The 751 No-Go Zones of France

Daniel Pipes, November 2006

They go by the euphemistic term Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or Sensitive Urban Zones, with the even more antiseptic acronym ZUS, and there are 751 of them as of last count. They are convienently listed on one long webpage, complete with street demarcations and map delineations.

What are they? Those places in France that the French state does not control. They range from two zones in the medieval town of Carcassone to twelve in the heavily Muslim town of Marseilles, with hardly a town in France lacking in its ZUS. The ZUS came into existence in late 1996 and according to a 2004 estimate, nearly 5 million people live in them ...

A more precise name for these zones would be Dar al-Islam, the place where Muslims rule ...

For an insight into how bad things are, the police in Lyons demonstrated on Nov. 9, denouncing "violence against the forces of order." Things have reached a pretty sad state when the police have to demonstrate in the streets against the criminals ...

The flip side of no-go zones is extending Islamic law, the Shari‘a, which is also taking place in Europe ...

More: Daniel Pipes, ATLAS DES ZONES URBAINES SENSIBLES