these neighborhoods, and that they let the situation rot. Moreover, they make it worse every year. Do you expect that it won't explode? I don't approve of this violence, but I understand it." And this time, for sure, it's serious. Very serious. "It's been for years that certain have seen this coming. They're not going to sit by and watch the train pass. And don't believe that it's only delinquents in random violence. I have friends who were in the high- school movement last year, who were very disciplined, and now they're out burning cars! In their minds, this is a new way to continue the struggle. I believe there is here a new branching point, a breaking-off." Clichy-sous-Bois, example of a pauperized neighborhood These fires in the suburbs were just waiting to be set. Nicolas Sarkozy blew on the coals. His provocations awakened the memory of years of frustration, of more or less contained rage. There was this week of violence, which is unacceptable. But over and beyond this, there is a generalized feeling of having supported too much injustice. A packet of neighborhoods where the law has been social exclusion, discrimination, misery, as much economic as cultural. Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
