2005 French Riots
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The 2005 French riots was a three-week long period of civil disturbances that took place in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities in October and November 2005. These riots involved youth in violent attacks, outbreaks of
arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...
of vehicles and
public buildings A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...
. The unrest started on 27 October at
Clichy-sous-Bois Clichy-sous-Bois () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris. It is located from central Paris.electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station an ...
where two died from electrocution, resulting in a power blackout (It was not established whether police had suspected these individuals or a different group, wanted on separate charges). The incident ignited rising tensions about youth unemployment and police harassment in the poorer housing estates, and there followed three weeks of rioting throughout France. A
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
was declared on 8 November, later extended for three months. The riots resulted in more than 8,000 vehicles being burned by the rioters and more than 2,760 individuals arrested.


Triggering event

Citing two police investigations, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that the incident began at 17:20 on Thursday, 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois when police were called to a construction site to investigate a possible break-in. Three teenagers, chased by the police, climbed a wall to hide in a power substation. Six youths were detained by 17:50. During questioning at the police station in Livry-Gargan at 18:12, blackouts occurred at the station and in nearby areas. The police said that these were caused by the electrocution of two boys, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré; a third boy, Muhittin Altun, suffered electric shock injury from the power substation they were hiding in. ''The New York Times'' wrote: There is controversy over whether the teens were actually being chased. The local prosecutor, François Molins, said that although they believed so, the police were actually after other suspects attempting to avoid an identity check. This event ignited pre-existing tensions. Protesters told
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major ...
the unrest was an expression of frustration with high unemployment and police harassment and brutality. "People are joining together to say we've had enough", said one protester. "We live in
ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
s. Everyone lives in fear." The rioters' suburbs are also home to a large, mostly North African and Sub-Saharan African, immigrant population, allegedly adding religious tensions, which some commentators believed contribute further to such frustrations and the discrimination against Muslims after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
and the subsequent
war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. , style="background:#F88" , Coalition of Gulf War, Coalition victory * Kuwait, State of Kuwait resumes self-governance over all Kuwaiti sovereign territory * Esta ...
. According to Pascal Mailhos, head of the '' Renseignements Généraux'' (French intelligence agency) radical Islamism or
Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism, or jihadist terrorism) refers to terrorist acts carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Since at least the 1990s, Islami ...
had no influence over the 2005 civil unrest in France.


Timeline

While tension had been building among the juvenile population in France, action was not taken until the reopening of schools in autumn, since most of the French population is on holiday during the summer months. However, on 27 October 2005, in Clichy-sous-Bois, late in the afternoon, about ten residents came back on foot from the stadium, where they spent the afternoon playing football. Along the way, they walked near a big building site. A local resident reported an attempted robbery near the construction site to police which then sent a car. The national police tried to arrest six French youths of African or North African origin: four in the Vincent Auriol park and two others in the cemetery which adjoins the electrical substation EDF (Electricité de France) where three others who escaped took refuge – Bouna Traoré (15 years), Zyed Benna (17 years), and Muhittin Altun (17 years). Trying to hide in the electrical substation, Bouna Traoré and Zyed Benna died by electrocution. The third, Muhittin Altun, was seriously burned, but recovered and returned to the district. Shortly after this incident, riots began. Initially confined to the Paris area, the unrest subsequently spread to other areas of the
ÃŽle-de-France The ÃŽle-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...
région, and spread through the outskirts of France's urban areas, also affecting some rural areas. After 3 November it spread to other cities in France, affecting all 15 of the large ''aires urbaines'' in the country. Thousands of vehicles were burned, and at least one person was killed by the rioters. Close to 2900 rioters were arrested. On 8 November, President
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
declared a
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
, effective at midnight. Despite the new regulations, riots continued, though on a reduced scale, the following two nights, and again worsened the third night. On 9 November and the morning of 10 November a school was burned in
Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...
, and there was violence in
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
,
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
,
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
,
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, and
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. On 10 November and the morning of 11 November, violence increased overnight in the Paris region, and there were still a number of police wounded across the country. According to the
Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
, violence, arson, and attacks on police worsened on the 11th and morning of the 12th, and there were further attacks on electricity substations, causing a blackout in the northern part of
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
. Rioting took place in the city center of Lyon on Saturday, 12 November, as young people attacked cars and threw rocks at riot police who responded with tear gas. Also that night, a nursery school was torched in the southern town of Carpentras. On the night of the 14th and the morning of the 15th, 215 vehicles were burned across France and 71 people were arrested. Thirteen vehicles were torched in central Paris, compared to only one the night before. In the suburbs of Paris, firebombs were thrown at the treasury in Bobigny and at an electrical transformer in Clichy-sous-Bois, the neighborhood where the disturbances started. A daycare centre in
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...
and a tourist agency in
Fontenay-sous-Bois Fontenay-sous-Bois () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Name The name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as ''Fontanetum'', meaning "the spring ...
were also attacked. Eighteen buses were damaged by arson at a depot in
Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...
. The mosque in
Saint-Chamond St Chamond may refer to: * Saint Chamond otherwise Annemund, bishop of Lyon * Saint-Chamond, Loire, a French town named after him * Saint-Chamond (manufacturer), informal name for the ''Compagnie des forges et aciéries de la marine et d'Homéco ...
was hit by three firebombs, which did little damage. 163 vehicles went up in flames on the 20th night of unrest, 15 to 16 November, leading the French government to claim that the country was returning to an "almost normal situation". During the night's events, a Roman Catholic church was burned and a vehicle was rammed into an unoccupied police station in
Romans-sur-Isère Romans-sur-Isère (; ; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Drôme Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère (river), Isère, northeast of Valence, ...
. In other incidents, a police officer was injured while making an arrest after youths threw bottles of acid at the town hall in Pont-l'Évêque, and a junior high school in
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
was set on fire. Fifty arrests were carried out across the country. On 16 November, the French parliament approved a three-month extension of the state of emergency (which ended on 4 January 2006) aimed at curbing riots by urban youths. The Senate on Wednesday passed the extension – a day after a similar vote in the lower house. The laws allow local authorities to impose curfews, conduct house-to-house searches and ban public gatherings. The lower house passed them by a 346–148 majority, and the Senate by 202–125.


Salah Gaham's death

Salah Gaham was a French concierge, born in Algeria. On the night of 2 November 2005, three cars were burned in the basement of the Forum, the building where he worked in
Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...
. He attempted to extinguish the fire but fell unconscious due to smoke inhalation. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful. He died at the age of 34; this was the first death caused by the period of civil unrest. The mayor honored him by placing his name on a local street near the Forum. The street is called "Salah Gaham Square," and is marked by a commemorative plaque.


Murders of Jean-Claude Irvoas and Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec

On 27 October, Jean-Claude Irvoas, 56, was beaten to death by rioters, after being robbed while he was taking photographs of a street-lamp for his work in Epinay-sur-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis. On 4 November, Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, 61, fell into a coma after being hit by Salaheddine Alloul, 22, and died a few days later. The victim was trying to extinguish a trash bin fire near his home at Stains, Seine-Saint-Denis. Alloul was later sentenced to five years in prison.


Context

Commenting on other demonstrations in Paris a few months later, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
summarised reasons behind the events included youth unemployment and lack of opportunities in France's poorest communities. The head of the ''
Direction centrale des renseignements généraux Direction may refer to: *Body relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction *Bearing (navigation) Mathemat ...
'' found no Islamic factor in the riots, while the ''New York Times'' reported on 5 November 2005 that "majority of the youths committing the acts are Muslim, and of African or North African origin" local youths adding that "many children of native French have also taken part." The BBC reported that French society's negative perceptions of
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and social discrimination of immigrants had alienated some French Muslims and may have been a factor in the causes of the riots: "Islam is seen as the biggest challenge to the country's
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
model in the past 100 years". It was reported that there was discontent and a sense of alienation felt by many French Muslims and
North African North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
immigrants in the suburbs of French cities. However, the editorial also questioned whether or not such alarm is justified, citing that France's Muslim ghettos are not hotbeds of
separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...
and that "the suburbs are full of people desperate to integrate into the wider society."


Assessment of rioting


Summary statistics

* Started: 17:20 on Thursday, 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois. * Towns affected: 274 (on 7 November) * Property damage: 8,973 vehicles (Not including buildings). * Monetary damage: Estimated at €200 Million. * Arrests: 2,888 * Deaths: 3 ( Salah Gaham, Jean-Claude Irvoas and Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec) * Police and firefighters injured: 126


Figures and tables

Note: In the table and charts, events reported as occurring during a night and the following morning are listed as occurring on the day of the morning. The timeline article does the opposite.


Response


Allegations of an organized plot and Nicolas Sarkozy's comments

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...
, interior minister at the time, declared a "
zero tolerance A zero-tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, I ...
" policy towards urban violence after the fourth night of riots and announced that 17 companies of riot police ( CRS) and seven mobile police squadrons (''escadrons de
gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...
mobile'') would be stationed in contentious Paris neighborhoods. The families of the two dead youths, after refusing to meet with Sarkozy, met with Prime Minister
Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...
. Azouz Begag, delegate minister for the promotion of equal opportunity, criticized Sarkozy for the latter's use of "imprecise, warlike semantics", while
Marie-George Buffet Marie-George Buffet (née Kosellek; born 7 May 1949) is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and she served in the government as Minister of Youth Affairs an ...
, secretary of the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
, criticized an "unacceptable
strategy of tension A strategy of tension () is a political policy where violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed. The purpose is to create a general feeling of insecurity in the population and make people seek security in a strong government. The str ...
" and "the not less inexcusable definition of French youth as 'thugs'" (''racaille'', a term considered by some to bear implicit racial and ethnic resonances) by the Interior Minister, Sarkozy. Buffet also called for the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate the circumstances of the death of the two young people, which ignited the riots.


State of emergency and measures concerning immigration policy

President
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
announced a national
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
on 8 November. The same day,
Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...
, a famous Football player and member of the Higher Council for Integration, blamed Sarkozy. He explained that discrimination and unemployment were at the root of the problem. On 9 November 2005, Nicolas Sarkozy issued an order to deport foreigners convicted of involvement, provoking concerns from left-wing politicians. He told parliament that 120 foreigners, "not all of whom are here illegally" – had been called in by police and accused of taking part in the nightly attacks. "I have asked the prefects to deport them from our national territory without delay, including those who have a residency visa", he said. The far-right French politician
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...
agreed, stating that naturalized French rioters should have their citizenship revoked. The ''
Syndicat de la Magistrature The (SM; English: Union of the Magistracy) is France's second largest magistrates' trade union in terms of membership after the more conservative Union syndicale des magistrats (USM). It was founded on 8 June 1968 in the direct aftermath of the Ma ...
'', a magistrate trade-union, criticized Sarkozy's attempts to make believe that most rioters were foreigners, whereas the huge majority of them were French citizens. A demonstration against the expulsion of all foreign rioters and demanding the end of the state of emergency was called for on 15 November in Paris by left-wing and human rights organizations. On 20 November 2005, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced tightened controls on immigration: Authorities will increase enforcement of requirements that immigrants seeking 10-year residency permits or French citizenship master the French language and integrate into society. Chirac's government also plans to crack down on fraudulent marriages that some immigrants use to acquire residency rights and launch a stricter screening process for foreign students. Anti-racism groups widely opposed the measures, saying that greater government scrutiny of immigrants could stir up racism and racist acts and that energy and money was best deployed for other uses than chasing an ultra-minority of fraudsters.


Police

An extra 2,600 police were drafted on 6 November. On 7 November, French premier, Dominique de Villepin, announced on the
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
television channel the deployment of 18,000 police officers, supported by a 1,500 strong reserve. Sarkozy also suspended eight police officers for beating up someone they had arrested after TV displayed the images of this act of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
.


Media coverage

Jean-Claude Dassier, News director general at the private channel
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
and one of France's leading TV news executives, admitted to self censoring the coverage of the riots in the country for fear of encouraging support for far-right politicians; while public television station
France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...
stopped reporting the numbers of torched cars, apparently in order not to encourage "record making" between delinquent groups. Foreign news coverage was criticized by president Chirac as showing in some cases ''excessiveness'' (''démesure'') and Prime Minister de Villepin said in an interview to CNN that the events should not be called riots, as the situation was not violent to the extent of the
1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after ...
, with no death casualties being reported during the unrest itself – although it had begun after the deaths of two youth pursued by the police.


Backlash against French hip hop artists

French rappers and hip hop artists were accused of inciting the youth of the
banlieue In France, a banlieue (; ) is a suburb of a large city, or all its suburbs taken collectively. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80percent of the inhabitant ...
s to riot. After the riots, 200 French parliament members called for legal action against several French rappers, accusing them of inciting the violence.


Judicial consequences

After ten years of preliminary proceedings, a trial was held in March 2015 against the police officers that were involved on the night when the deaths of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore took place. The trial ended up without any convictions, which triggered an outcry from some members of the public.


See also

* Summary and map of the 2005 French riots * 2006 Brussels riots * 2007 Villiers-le-Bel riots * 2009 French riots * 2013 Trappes riots * 2017 French riots * 2023 Nahel Merzouk riots


Notes

#Planoise-reflexion (In French) #Besançon.fr (In French) # Article from
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

"Scotsman" on renewal of state of emergency

Indymedia on renewal of state of emergency, #torched cars
# "Each night between 40 and 60 cars are torched" according to the Council of State in ''
Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...
'' #4442, 14 December 2005. # Renewal of state of emergency (article from
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
)


References


Further reading

* Ali, Ameer. "From Islamophobia to Westophobia: The long road to radical Islamism." '' Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs'' 3.1 (2016): 1–19. * Chabal, Emile. "From the banlieue to the burkini: the many lives of French republicanism." ''Modern & Contemporary France'' (2016): 1–7. * Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck, and Michael J. Balz, "The October Riots in France: A Failed Immigration Policy or the Empire Strikes Back?" ''International Migration'' (2006) 44#2 pp 23–34. * Hussey, Andrew. ''The French Intifada: the long war between France and its Arabs'' (Macmillan, 2014). * Jobard, Fabien. "Rioting as a political tool: the 2005 riots in France." ''The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice'' (2009) 48#3 pp: 235–244. * Mucchielli, Laurent. "Autumn 2005: A review of the most important riot in the history of French contemporary society." ''Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies'' (2009) 35#5 pp: 731–751. * Murray, Graham. "France: the riots and the Republic." ''Race & Class'' (2006) 47#4 pp: 26–45. * Schneider, Cathy Lisa. "Police Power and Race Riots in Paris," ''Politics & Society'' (2008) 36#1 pp 133–159 * Snow, David A., Rens Vliegenthart, and Catherine Corrigall-Brown. "Framing the French riots: A comparative study of frame variation." ''Social Forces'' (2007) 86#2 pp: 385–415. * Wihtol de Wenden, Catherine. "Urban riots in France." ''SAIS Review'' (2006) 26#2 pp: 47–53
Online


Contemporary news reports and essays

* Durand, Jacky ''
Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...
'' (29 October 2005), "Pompier façon légion romaine" (Firefighters à la roman legion) * ''
New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...
'', p. 28 (8 November 2005), "Fatwa against riot issued" * ''New Straits Times'', p. 28 (8 November 2005), "French violence rages on" * Rousseau, Ingrid Associated Press (31 October 2005)
"France to Step Up Security After Riots"
* Gecker, Jocelyn Associated Press (2 November 2005)
"French government in crisis mode"
* Gecker, Jocelyn Associated Press (2 November 2005), "Seventh Day of Violence Erupts Near Paris" by * Keaten, Jamey Associated Press (3 November 2005), "French residents can only watch amid riots" * ABC News (4 November 2005), "Paris Riots in Perspective". . * ''New Straits Times'', p. 24. (5 November 2005), "Riots spread to suburbs". * Heneghan, Tom ''
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
'' (5 November 2005)
"Paris seeks 'hidden hands' in riots"
* ''Reuters'' (6 November 2005)

* Bouteldja, Naima ''Red Pepper'' "Paris is burning" (9 November 2005) * Sciolino, Elaine ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' (10 November 2005)
"Chirac, Lover of Spotlight, Avoids Glare of France's Fires"
* ''
Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...
'' (11 November 2005), "Die Banlieues kommen nicht zur Ruhe" ("The suburbs do not get quiet") * BBC News (17 November 2005)
"French violence 'back to normal'"

French Riots: A Failure of the Elite, Not the Republic
JURIST A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

French Riots: A Wake-up Call for the West, The Indypendent

French Right Reviles Rappers, The Indypendent


External links


Photographs


Pictures from the BBCMap of affected areas
as of 7 November


Analysis


Emmanuel Todd interview on the 'French riots'
translation of an interview of Emmanuel Todd with
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

Essays about the riots written by social scientists


* ttp://www.quinterna.org/lingue/english/articles_en/zonards_voyous.htm Nous les zonards voyous, n+1 review
Rioting in France: What's Wrong with Europe?
–
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

''L'Humanité'' in English
(search "riots", "sarkozy", "November", etc.)

''L'Humanite in English''.

by
Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard (, ; ; – 6 March 2007) was a French sociology, sociologist and philosopher with an interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as well as hi ...

Some politically incorrect reflexions on violence in France
by
Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...
, on ''Multitudes'' website
The Guardian: Questions over the country's ability to integrate its Muslim population

ZMag: Why is France Burning?


by Patrick Belton (who also wrote about the riots from Aulnay-sous-Bois o


Working Class France...
by
Mathieu Kassovitz Mathieu Kassovitz () is a French actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has won three César Awards: Most Promising Actor for '' See How They Fall'' (1994), and Best Film and Best Editing for '' La Haine'' (1995). He also re ...
(director of the film ''
La Haine (, ; released in the United States as ''Hate'') is a 1995 French social thriller film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, the film chronicles a day and night in ...
'')
in French workplace
LA Times, 26 November 2005, Sebastian Rotella (mentions a report published shortly before unrest began)

by Doug Ireland, an indepth look at what led to the riots
Rioting in France: Le Mal Français. Decline and Fall of the French Model...
by
Benjamin Sehene Benjamin Sehene (born 1959) is a Rwandan author whose work primarily focuses on questions of identity and the events surrounding the Rwandan genocide. He spent much of his life in Canada and lives in France. Early life and education Benjamin Seh ...
(Writer of Rwandan origin of ''Le feu sous la Soutane'') *
Ethnicity and Equality: France in the Balance
by Azouz Begag,translated and with an introduction by Alec G. Hargreaves (Nebraska, 2007) * Irina Mihalache
Imagining the Diasporic Link: The Franco-Algerian Media Dialogues on the 2005 'Emeutes' in France
''Cultural Shifts'', 2008.


Eyewitness blog reports



– a digest of francophone blogs {{DEFAULTSORT:French riots, 2005 French
Riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
2005 in Paris
Riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
Riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
Race riots in France Protests in the European Union Emergency laws in France French Fifth Republic Intifadas History of Paris Seine-Saint-Denis Jacques Chirac Police misconduct in France Arson attacks on vehicles in France Arson in 2005 2005 fires in Europe Building and structure arson attacks in France Attacks on schools in France School arson fires in Europe Attacks on schools in 2005