Rasha Saad examines the Paris riots which are being closely followed for their Arab and Islamic connection "The fires of wrath in the heart of Paris," the UAE newspaper Al-Bayan wrote in its front-page banner. Arab newspapers closely followed the riots sweeping across France, including the capital, for nearly two weeks following the electrocution of two teenagers of North African origin. Arab commentators insisted the seeds of wrath were deeply rooted in the Arab and African communities in France. The London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi wrote in its editorial, 'The plight of Muslim immigrants in France', "the Paris insurrection has shaken the French government and has created a state of lost confidence between the government and the immigrants, mostly Arab Muslims." This, the newspaper wrote, threatens to widen the scale of violence if not contained and its roots resolved. "It has ignited the growing frustration in the society of immigrants who are suffering from drastic living conditions." The editorial blamed both the French government and the rioters for the crisis. It called on the government to review its policies towards immigrants and rehabilitate them through serious programmes to integrate them in society. On the other hand it called on the leaders of the Arab Islamic associations in France to confront extremist groups which incite violence. "Violence, sabotage and the burning of cars are not a civilised way to express injustice. What has happened is, hopefully, an electric shock that will push both sides, French and immigrants, into examining the roots of the problem and engage in a real dialogue to find a genuine solution." The remarks by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in which he described rebellious youths as "rabble" was a major catalyst of the firestorm. "Sarkozy committed a major sin when he described rioters as rabble," the editorial in Al-Quds Al-Arabi wrote. It added that he should have worked to cool tempers and give statements that promise a better future. "While preserving security and the sovereignty of law are important, security answers alone are not enough. There are social, political and religious roots that caused the frustration and eventually led to the explosion." Wessam Saada in As-Safir blamed Sarkozy for much of the escalation. "Sarkozy bears maximum responsibility for the crisis. The scene of hundreds of burning cars indicates the futility of every policy that gives priority to only the criminal aspect of social and sectarian problems." Saada described what happened as civil strife facilitated by security flaws that has left entire neighbourhoods without one policeman and under the authority of drug dealers and criminals. "As security is sometimes missing in this social sectarian ghetto, here come the men of suppression in a restraint operation of a poor neighbourhood without distinguishing between the guilty and the innocent. For them they all have one feature and one dialect." Ahmed Al-Robei in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat put much of the blame on the immigrants. He wrote of the need to have an inter-dialogue among activists in Arab groups in France before they have a dialogue with the "other". "They [Arabs in France] should have a dialogue before speaking about a social crisis in the French community. "There are no powers that play the role of leadership and exercise restraint, and there are no real NGOs that can form and move public opinion within these minorities. The French of Arab origin have not organised themselves in a civilised way in order to realise achievements in political, economic, cultural and academic fields." Al-Robei called on French people of Arab origin "to act as French citizens and prove to the rest of the community that they are part and parcel of it." Abdel-Wahab Al-Afandi offered his personal experience living as an Arab Muslim in France. "The Intifada of the youth in Paris may have surprised the world but it did not surprise those who have seen matters on the ground in France," Al-Afandi wrote in Al-Quds Al-Arabi. "When it comes to French immigrants [of Arab-African dissent] their share of freedom is less than that of the average man, their share of equality much less, and their share of fraternity barely exists." Al-Afandi wrote that what shocked him most while living in France during the 1980s were the racist sentiments in the French community and in particular what seemed to him segregation in housing between immigrants and the rest of French citizenry. He was also shocked by the ease with which young immigrants, especially from North Africa, resort to violence. He said the circumstances might lead to another French revolution. "We might be witnessing today the real beginnings of a genuine French revolution that leads in reality and not metaphor to freedom, fraternity and equality." In the Jordanian newspaper Al-Raai Sultan Al-Hattab also predicted the emergence of another French revolution. "Is France living a new revolution and are the cries that surrounded the Bastille being renewed?"
