French "Youths"

Youths in France torched around 400 cars to herald in the New Year. Yes they are young, male, of African descent, and from the more impoverished areas of France. However the most important demographic to which the youths belong is their religion; Islam. In what many describe as the French Intifada Muslim youths are terrorizing neighborhoods throughout the country. Yet in what one can only describe as a sacrifice to the PC gods the fact that the rioters are Muslim is either buried or left out entirely in MSM reporting, when they bother to report at all. I did not hear of the New Years Eve torching from the MSM, I heard it from bloggers. Some MSM go so far as to embrace total denial, such as the New York Times (the violence in France has not taken on religious overtones ) and the Washington Post (Islamic ideology and leaders play no role in the disturbances, and many of those participating are not Muslim).

IRIS Blog shoots down such facile comments with hard evidence, read the whole thing but here are a few tidbits:

Hizbut Tehrir Behind French Intifada

All indicators point to the involvement of...the London-based Hizbut Tehrir (HT) in the violence by sections of angry Muslim youth....With the help of the sleeper cells, which the HT has already established in Paris and other parts of France for some months, they drew up plans for keeping the violence sustained in order to further radicalise and mobilise the youth....For this purpose, they exploited the already prevalent anger in the Muslim community of France....Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) in Pakistan has instructed its cells in France to assist the HT clandestinely as best as they can. Similarly, the Jamat-ul-Furqa (JUF)...has also asked its followers to assist the HT

Non-Muslims Beaten to Death

Cars were torched by thousands, local facilities like commercial arcades, schools, and metro stations were burned down, synagogues and churches were attacked, non-Muslims beaten to death, Molotov cocktails and firearms were used. The local powers that be, Islamist mafia-type thugs and networks, didn't want the French police back in their enclaves.

French Intelligence Estimates 40,000 Al-Qaeda Recruits Engaged in Paramilitary Training

Estimates vary as to the number of Muslims in France. The CIA's world factbook estimates it to be as high as six million. Other social scientists put the number as high as eight million. In 2004, French counter-intelligence estimated al-Qaida alone had 40,000 recruits in France that were engaged in paramilitary training.

That's half a percent of France's Muslim population, but it is apparent that many more are silent supporters -- or ad hoc co-operators, as many of the young rioters were. To call the riots spontaneous is to lie: Police discovered Molotov cocktail factories, and websites helped to co-ordinate the instigators in 300 cities and towns.

The Rioters Cite the "Disrespect" of France for Islam as Part of the Origin of their Revolt

Some on Left and Right were angered when police withdrew one evening last week from Clichy-sous-Bois, where the rioting started, in order to let Muslims keep the peace. “The supposed mediation of big brothers crying out Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) is one sign among many of the capitulation of the legitimate authorities,” said Bruno Gollnisch, a senior figure in Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front party.

Rioter on bin Laden: "He Gives Pride Back to the Muslims"

But he knows who his heroes are. ''Osama bin Laden and Rodney King," he said, referring to the Al Qaeda leader and the African-American whose videotaped beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 spawned massive racial riots.
''One because he gives pride back to the Muslims," the young man asserted as he and a trio of friends stood near the charred ruins of a carpet shop. ''The other because he was just a poor man, a 'nobody man' of color, but he caused a great city to burn."

Rioters Sparing Muslim-Owned Businesses

But - and this is the crucial difference between the generations of rioters - most of those living in the French ghettoes are Muslims and have grown up during a period of Islamic radicalization.
Many of the youths hurling petrol bombs on Parisian estates look up to a slightly older group of mosque stalwarts. These men are capable of being forces for both good and mischief; there have been examples from the past fortnight of situations calmed, but also of attackers acting under their direction, so that Muslim-owned businesses, a halal butcher's shop and a kebab joint, for example, are spared, while a bank branch and symbols of another France are targeted.

IRIS has tons more links to news stories, Islamic Web sites and op-eds that underscore the Islamic nature of the riots. Again, I have to get my news from bloggers, or at least let bloggers steer me to news sources that aren’t afraid to tell the truth.