From 751 (in 2006) to 976 (in 2015) "No-Go Zones" ("Zones Urbaines Sensibles") of France

Submitted by Ludvikus (United States), Jan 23, 2015 at 06:24

Dear Daniel Pipes,

It appears that your translation of a French expression, which was initially a nere Neologism, has now been Coinded into English.

A "No-Go Zone," at least with regard to its Extention, is a very well defined term empirically.

When you first used the term, in 2006, there were "only" such places in France. At the time you had the option of rendering a literal translation of the French "Zones Urbaines Sensibles."

No I think it's rather too late, or to difficult to get a "politically correct" expression.

In fact, in this article you open yourself to the Orwellian charge of "doublespeak" because today - nine (9) years later - the number of such areas has increased 976. This represents a 77% increase in the number of "No Go Zones" in France.

It seems to be that you take yourself off the hook in your current revisionism by your requirement that France that France is not to have "any" soverignity in these sensitive urbab areas, which of course would render the term meaningless, or useless.

I'm tempted to introduce a Red Herring in this point. Was egypt under the Khedive, Muhammad Ali Pasha, for Ottoman Turkey? My point is that your latest revision, requiring the exercise of no ("any") soverignty is too strict a requirement. Less if a Red Herring is the Gaza Strip in which organs, or officials, or authorities, of the UN have determined that Israel is responsible for it even though it exercises no soverignty over it. But it's certainly a "no-go zone" for Israelis, and Jews. In that respect, perhaps the test should be how safe it is for conspicuosly dressed French Jews to visit these 976 places in France, don't you think so?

So maybe your terminological adustment for French and English sensibilites should have us consider the alternate phrase: "No-Go Zones for Jews" (regarding the physical safety of Jews. I'm suggesting that if a Jewish community took root there, a Pogrom would ensue. This reminds me of the time when Jewish stores took root in "Negroe" Hardem, and when Harlem rose up in flames, the riots destroyed the Jewish merchant establishments. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with these areas of France as to their detailed economies. In New York, the former "candy stores that were in existence and owned by Jewish 1st generation immigrants, are now owned by Muslim Pakistanis, and operate primarily as news stands. That's New York. However, it's not the case that there are no "No-Go Zones" in the rest of the United States. In our American "No-Go Zones," mostly African-American in the News lately, the Police do go in - but they come out shooting with men of color dead. I'm not judging here (I don't know enough about it). But the difference (France) is clearly the excercise, literally, of allegedly over-zealous Police Power.

See here the 2015 count of 976 French "No-Go Zones":

http://sig.ville.gouv.fr/Atlas/ZUS/

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