Over the last three weeks, millions of French citizens have taken to the streets to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform plan. The reform plan, which includes raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and the full retirement age from 65 to 67, is currently before the Senate and expected to pass later this week. Despite rising tensions, Sarkozy has refused to back down, vowing to crack down on the "troublemakers." But with gas stations running dry and trash piling up -- and the rioters becoming increasingly violent -- the French president faces his toughest week in office. Here, young men throw stones at anti-riot police forces on Oct. 19 in Lyon.
PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images
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FRED038
4:18 AM ET
October 20, 2010
NOW SALES UP TO 65%
This statement below has to be proved ! :
"France has one of the most generous pension schemes in Europe, with workers receiving up to 65 percent of their wages. Thousands demonstrate against France's government pension reform on Oct. 19 in Lyon. A banner reads "for the right to retire at 60." "
When you're writing "UP to 65%" (As during winter sales in centre London) You have to bear in mind that most items are much below this percentage.
Also, the wage percentage is not the only criteria to define whether it is the most generous schemes in Europe or not.
HAROUN
10:21 AM ET
October 20, 2010
Left Bank on the Left Bank
I suppose the sub-editor thought this article title was cutesy, actually it's an offensive and parochial comparison.
Palestinians in the West Bank/East Jerusalem and Gaza have been suffering under military occupation for 43 years now. The 500,000+ squatters installed by Israel in the occupied territories are subject to Israel's civil law, while Palestinians in the same territories are subject to military law. In short they have no rights. They have no vote. This is apartheid.
Since 2004 more than 20 non-violent Palestinian protestors have been killed by the IDF in the West Bank and Gaza. Ten days ago a leader of the non-violent movement in the village of Bil'in, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for "organizing illegal demonstrations and incitement.":
'Bil’in leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah sentenced to a year in prison for organizing nonviolent protests against the Wall'
http://bit.ly/awbyyY
He had been arrested for weapons possession - in fact the "weapons" were the spent Israeli Defence Force tear gas canisters Abu Rahmah had been collecting after the weekly protests at the wall which swallows up and prevents access to Bil'in's agricultural land.
A more suitable comparison to the situation in the West Bank would be the Kent State Shootings of 1970, or a Kafka novel – France is a whole other thing.
IMHO opinion the French have maintained the correct balance between the state and it's citizenry: the state serves it's citizens, those citizens are politically sophisticated, and communicate their displeasure to the state when necessary. Unlike the US, the French don't fear their government, the government fears them.
Vive le France.
Free Palestine.
IMAGE
1:06 PM ET
October 20, 2010
Oh no,
You poor ignorant soul. Being misled by so many confusing "facts" on stories you hear over the news, or web forums.
Ofcourse, you have no idea what you are talking about.
Have you ever been to Israel/Palestinian territories? Have you got any clue of the history, causes of the conflict, the situation over there today... I assume you haven't. I know so due to the textbook shape of your comment. All you ignorant people love doing is shoot out "facts" and information you present as "facts", all to support your pre-decided opinion, which has already been decided for you by the media in its quest for ratings. And a fight of the "oppressed" against an "oppressor" is great at bringing ratings.
For the content of your post:
The Palestinians haven't been suffering at all. And if they did- it's not by Israel. Not so long ago Israel and "Palestine" were one continous state. You are right when you say that the laws in the West Bank are not Israeli- they are Jordanian (and a mix of Ottoman and some English). This is mainly because the world didn't recognize Israel's hold over the land, and by international law it ment Israeli laws can't be applied there. Same goes for the Gaza strip, which is ruled by Egyptian law.
Now for the "suffering" of the Palestinians- there is no dispute that they are suffering. They have hard lives. I don't only mean the Gazans that suffer from totalitarian Hamas, I also talk about the more free and modern inhabitants of the West Bank. This entire people, the Palestinians, have been ruled by many leaders that saw their citizens' well being a least important issue. They used their civilians for their own goals, which they themselves were not sure of- do they want to drive all the Jews away from their homeland? do they want to kill all of them? maybe put Arab regieme over there and allow the Jews to live in Autonomy? They themselves couldn't even decide on the way they want to kill all Jews.
Remember- Jews came back to Israel after thousands of years in exile. Several Jewish kingdoms have existed in that piece of land over the history, being driven away by occational regional empires. This time the Jews came back, a fenominal achievement as one nation from all over the world.
It was accepted and voted in the UN in 1947 to allow the state of Israel to establish along side with an Arab one (please notice- there was no mentioning of any "Palestinians". The Israelis created the Palestinian nationality over the years). The Arabs didn't accept the UN decision and started an attack on new born Israel, one out of many, which luckily left them losers all these times. And Israel only got stronger since then.
Please remember - Israel was created after a Democratic global vote. The Arabs didn't accept this decision and lost. Today- some Palestinians shoot missles from Gaza into Israel on a daily basis. Some Palestinians (man and women) used to use their free entrance to Israel and explode in busses and malls. This all ceased thanks to the wonderful and life saving "Seperation Wall"- that cost many Israeli Shekels and saved the lives of many, many families.
To conclude my post, reality is so much more full and sophisticated than what you are painting. The sad thing is, in today's "modern" world people are so dumb and lazy to think, they treat any information given to them by the media is pure facts. Being fed with a spoon of information of interest. You, with your fancy slogans and fabricated facts, are sadly not different.
CANBERRA1
12:49 AM ET
October 24, 2010
Your concern to French workers is heart warming...
What a sensitive individual...