London burning: What the riots mean

BBC viewers on Tuesday saw two different images of London presented to them. On the one hand was a beautiful London sprucing up for next year's Olympic games. The second image was of London burning. The first image came from their archives, while the second was live from the scene. The riots have now spread to additional cities: Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol. Britain, the poster child of a successful immigration policy, a country that has always treated immigrants with respect, has just received a resounding slap in the face.

Britain, once an empire, opened its gates to all and treated its immigrants with dignity over the past several decades. Unlike the French, who have begun to second guess their multiculturalist approach because their immigrants take to the streets every few years smashing, destroying and looting, the British have kept the faith. As you may recall, when France burned in 2005, the French opposition held up Britain as a model of successful immigrant integration. History is now laughing in their face.

Anyone who heard British Prime Minster David Cameron speak on Tuesday heard the voice of a leader unafraid to go to battle to restore order. Throughout the morning he won support from various commentators, all of them urging tougher measures and aggressive police action. One even wondered why authorities were holding back from employing tactics such as those used in Northern Ireland. At least no went so far as to urge the government to do what it is doing in Libya. No one wants to bomb the rioters, but most Londoners wouldn't object to water cannons or even deploying the army. For the time being Home Secretary Theresa May has decided against both.

Sixteen thousand police officers were deployed on London's streets Tuesday. They were called up from every part of the country. Britain understands that it is now at war, a real one. Violence of this magnitude has not been seen in decades. Suddenly the Yobs, the thugs who caused mayhem at soccer games, have taken to the streets. They've been joined by members of the black and Muslim communities, along with anyone else who harbors hatred and feels disenfranchised.

Some would blame economic hardship for the riots. But the British home secretary has refused to accept this premise. No doubt she has a point. Europe is willing to make amends for its colonialist past by accepting immigrants. But its sense of indebtedness can only go so far.

Cameron already pointed to the problem in a seminal speech he delivered in February. He said that from now on immigrants' cultural autonomy would be curtailed. This autonomy had bred extremism and terrorism, he said, and called instead for a muscular liberalism that would require everyone to subscribe to "a common core of shared values."

Many took issue with him then, but now Europe understands that it has no choice. It is starting to wake up. Pay attention to Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Cameron. They are speaking as one on this issue - having put aside English, French and German to speak the same language. They are no longer willing to suffer in the name of multiculturalism.

And as if this were not enough of a wake-up call, the Sunday Telegraph reported this week that a fifth of Europe's population will be Muslim by 2050. Saying this is not racism but a fact that has repercussions.

Darcus Howe, a 68-year-old West Indian writer, was interviewed on BBC about the violence and said: "This is what's been happening in Syria and it is historic," he said Tuesday.

Can one really draw parallels between the situations in Britain and Syria? Obviously not. But such talk has spread from Tottenham four days ago to other parts of the kingdom. One should keep in mind that the riots did not really originate in Tottenham but in the suburbs of Paris in 2005. But back then it was taboo to face reality or to cite the real reasons for the problem.

Boaz Bismuth is Israel Hayom's special correspondent to the United Kingdom

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