patrick robert for time charred The burned-out remains of buses torched by rioters in Trappes

	SPECIAL REPORT

Posted Sunday, November 6, 2005; 9.34GMT
Sarkozy has staunchly defended his language since the riots began, but as the crisis deepened it drew criticism even from within the government. Azouz Begag, a Junior Minister for Equal Opportunity, accused Sarkozy, whose father immigrated to France from Hungary, of using "warlike semantics." In the banlieues themselves, Sarkozy's remarks were used as an excuse for further violence. The rioting "is going to go on until they pull Sarkozy out of office," said K-Soc, 19, in Bobigny. "He heats things up and then leaves us here to deal with the police."

In contrast, De Villepin said nothing for days. But on Tuesday, as the riots continued to spread, he took the lead, fielding questions in Parliament while Sarkozy was rendered silent. De Villepin's choice of words was more dignified, if less colorful. "The republican state will not yield," he told the Senate on Thursday. "Order and justice will have the last word in our country." He met with a group of young people from the boiling neighborhoods on Friday and vowed to unveil a plan by the end of the month for improving living conditions in poor neighborhoods. It wasn't until the riots had raged for almost a week that President Jacques Chirac issued an appeal for calm. The continual convening of crisis sessions was meant to show the government in action, but only highlighted its inefficacy.

That response is evidence of what many banlieue residents say is one of the root causes of the violence: France's governing class is woefully out of touch with its populace. Disgruntled immigrant youths have been trying to get government attention — occasionally by mounting violent disturbances like last week's — for years. But France has clung to its belief that once newcomers arrive, they are officially French and do not need special treatment to guarantee equality. "The French just don't think the political class can attack these problems," says Stéphane Rozès, a political analyst and pollster. "They see gestures, not problem solving. The distance between the government and the people just keeps growing."

Practical solutions are being explored. Claude Bébéar, chairman of the supervisory board of the French insurance giant AXA, has been outspoken in trying to address the discrimination he sees at the heart of the malaise in the banlieues. He's urging other French companies to take up AXA's practice of stripping job applications of any ethnic or social identifiers, so that a Muslim name or a school diploma from an underprivileged neighborhood won't prevent consideration for a job. "France woke up late to this problem," Bébéar says. "It's one of the central challenges of our future to work double-time to resolve it." But, he warns, if the police can't handle the security challenge in the banlieues, companies won't go there to create jobs.

Those security challenges are daunting, even when there's not a general insurrection under way. The so-called "parallel economy" — drug dealing and automobile theft — has given criminals great sway over large swaths of the banlieue. While gun use is rare, the war of nerves between criminal gangs and police is constant and wearying. And for a small but potentially explosive minority, Islamic radicalism offers an alternative way to make a difference.

Stuck in the middle between the hard line of Sarkozy and the rioting youth are the vast majority of banlieue residents who want both respect and peace. Thousands of people from the banlieues signalled a growing backlash against the rioting by marching silently on Saturday morning through one of the worst-affected areas. "All this burning, it's only going to make it harder for people here to get jobs," says Aisha Bekhti, 48, a Moroccan-born woman who has lived in Montfermeil, next to Clichy-sous-Bois, for eight years. "It's got to calm down or things will get worse for all of us."

Claude Dilain, the mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois, has managed to soothe his community through a dialogue with religious and ethnic leaders — and with the angry young men themselves. "The last thing we need is yet another Marshall Plan for the banlieue," says Dilain, a Socialist who has been mayor for 10 years. "That would just legitimize the violence. It's stupid to think we can spend our way out of this mess. We need to mobilize what we've got better." He thinks the conservative government made a major error, for instance, in shifting funds from beat cops to riot cops. Two years ago, Clichy-sous-Bois had 35 local policemen on duty; now it's only got 15. "We need both, obviously, but police aren't effective unless they're trusted," says Dilain. "The local guys got respect for understanding and solving problems. Now people view these armored police with mistrust and even defiance."

Dilain is doing what he can. Early next year, as part of a housing renewal effort the government is launching, his town and neighboring Montfermeil will see the start of the first demolitions of the apartment blocks that have become home to delinquency, drugs and despair. Part of the plan includes a new mosque; in the meantime, worshippers pray in a local gym. Well before the riots, France's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Jean-Louis Borloo, launched a program to alleviate the lack of decent, affordable housing in poorer neighborhoods by building half a million new units by 2009. The scheme also directs job-creation and training programs back to the banlieues where they are needed most.

Despite these efforts, liberté, egalité and fraternité were little in evidence last week. Many banlieue residents feel France has promised more than it's delivering. Changing that will require the French to confront the widening disparities between those in the banlieues and those in the rest of the country. Until then, the rage and resentment that traumatized France last week will continue smoldering.

With reporting by Bruce Crumley, Grant Rosenberg and Vivienne Walt/Paris

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