5th of series: "europe is burning"

see 1st for series introduction.

The action here represents both the French Arab class riots in France in the Fall of 2005 and Muslim protests over Danish cartoons that were offensive to Islam, which peaked in this year.

On the left, a rioter is engaging in destructive acts in his own community as his countryman (presumably also of Arab descent) is urging him to desist. It's an attempt to show the violence without generalizing it.

On the right, two French citizens are observing this and make their comments accordingly:

"I miss the Jews, they could handle a free oppression, I mean free press." This is not meant to be a comparison of Arab and Jewish methods of protest but a lament for the loss of European Jews, who were unable to mount an effective protest against their own oppression. Those conditions were often created in tandem with a European "Free Press" that fomented anti-Semitic sentiment for centuries. Here, "being able to handle it", is the oppressors point of view regarding the harassing conditions that Jews were afraid to protest publicly. This quiet fear fed the unchallenged oppressors view that such conditions were acceptable within their society.

"Why don't ghettos work anymore?" Again, I am drawing a comparison between Jewish and Arab conditions in Europe at different times. The reference to ghettoization and the sincere surprise that it is not a successful social structure, is of course the perspective of a dominant class that does not live in the ghetto. From that perspective, the ghetto has appeared to be successful (or at least ignorable) until modern televised protest events (and the sense of minority entitlement needed to have them) carried its concerns beyond its confines. These are developments that would come too late for Jews. Historically, ghettos have indeed been used by bishops and princes to protect vulnerable Jews by congregating them. The same structure however, could hide violence, suppress voices and limit inclusion.

"Let's look deep inside for the Jewish cause for all this." This is pretty smug of me. I suppose I couldn't help myself. After all, this series was inspired by the confusing way in which Muslim protests over Danish cartoons became a rallying cry for holocaust revisionists.