RIOT OR UPRISING?

Is the violence in France an uprising or a riot? Like the events in Los Angeles following the not-guilty verdict in the first trial of the officers for beating Rodney King.

Disenfrachisement, incarceration, "law & order," inhuman, humans.
RIOT:

I. 1. a. intr. To live in a wanton, dissipated, or unrestrained manner; to revel; to indulge to excess in something. Now somewhat rare.
c. To revel in, to take great delight or pleasure in, something. Also const. upon.
II. 4. Sc. and north. To ravage, harry, spoil (a country, etc.). Obs. rare.
5. a. To force (a person) to do some action by persistence or importunity; so, to prevent (one) from doing something. Obs.
b. Of rioters: To attack (persons or property).

6. a. intr. To make a disturbance; to storm.
b. To engage in a riot or violent disturbance.

UPRISING:

7. (uprising.) An insurrection; a popular rising against authority or for some common purpose.

8. The process or fact of coming into existence or notice.

"What's Wrong with Europe?"

From Der Spiegel

For 11 nights running, French police and firefighters have battled rioters on the streets of Paris suburbs -- and the violence seems to be spreading. But the unrest in France is only the latest chapter in the difficulties Europe has been having integrating its immigrants.

Local youths watch as firemen extinguish burning vehicles in Paris last week.
Mayor Claude Dilain sits on the edge of his chair in his community's wedding banquet hall. His hands are folded on the table in front of him, and his face is a tortured reflection of the doubts and fears inside him.

For the past 10 years, Claude Dilain, 57, has been the mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb in northeastern Paris with 28,100 inhabitants, mostly immigrants. Dilain calls it "a powder keg." He slightly resembles the French author Michel Houellebecq, but today he is paler than even the author normally is. The strain of the last few nights is no doubt part of it. But so too is a growing suspicion -- that the modern welfare state may be fully incapable of addressing some of his community's most pressing problems.

""We Aren't Going to Let Up! Are You Stupid?""

From Der Spiegel

The riots in France are spreading -- and not just to cities across the country. An intense debate is also taking place on the Internet. Many are horrified by the riots. Others are planning them.

Official Paris is in an uproar. For 11 straight days, riots have consumed Paris and now they are spreading across the country. French President Jacques Chirac finally broke his silence on Sunday night and went on television to talk to his shell-shocked fellow citizens.

But the real debate about the nightly riots is taking place far from the halls of power. It's taking place on the Internet. Here, people who normally would never come into contact with each other, are exchanging views on the violence. Others -- many of whom have been ignored by France for years -- have found a platform for their views. One blog, which has since been blocked, showed a photo of a burning car. Beneath the picture was the sentence, "Good job people."