#1 Terror in France.
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:04 am
CBS
[quote]Quote
"I was gang raped by three people I knew, and I couldn't say anything, because in my culture, your family is dishonored if you lose your virginity."
Samira Bellil
(CBS) For almost half a century, Europe has depended on imported labor to do the kind of menial jobs its own people don't want to do -- so much so that, today, the population of France is almost 10 percent Muslim.
They are the descendants of Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian workers who came from France's ex-colonies.
Now, many of them live in neglected public housing projects, ruled by violent gangs and increasingly susceptible to Islamic fundamentalism. Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports. When people talk about ghettos in France, they're talking about high-rise complexes that have been built far away from the city center to house African and Arab immigrants.
Just saying you live in the neighborhood is enough to get your job application thrown in the garbage. And the unemployment amongst young people is four times the national average.
With little hope of making it outside the projects, many of these young men try to dominate their own neighborhoods, resorting to violence, especially against young women.
They rule gangland style, combined with the male-dominated traditions of the Arab countries they came from. It's gotten so bad that, today, most of the young women only feel safe if they are covered up, or if they stay at home. Girls who want to look just like other French girls are considered provocative, asking for trouble.
Samira Bellil wasn't asking for trouble, but trouble came to her. She's the granddaughter of Algerian immigrants and she's written a book about surviving the hell of the Paris ghettos.
"I was gang raped by three people I knew, and I couldn't say anything, because in my culture, your family is dishonored if you lose your virginity,â€Â
[quote]Quote
"I was gang raped by three people I knew, and I couldn't say anything, because in my culture, your family is dishonored if you lose your virginity."
Samira Bellil
(CBS) For almost half a century, Europe has depended on imported labor to do the kind of menial jobs its own people don't want to do -- so much so that, today, the population of France is almost 10 percent Muslim.
They are the descendants of Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian workers who came from France's ex-colonies.
Now, many of them live in neglected public housing projects, ruled by violent gangs and increasingly susceptible to Islamic fundamentalism. Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports. When people talk about ghettos in France, they're talking about high-rise complexes that have been built far away from the city center to house African and Arab immigrants.
Just saying you live in the neighborhood is enough to get your job application thrown in the garbage. And the unemployment amongst young people is four times the national average.
With little hope of making it outside the projects, many of these young men try to dominate their own neighborhoods, resorting to violence, especially against young women.
They rule gangland style, combined with the male-dominated traditions of the Arab countries they came from. It's gotten so bad that, today, most of the young women only feel safe if they are covered up, or if they stay at home. Girls who want to look just like other French girls are considered provocative, asking for trouble.
Samira Bellil wasn't asking for trouble, but trouble came to her. She's the granddaughter of Algerian immigrants and she's written a book about surviving the hell of the Paris ghettos.
"I was gang raped by three people I knew, and I couldn't say anything, because in my culture, your family is dishonored if you lose your virginity,â€Â