Europe's Muslims
By Jela De Franceschi
Washington, D.C.
17 November 2005

France's worst civil unrest in decades was sparked by the accidental electrocution of two Muslim teenagers who fled into a power substation while apparently avoiding police. The ensuing weeks of unrest have forced not just France but other European nations to examine the alienation of their Muslim immigrant communities.

European leaders are watching with apprehension the violence spread across districts of France that are heavily populated by disaffected Muslims, in what European media call the "French intifada". The riots that have shaken France and stunned the continent have been carried out mostly by African and Arab teenagers who see themselves as victims of racial and religious prejudice.

Most of France's Muslims live in poor neighborhoods separate from the white Christian mainstream, in suburbs often rife with crime and seething anger. Unemployment in these communities is 20 %, double the national average. It's more than 30 % among 21-to-29-year-olds. The rest