“Is Paris burning ?” was the title of a historical tale turned into a movie about the city’s liberation in 1944. “Are the suburbs of Paris burning?” could summarise the scenes of urban violence now on French television screens.

In their extreme form, these scenes allude to a reality that conveys a specific French context. The violent anger of the young protesters is the product of solitude and exclusion. They want to destroy a society from which they feel excluded. Economically their “maghrebin” names close an already tight job market to them. Socially, they live in urban ghettos, so close and yet so far from the attractions of big, prosperous and often vibrant cities. Culturally if not religiously, they feel segregated as Muslims, especially since September 11 2001. For them, to destroy is to exist. Nobody was listening to them, they felt marginalised and furthermore, insulted when Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister, described them as “scum”. Suddenly, they are the object of international media attention. What a revenge, and what a terrible and dangerous illusion.