The killing of Nahel Merzouk by a French police officer on June 27th sparked France’s worst riots since 2005: more than 1,000 buildings and more than 5,000 cars were set on fire – costing businesses more than €1 billion in damage. This is similar to the total cost of the George Floyd riots in the U.S. – although those riots lasted 13 days rather than eight, and the U.S. is a much bigger country.
Much has been written about the causes of the riots and how the Government should respond to them. But what do the French people think? Thanks to a major new poll commissioned by the centre-Right newspaper Le Figaro, we now have some idea. (The results are all in French, but I used Google to translate them.)
Respondents were asked what feelings did the riots “provoke in you”. 89% said “concern for the future of France”, 84% said “anger” and 66% said “fear”. By contrast, only 21% said “understanding” and just 14% said “support”. So the vast majority of French are not sympathetic to the rioters.
Results broken down by party are shown below. (I put ‘far Left’ and ‘far Right’ in speech marks because I realise these labels are contested. The ‘far Left’ is the La France Insoumise group, while the ‘far Right’ is the Rassemblement National.)
Interestingly, the only party where there is substantial support for the rioters is the ‘far Left’ – though even here, it amounts to less than half of voters. What’s also interesting is that Macron’s voters look very similar to Republican voters and those who vote ‘far Right’. All three groups show substantial anger, and none shows much understanding or support for the rioters.
Respondents were also asked what “explains the riots in the suburbs”. 62% said “the rise of crime” (which seems somewhat tautological) and 47% said “the disappearance of authority”. By contrast, only 17% said “the attitude of the police” and just 11% said “the feeling of exclusion” – though 25% did say “economic and social difficulties”. So only a small minority of French believe the riots were caused by police brutality and social exclusion.
When asked “are you satisfied or dissatisfied” with the action of the Government and the police, respondents were far more satisfied with the police. 64% said “rather or very satisfied” when asked about the police, but only 27% did so when asked about the Government.
What’s more, most respondents endorsed quite heavy-handed measures for dealing with rioters. 77% supported “financially sanctioning” the families of those who are minors, 75% supported “depriving French nationality” to those who are dual nationals and 69% supported “cutting off social media” in the event of future riots.
These findings will make painful reading for the Left-wing journalists and politicians who’ve been claiming the riots were all the fault of the police for being racist and violent towards minorities. The public aren’t buying it: they want more policing, not less.
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Patently obvious who’s at fault and who the culprits were, despite desperate attempts to blatantly lie and insult the public’s intelligence. And it’s not like any of this wasn’t entirely foreseeable either;
”Pierre Brochand was head of France’s DGSE counter-intelligence agency from 2002 to 2008. Since 2019, he has made repeated calls for a radical change in his country’s immigration policy over what he says is the looming threat of civil war.
In a discussion about immigration on the public radio station France Culture last April, Brochand issued a warning which found its full expression in the week of violent rioting and looting that took hold of France after the shooting of a teenager of Algerian origin on June 27:
“If we do nothing or if we do little, we are going to head either towards a progressive implosion of social trust in France, that is to say towards a society where the quality of life will collapse and where it will be less and less pleasant to live, or, by successive explosions, towards confrontations that will make France a country where one will not be able to live at all.”
The least that can be said is that the former counter-intelligence chief’s analysis stands in sharp contrast to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin’s own analysis made in the National Assembly on July 5. According to Darmanin, the riots of the previous days are not linked to immigration as “only” 10 percent of the rioters were foreigners.
In Darmanin’s eyes, the non-White youth that caused mayhem on the streets of France for days, often invoking the Quran and the name of Allah, have no link to immigration as they are French citizens. The French minister contradicted himself, however, saying that as the average age of rioters was 17, they were born under the presidency of Jacques Chirac, and it is too late to control immigration anyway.”
https://rmx.news/france/former-head-of-french-counter-intelligence-agency-blasts-decades-of-mass-colonizing-immigration/
Interesting chat at end of yesterday’s MD4CE meeting re France & the riots. Evidence points to it being a US/UK attack on Macron for daring to stray from the NATO & economic agenda by talking about contacting Putin, mentioning NATO expansion causing security problems for Russia, meeting Xi in China & signing numerous trade deals, wanting to engage with BRICS.
Funny how things calmed down suddenly when Macron did a reverse on the above….
…Macron has also spoken out about NATO …(note….North Atlantic….)
opening an office in Japan..(note …. nowhere near the North Atlantic…)
Of course this is being pushed by the USA, and is for ‘defence purposes only ™️’ and in ‘no way provocative™️’
So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if USAID slipped a bit of money to the rioters to keep them going…..
That is interesting. I hadn’t heard that take on it. Does it not sound a bit too far-fetched to you though?
It came from a Frenchman called Alex Krainer who has written books on the international political cabal – far better informed than I am to comment!
Many thanks for this. The most telling of your excellent remarks is on that idiot Darmanin, clearly parroting a comfort-blanket theory that these migrant-descended thugs are “French”, when by any genuine measure of successful assimilation they are not.
And yes, to all those still “liberal” righties out there, it does raise Powellite questions as to how far the assimilation process can cover massive differences in religion, culture, ethnicity and appearance.
I don’t think it can – especially within an “old world” context, for societies across Eurasia were based on slow ethno-cultural development and deep ethno-cultural loyalty. Just shoving that aside was the act of abstract, oppressive and – above all – revolutionary theorists.
It might have worked in America, had America still insisted on all those pesky “white” concepts such as legality and equality before the law, etc – but under the fatal lure of ethnic solidarity even that is breaking down.
True, it is the all powerful left which, in its hubris and insanity, began tugging at the ethnic thread, but this manoeuvre could only have been successful had the thread been central – and very loose – in the first place.
Some Tacitus or Gibbon of the future will see the seeds of western downfall in the post-war decision to import the peoples of our empires even as we relinquished control over their homelands.
Very well put
Many thanks.
Strange, I thought the catalyst for the riots was a police officer shooting from point blank range an unarmed teenager.
Ah!
You get your news from the BBC!
Well to be fair Noah Carl writes above ‘The killing of Nahel Merzouk by a French police officer on June 27th sparked France’s worst riots since 2005’. Isn’t Le Figaro a mainstream media publication?
“Never believe anything that you hear and only half of what you see”.. Richard D Hall..
The worlds a stage, and those that don’t know that are unable to see the actors..
Not sure what your point is. The event you mention did indeed trigger the current wave of violence. That’s not in dispute. What’s much more interesting is what are the underlying causes and what if anything can be done about it. The starting point for that discussion probably isn’t whatever happened to spark this particular set of unrest.
I disagree, I think the starting point is what happened.
Please explain further. For example, do you think that if we eliminate incidents of this kind (not a realistic goal, IMO) then there will be no more riots? If so, I doubt that’s the case.
No, I don’t believe that. However, with regard to these riots, we know poor relations between police and the local population have led to riots in other places and at other times. For example, quite recently in Cardiff. The survey covered the whole of France, so perhaps relations with police in other parts of France are more harmonious. Survey responses by area might be interesting.
Explanations for copycat riots in other countries, if they were linked, would require a different starting point. I give you that.
What might lead to poor relations between police and the local population?
Well, I don’t think shooting unarmed people helps maintain good relations. Good question though.
Police in all countries and throughout the ages overstep the mark, sometimes. It’s inevitable. There are not always riots. The police issue is a red herring, or if there are poor relations the issue isn’t the police but goes much deeper than that. The police are at the sharp end. There would probably be poor relations with white French people but they’ve all moved away.
Even if events happened as the officer said, and it was an accident because his gun was pointing to the victim’s leg, why did he have live rounds and not just rubber bullets ( if anything at all ) but also why was the safety off? Somebody of his experience doesn’t just make rookie mistakes. If the safety was on the gun then it wouldn’t have fired in error. Something doesn’t add up because nor do I believe the officer would basically not just condemn himself but ruin his family’s relatively safe existence. They’re going to have to move and maybe even go under witness protection presumably. Mistakes happen but none of the scenarios really add up to my mind. Trigger happy police with live rounds pointing a gun at a kid with the safety off at close range? C’mon, this doesn’t sit right.
Rubber bullets aren’t alternatives to “live rounds”: they’re fired from completely different weapons and are much larger.
There’s no point in having a handgun that isn’t loaded with real ammunition.
But why did the guy have a loaded gun in the first place? I can imagine once the riots all kicked off and the place was teeming with violent nutters, attacking people left, right and centre, then it would be justified, but this was obviously *before* the riots because it was the whole reason things kicked off in the first place. No loaded gun = no death = no riots. Why can’t they just carry tasers like they do over here? They could’ve disabled the lad, arrested him, job done.
At best, the catalyst for these riots where people believing that that’s all what police officers ever do, ie, that policemen are essentially criminal tugs terrorizing an always peaceful and law abiding population. As usual, that’s a political opinion championed by (elements of) the US democrats and it’s usually not consistent with reality.
Wasn’t the shot fired because the youth ignored the order to stop? And isn’t proper firearms training in France only given to the Gendarmerie Nationale?
Simples. Musulmans, Blacks, Africans. They rioted, rebelled, looted and burned.
Over a year ago a 12 year old white girl was raped by an illegal Algerian Mahometan, killed, dismembered with her pieces shoved into a suitcase. I don’t recall riots, looting, plundering, fake news coverage or even a political speech on the murder. Nothing.
I’m so glad you said that Ferd.. there’s just so much bullsh1t flying around trying to justify the riots and violence here in France. I for one am sick of the lies being propagated daily by the likes of the BBC and Guardian.. to name just two in the UK..
Possibly due to my bias, plus the sources I seek out for info, which reinforce said bias, but I’m unaware of any Muslims actually condemning the atrocious behaviour and violent acts in France. Do you know of anyone who’s spoken out from the Muslim community against the riots? Certainly after terrorist attacks they’re all falling over themselves to condemn the act and distance themselves from something so heinous, always reiterating that Islam is referred to ( laughably ) as ”the religion of peace”, but I’m hearing radio silence in the context of the recent violence. France is heading towards being a dual-state country, which means constant tension and anything, small or serious, such as this recent fatal shooting, will just ignite the powder keg all over again. How on earth does such a situation get remedied, because we know there will certainly be a next time. Not ‘if’ but ‘when’.
You’re right.. apart from the odd murmur the silence is deafening from Muslim leaders. The Muslims by the way are just useful tools in this.
What needs exposing is who is really responsible for this massive influx of migrants into Europe. The politicians and EU.. yes.. but there’s a far greater power than that of the useful idiot politicians.
Something called the Kalergi Plan for a start, and then there are its handlers spreading the message. A good example is Barbara Lerner Specter.. a more hate filled woman you couldn’t wish to meet. But of course, criticising the likes of Spectre is dangerous because she’s Jewish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G45WthPTo24
With a little critical thinking its not hard to see whose really behind the Great Replacement..
I’d suggest reading a few comments on Barbara Spectres YouTube interview.. the majority are well clued up on this satanic emissary.. you’ll never ever hear our political class criticise her though..
Yes..I don’t know how the death of a young man, in what appears to be tragic circumstances…leads to the rest…
You can have sympathy and understanding for one, while very much being unconvinced it’s an excuse for riots, damage and thefts….
….this is the opinion of the Imam of Peace….
https://rumble.com/v2xw0pu-even-the-imam-of-peace-had-warned-about-musiim-migrants-in-europe.html
And just for the sake of balance and seeking out the Muslim perspective on all of this, here are several outspoken people completely justifying what has happened, mostly from a very warped, historical context. Although what happened to that 17yr old was a genuine tragedy, these people needed no encouragement whatsoever to behave as they did;
”In a video titled “France is burning due to Macron’s racist policies,” Algerian political commentator and former diplomat Mohamed Larbi Zitout claimed that the riots were a result of France’s systematic provocations and hostility towards Islam, and referred to the death of teenager as the “the final straw that broke the camel’s back.”
In the video, which was posted on July 1, 2023, he stressed that French politicians should understand that anyone who challenges Islam by expressing hostility towards it will be defeated. After accusing France of extreme hostility towards Islam and Muslims with a widespread “colonial mentality” among lawmakers, he noted that he realized that many Muslims who live in France have celebrated and rejoiced over the riots because “they believe that the rioters are avenging them, and they believe that the reactions of the rioters is rational against humiliation, oppression and hostility.”
”U.K-based Algerian TV host and producer Hafsi Ahmed reiterated Nhari’s point on June 29, 2023, expressing his support for the riots in a tweet he shared with his 20,000+ followers using hashtags “Racist France” and “France is Burning.” He wrote: “France will pay the price for plundering Africa’s wealth, within its own borders. Here are scenes showing what happened to a series of ZARA stores. Note: Anything is permissible, and we even support it. Those who have admonitions and slogans of the Republic of Plato should keep them to themselves.”
https://www.memri.org/reports/arab-commentators-muslim-clerics-call-frances-riots-divine-punishment-its-anti-islam
Muslim leaders certainly prefer plundering Africa themselves as they have done – not the least by centuries of hunting for slaves – ever since they arrived there as an alien invasion force around the year 640 AD.
Whom Do French People Blame for the Rioting?
Good to see Noah (correctly) using ‘whom’ rather than ‘who’.
The nations of the west, not just France, are being completely destabilised by mass immigration by people from very different cultures who do not wish to assimilate.
France is just further along the road towards civil unrest than others although the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany aren’t very far behind.
It’s a deliberate policy by the Globalists: create a situation of chaos and violence ….. and then the authoritarian policies to control it will follow ….. with the support of those terrified by the violence.
Over on our side of La Manche I’d be happy to see some robust policing, rather than the non- policing that’s the norm.