Urban Jihad Waged by French Muslims Over Election of Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy

The Associated French Press (AFP) reports that in the wake of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential victory over the French socialist candidate Ségolène Royal, rioters have burned an average of 70 to 100 cars each night across France. The rioters are throwing beer cans, bottles, and stones at police, injuring several to date. Many of the rioters are from the immigrant enclaves in the Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse, Nantes and Rennes. The AFP describes Sarkozy as "a tough-talking former interior minister", who is "hated by the left and by many in the high-immigrant suburbs that exploded into riots in 2005 for his hard stance on law and order."

Nicolas Sarkozy's opponent, Ségolène Royal of the French Socialist Party predicted this violence before the election. She warned that if conservative Sarkozy was elected, France's minority youths might spill into to the streets as they did in 2005, torching cars and buildings. Royal, who has been criticized for signing a "Social Contract" with Muslim group Association Collectif Liberté Egalité Fraternité Ensemble, after the 2005 riots, said,

"Choosing Nicolas Sarkozy would be a dangerous choice."

"It is my responsibility today to alert people to the risk of (his) candidature with regards to the violence and brutality that would be unleashed in the country (if he won)," she said.

Even those closest to Sarkozy's conceded that there could be some car burning if he won the election.

Mohamed Hamidi, editor in chief of Bondy Blog, a fledgling online magazine focused on France's working-class suburbs told the International Herald Tribune on May 4, "If Sarkozy wins, I'm sure there'll be trouble the night of the elections." "With Ségo," he added, using Royal's nickname, "things will be calm for five years."

The Militant Islam Monitor provides background on the 2005 riots--

Last year France endured weeks of rioting by Muslim youths in an urban jihad which was spread throughout the country. Some of the more horrific incidents included a handicapped woman who was doused with lighter fluid and set alight and passengers who were burned in a bus that was firebombed. Thousands of cars were torched and millions of francs worth of property were destroyed. The threats by Muslims in France to become violent if their favored candidate loses shows how Islamist intimidation is beginning to shape public and political policies in the West and brings to mind the Socialist party victory in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings which had been intended to shift Spanish public opinion towards a candidate who would withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq.

The International Herald Tribune report explains what may have immigrants rioting in the streets this week--

Sarkozy said in his victory speech Sunday that his France will stand up against tyranny, dictators and fundamental Muslim oppression of women - a global vision more in line with U.S. President George W. Bush than Jacques Chirac, who defied Washington over Iraq and has been criticized for cozy ties with authoritarian rulers. Sarkozy has won the label "Sarko the American" for openly admiring the get-up-and-go spirit in the United States, and indicated that he would toe a less accommodating line toward the Arab world than his predecessors - whose close ties to the Middle East were rooted in France's past as a colonial power in the region.

The Herald Tribune reports that Sarkozy's not accommodating the Arab world also includes freeing French muslim women from burkas.

"France will not abandon women who are condemned to the burqa," the full head-and-body covering worn by women in Afghanistan and more pious Muslim women in Britain and elsewhere, he said, without elaborating on how that would translate into policy.

Sarkozy was a member of the government that instituted a law banning headscarves and other "ostentatious" religious apparel in classrooms.

In April 2007, Al Jazeera criticized Sarkozy's French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM).

CFCM was organized by Sarkozy when he was the Interior Minister of France to represent French Muslims in Parliament, but Al Jazeera reports, "Many Muslims see the body as interference by the state and are also uncomfortable with other aspects of Sarkozy's approach to their religion. A Muslim man stated to Al Jazeera: "The problem with the way Sarkozy created the CFCM is that he wanted to have control over a body tasked with organizing Muslims."

While the Muslim immigrants to France may have a problem with Sarkozy for many of these reasons, compelling some of them to riot in the streets, the International Herald Tribune Europe reports Sarkozy's track record and commitment regarding improving the lives of minorities.

His record, meanwhile, shows a clear commitment to improving the status of the country's minorities, most of whom are Muslim. He encouraged the creation of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, which gave Islam a voice in France. He appointed the first prefect in France who is both foreign-born and Muslim.

He has even argued for relaxing rules that restrict government support for building mosques.

And he believes in affirmative action, which the Socialists steadfastly oppose.

Sarkozy is generally unwelcome in most immigrant neighborhoods in France. He visited only one immigrant neighborhood during his campaign. Tensions have been high since the 2005 riots when he vowed to clean out a Paris suburb "with a Karcher," the brand name for a high-powered industrial pressure washer.

While Sarkozy may not be loved by all and even hated by many, the French have spoken through the ballot, not bowing to Muslim aggression. The mayor of immigrant-heavy suburb Montereau-Fault-Yonne and a staunch Sarkozy supporter summed it up nicely, "If the only reason to vote for Ségo (French Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal) is fear of trouble in the suburbs, then democracy is in trouble."

Maybe not in France after all.

Sources:

Fresh violence in France after Sarkozy election, Yahoo News, May 8, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070508/wl_afp/francevoteviolence_070508154040
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)

Sarkozy says no to dictators, yes to a more globally activist France, International Herald Tribune Europe, May 7, 2007, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/08/europe/EU-GEN-France-Sarkozys-World.php
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)

Sarkozy's Muslim group criticised , Al Jazeera, April 24, 2007. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/703A15AE-C915-489F-A575-3837269A1FDF.htm
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)

Muslims threaten riots if Sarkozy elected socialist candidate exploits fears of Islamist violence to garner votes, Militant Islam Monitor, May 4, 2007, http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2865
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)

Anger expected in suburbs if Sarkozy wins French election, International Herald Tribune Europe, May 4, 2007, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/04/europe/suburbs.php
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)

FRANCE'S ROYAL WARNS OF VIOLENCE IF SARKOZY WINS, The Astute Bloggers, May 4, 2007, http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/search/label/Segolene%20RoyalT
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)

he Outline of a French "Victims" Plan for a New World Order Après le Déluge, Pajamas Media, March 2, 2007, http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/03/paris_blues_segolene_royal_i_p.php
(nicolas sarkozy, segolene royal, France, Muslim, riots)