French Police Union: Muslims Are Waging Civil War Against Us

From Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch:

Remember those "civil riots" in France? The ones that Prince Al-Walid of Saudi Arabia compelled Rupert Murdoch to have Fox stop calling "Muslim riots"? The ones that the learned talking heads assured us had nothing to do with Islam? While they were receiving the most press attention they ever got, in November 2005, you could have gotten the real story here and here. You'll note that I began that second article, "Has an intifada begun in France — an all-out jihad?" It's interesting that in this piece the police union uses the same word -- intifada. Now the truth is beginning to come out in the mainstream media, almost a year after you could have read it at Jihad Watch.

"Muslims are waging civil war against us, claims police union," by David Rennie in the Telegraph, with thanks to KM:

Radical Muslims in France's housing estates are waging an undeclared "intifada" against the police, with violent clashes injuring an average of 14 officers each day. As the interior ministry said that nearly 2,500 officers had been wounded this year, a police union declared that its members were "in a state of civil war" with Muslims in the most depressed "banlieue" estates which are heavily populated by unemployed youths of north African origin.

It said the situation was so grave that it had asked the government to provide police with armoured cars to protect officers in the estates, which are becoming no-go zones.

The number of attacks has risen by a third in two years. Police representatives told the newspaper Le Figaro that the "taboo" of attacking officers on patrol has been broken.

Instead, officers – especially those patrolling in pairs or small groups – faced attacks as soon as they tried to arrest locals....

Of course, the French are reluctant to face what is happening, and many will no doubt continue to believe that more welfare benefits will solve the problem, but some seem to be more realistic:

Michel Thoomis, the secretary general of the hardline Action Police trade union, has written to Mr Sarkozy warning of an "intifada" on the estates and demanding that officers be given armoured cars in the most dangerous areas.

He said yesterday:

"We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists. This is not a question of urban violence any more, it is an intifada, with stones and Molotov cocktails. You no longer see two or three youths confronting police, you see whole tower blocks emptying into the streets to set their 'comrades' free when they are arrested."

He added: "We need armoured vehicles and water cannon. They are the only things that can disperse crowds of hundreds of people who are trying to kill police and burn their vehicles."

But the state of denial also continues:

However, Gerard Demarcq, of the largest police unions, Alliance, dismissed talk of an "intifada" as representing the views of only a minority.

Mr Demarcq said that the increased attacks on officers were proof that the policy of "retaking territory" from criminal gangs was working.

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