Riots in France: Le Pen's useful idiots

For right-wing ideologists, but also some conservatives, it has long been clear who is responsible for the riots in France: CSU Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has identified left-wing extremists and migrants as the culprits, and that's what it sounds like from Bild, FAZ and supposed experts like Ahmad Mansour.

They all declare the riots to be a culture war. Marine Le Pen and the AfD are once again denouncing an allegedly “failed migration policy”. Just like Donald Trump before them: France is on fire because “Islam wants to take over a once great country,” said the US President and called on the government in Paris to close its borders.

The further away you are from the scene of the incident, the easier it is to make this remote diagnosis. This doesn't just apply to rural regions and the upper classes in France, who look with horror at the scenes of violence in their cities. This is especially true for civil observers and right-wing circles who look at the country from abroad, feel pleasantly frightened and see their resentments confirmed. For them, the burning town hall of Limoges is the symbol of the decline of the West, which they invoke with fear.

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Thoughtful voices point out that millions of French people have a migrant background, which is particularly visible in major cities such as Paris and Marseille. They did not just come to the country, but are descendants of immigrants, often in the third generation. Their protest also has little to do with skin color or the origins of their parents and grandparents, but rather with social causes - the grievances in state schools and the lack of prospects in the suburbs.

It is also not the first time that rioters have hijacked an originally peaceful protest, and such riots have a tradition, especially in France. But the looting and destruction over the weekend has overshadowed the legitimate concerns of the protesters.

In France people ask themselves why these excesses could not be prevented. Why did the French police fail? After all, she is not squeamish, but has so far attracted attention through her brutality. Last weekend there were over 2,000 arrests across the country. But at the same time there were over half a million demonstrators on the streets. The police were overwhelmed, and Interior Minister Nuñez admitted a “loss of control.”

Both - the failure of the police and the racist interpretation of the riots - will now pay into Le Pen's account.