PARIS, November 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – A number of French NGOs launched on Friday, November 25, into a diatribe against intellectual Alain Finkielkraut for calling rioters a bunch of "rebels" with Muslim identity.

"Finkielkraut will be sued for inciting hatred," vowed the chairman of Movement against Racism and for Friendship between People (MRAP), Mouloud Aounit.

"There will be no dialogue with racists," he said in a statement, adding that Finkielkraut and his ilk should know their limits.

Finkielkraut said in an interview with Haaretz last week that the problem with rioters is that they are "blacks or Arabs, with a Muslim identity."

"Look, in France there are also other immigrants whose situation is difficult - Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese - and they're not taking part in the riots. Therefore, it is clear that this is a revolt with an ethno-religious character," he said.

The rioting began on October 27 with the accidental electrocution of two youths fleeing police in Clichy-sous-Bois outside Paris.

The government has then come under increasing pressure to halt the riots, sparked by frustration among ethnic minorities over racism, unemployment and harsh treatment by police.

Many feel trapped in the drab suburbs, built in the 1960s and 1970s to house waves of immigrant workers.

Their French-born children and grandchildren are now out on the streets demanding the equality France promised but, they say, failed to deliver

Experts say that racism, unemployment and harsh treatment by police are the main factor behind the unrest.

The racist remarks by Finkielkraut further drew vitriol from other French NGOs.

The Audio-Visual Council (Le Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) urged the France Culture radio to sack Finkielkraut and keep his weekly program from the airwaves.

The Jewish Union for Peace in France also censured the writer, issuing a strongly-worded statement blasting the Finkielkraut's blatant racism in the interview.

The interview's headline "What Sort of Frenchmen are They?" is a case in point, it said.

SOS Racisme also joined the chorus of condemnation, demanding the intellectual to reconsider his statements hoping that it was just a slip of the tongue.

Senior government officials have frequently said that the recent turmoil has nothing to do with religion.

Chief of Interior Intelligence Service Pierre de Bousquet told French RTL channel on Wednesday, November 23, Islam should by no way take the blame for the work of angry youths.

"We must address the roots and real reasons behind the unrest," he said.

Bernard Bessingere, the chief of a Saint Denis municipality, lauded last week the key role played by the leaders of the Muslim minority in Saint Denis to calm down a furious generation.

On November 20, Muslim leaders in the Saint Denis's District 93, where the first sparkle of riots started, have put their heads together with government officials, clerics and party leaders to tackle how to avoid a repeat of the riots.

Better known among the French as "District 93" Saint Denis has a Muslim population of 500,000 out of 1,200 million people, making it the largest Muslim residential area in the country.