The 2005 French riots (french: Émeutes de 2005 dans les Banlieues Françaises), was a three-week period of riots in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities, in October and November 2005. These riots involved youth in violent attacks, and the burning of cars and

public building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

s. The unrest started on 27 October at

Clichy-sous-Bois Clichy-sous-Bois () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from central Paris.state of emergency was declared on 8 November, later extended for three weeks. 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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 non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

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, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

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, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

and the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

of the Bush administration. However, according to

Pascal Mailhos Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to: People and fictional characters * Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name * Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...

, head of the '' Renseignements Généraux'' (French intelligence agency) radical Islamism or Islamic terrorism 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

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

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 declared a state of emergency, 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 german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...

, and there was violence in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

, Strasbourg,

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. 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, 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 ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. 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 Bobigny () is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Bobigny is the prefecture (capital city) of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, as well as the seat of the A ...

and at an electrical transformer in Clichy-sous-Bois, the neighborhood where the disturbances started. A daycare centre in Cambrai and a tourist agency in

Fontenay-sous-Bois Fontenay-sous-Bois () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Name The name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as ''Fontanetum'', meaning "the springs", from Medieval Latin ''fonta ...

were also attacked. Eighteen buses were damaged by arson at a depot in Saint-Étienne. 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'Homécour ...

was hit by three firebombs, which did little damage. Scorched car in Paris suburb november 2005

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 (; Occitan: ''Rumans d'Isèra''; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Geography Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère, northeast of Valence. There are more than 50,00 ...

. 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 lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

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. 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 A stain is an unwanted localized discoloration, often in fabrics or textiles. Stain(s) or The Stain(s) may also refer to: Color * Stain (heraldry), a non-standard tincture * Staining, in biology, a technique used to highlight contrast in samples ...

, Seine-Saint-Denis.

Context

Commenting on other demonstrations in Paris a few months later, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

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 The ''Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux'' (Central Directorate of General Intelligence), often called ''Renseignements Généraux'' (RG), was the intelligence service of the French National Police, answerable to the ''Direction Gén ...

'' 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 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 ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

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, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in 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 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 The 2005 French riots (french: Émeutes de 2005 dans les Banlieues Françaises), was a three-week period of riots in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities, in October and November 2005. These riots involved youth in violent attacks, and t ...

, 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, 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, Indi ...

" 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 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 (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

, criticized an "unacceptable strategy of tension" 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 announced a national state of emergency on 8 November. The same day, Lilian Thuram, 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 (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

agreed, stating that naturalized French rioters should have their citizenship revoked. The '' Syndicat de la Magistrature'', 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 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.

Media coverage

Jean-Claude Dassier, News director general at the private channel TF1 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 television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services provi ...

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, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in So ...

, 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 French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and hip hop artists were accused of inciting the youth of the

banlieue In France, the term banlieue (; ) refers to a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris Metropolitan Are ...

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.

Notes

#Planoise-reflexion (In French) #Besançon.fr (In French) # Article from

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

"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 a ...

'' #4442, 14 December 2005. # Renewal of state of emergency (article from

)

References

Contemporary news reports and essays

* Durand, Jacky '' Libération'' (29 October 2005), "Pompier façon légion romaine" (Firefighters à la roman legion) * '' New Straits Times'', 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 Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

'' (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 ''

'' (10 November 2005)
"Chirac, Lover of Spotlight, Avoids Glare of France's Fires"
* '' Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (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
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 Emmanuel Todd (, born 16 May 1951) is a French historian, anthropologist, demographer, sociologist and political scientist at the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) in Paris. His research examines the different family structures a ...

with

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

''L'Humanite in English''.

by

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as ...

Some politically incorrect reflexions on violence in France
by Slavoj Žižek, on ''

Multitudes ''Multitudes'' is a French philosophical, political and artistic monthly journal founded in 2000 by Yann Moulier-Boutang. It is thematically situated in the theoretical framework of the seminal work ''Empire'' by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt. ...

'' 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 Matthieu Kassovitz (director of the film ''

La Haine ''La Haine'' (, ; released in the United States as ''Hate'') is a 1995 French crime drama film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, the film chronicles a day and nig ...

'')
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 (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 2005 in Paris October 2005 events in Europe November 2005 events in Europe 2005 riots Race riots in France Protests in France Protests in the European Union Emergency laws in France Contemporary French history Intifadas History of Paris Seine-Saint-Denis Jacques Chirac