In a commentary on the riots and riots in France’s capital, it says: “Paris must burn”! I’M SORRY, WHAT?

In the article “Youth protests in France: You have no choice,” author Mohamed Amjahid (35) puts forward remarkable theses about the serious riots in the neighboring country.

Amjahid writes, for example: “The images of the burning cars, the firecrackers being fired at the state power, act like a fragile life insurance for the racialized youth of France.”

Violence, riots and arson as “life insurance” for the perpetrators? Amjahid obviously means this completely seriously!

He writes: “In other countries, too, police stations have had to go up in flames in recent years to give the weakest a chance of survival. Very few understand this connection between mobilization and self-protection.”

In fact, only very few are likely to “understand” why the burning (!) of police stations and attacking police officers serves the “self-protection” and “survival” of the violent perpetrators.

But Amjahid adds: “Purely analytically and from the perspective of the demonstrators: Paris must burn so that something can be done about police violence in the country, at least in the short term.”

“Paris must burn”? An incredible statement.

Amjahid adds a justification: “The price for the murders committed by police officers and made possible by politics in the first place must be pushed up.” The author claims without any evidence that the Paris police would commit “murders” made possible by politics. The victims: residents of the hotspot suburbs (banlieues).

Background: In Paris, violent criminals had committed serious riots in the past few days after a police officer shot Nahel M. (17), who was trying to evade a traffic check. M. succumbed to his injuries. Since M.’s death, residents of the hotspot areas of the Parisian suburbs have been rioting. Demonstrations during the day, riots at night. Paris descends into chaos, destruction and violence.

The situation in the hotspot suburbs has been difficult for a long time. These are characterized by unemployment and crime, a large proportion of the residents come from abroad, many are Arab and African immigrants who have hardly made contact with French society. Violent riots broke out in 2005. Since then, France has been trying to improve the situation in the banlieues with a lot of money for infrastructure and modernization.

The opinion piece obviously also shocked “taz” readers: Under the comment, a user writes: “The comment is stunned. Looting, destroying everything to be heard? May I ask how you spend your life as an author of such theses!”

Another user writes: “So looting the shops of bystanders is the only way for young people to be heard?”

Another commented, “I have a hard time believing this article is serious.”