An insightful piece on the media reluctance to call the rioters in France what they are. From the Washington Times, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
The rioters who have burned out neighborhoods in cities across France for a fortnight are overwhelmingly of North African and Arab ancestry, overwhelmingly young, overwhelmingly male, overwhelmingly cut off culturally and economically from the larger French society — and overwhelmingly Muslim.
But saying they’re Muslim is a subject of angry dispute. French officials downplay the religious connections, and some newspapers, particularly in the United States, avoid identifying the rioters as Muslim….
Most of the rioters do not appear to be foreigners, but French citizens, young men from first- and second-generation immigrant families from Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia — former French colonies — and other North and West African nations.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin blames the rioting on “structured groups,” apparently euphemism for “Muslim,” but French officials say they have no evidence that international Muslim radical groups are involved in promoting the violence.
“For the moment, we see no link at all with the networks that we work on,” French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Francois Ricard said in Paris. Arrest figures released so far indicate that most of the hoodlums are young and male. About half are younger than 18.
They’re technologically savvy. Investigators say the rioters are using the Internet, cell phones and text-messaging to coordinate attacks. Der Spiegel, the German newspaper, quoted one of the text messages from one rioter to another: “We aren’t going to let up. The French won’t do anything and soon we will be the majority.”