"No to the state of exception." posted by Richard Seymour

French trade unions and left parties joint statement:

Joint Communiqué, Paris, November 8th, 2005. Confronted by a revolt born from the accumulation of inequalities and discrimination in the “banlieues” (suburbs of Paris) and the poor areas, the French government has just passed a new and extremely serious threshold in the escalation of security measures. Even in May 1968, when the situation was a lot more dramatic, the public authorities did not use the extreme measure of declaring a state of emergency. The proclamation of the state of emergency is the answer to a revolt whose causes are profound and well known even at the level of state repression.

...

The suburbs do not need a state of exception: they desperately need justice, respect, and equality.

This was signed by the Greens, the PCF, the LCR, various grassroots social organisations and a number of large trade unions. Unlike the LCR statement, it does not call for demonstrations against the curfews. In fact, it appears to be more an appeal to the government than anything else - which doesn't mean it isn't valuable, it just could have, and certainly should have, gone much further.


Emergency.

Some useful links here: Paris in flames; Paris Burning; Rebellion in Real Time; La gangrène; La gangrène 2.

And don't forget: the state-of-emergency has a tendency these days to become permanent. Permanent State of Emergency; Permanent State of Emergency II.