The problem relates to secession

Submitted by Solo3 (Canada), Jan 21, 2015 at 12:49

I appreciate both the honesty of Daniel in admitting the misnaming the derelict European districts and the difficulty of defining with precision the anomalies in the regular local governance there on account of the presence of significant Muslim minorities. Of course saying 'no-go areas' to mean that the state has given up on them is incorrect, but I am not fond of the 'semi-autonomous' replacement either. 'Autonomy' connotes a grant but it seems clear the LE and judicial authority is in many places contested and/or replaced without any consultation with the regular state authority. So it would be more realistic to speak of "semi-seceded" zones. They are not completely seceded but they do not recognize the authority of the state (in some matters, notably police authority) and the state does not use the regular means of enforcing the law. A brazen defiance of the niqab is in evidence in many places in France and Belgium.

Insofar as police presence in the zones is concerned, regular patrolling has been suspended in many places, and replaced by raids by large SWAT commandos seeking to confiscate illegal arms and narcotics. On the continent, drug trafficking and Islam have formed a special relationship and dominate the public housing estates "dans les banlieus violents". A host of useful reports on the zones has been recently offered by the Gatestone Institute: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5128/france-no-go-zones

So, yes, by all means refine the definition of the problem but let us not allow ourselves to be scared off from it.

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