French riots still making headlines in US press

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (AFP) – The riots in France remained on the front page of major US newspapers Wednesday, with some saying that the unrest was a wake-up call for Europe and others warning that extremists are exploiting the violence.

The conservative Washington Times said that while the street riots did not appear to be instigated by overseas terrorists “there are growing fears that Islamic extremists are exploiting the unrest”.

An opinion piece in USA Today newspaper said the “civil disobedience should serve as lessons to neighboring countries on how not to treat a minority population”.

“If France wants to avoid paying for past mistakes in a wider European intifada (…), its leaders must do more to provide immigrant citizens greater equality in terms of job opportunities, civil liberties and education,” the article said.

The New York Times and Washington Post also gave widespread coverage to the riots.

In addition to a news article on the unrest, the Post carried three commentaries about the violence, one of which bluntly said that the French should clean up their own backyard before criticizing Americans.

“We could (…) help them shatter the myth that they live in an enlightened society, insulated from racial tension, by mass-mailing them copies of Le Monde with the word ‘America’ crossed out in all editorials and the word ‘France’ substituted instead,” the commentary by Anne Applebaum said.

The New York Times for its part ran a front-page article and two opinion pieces on the violence Wednesday, one of which warned that America “should take little pleasure in France’s agony — the struggle to integrate an angry underclass is one shared across the Western world.”

Subject: French news