According to some reports in France, less than 400 women wear the full veil, leading the influential French newspaper, Le Monde, to state in an editorial that,"Do we need to legislate for fewer than 400 people, legislate for an exception? ... Given the risks, including the stigmatization of Islam ... the answer is no,". Bien sur, Le Monde.
Evidently the Emperor-lite Sarkozy believes that the wearing of the veil is a symbol of subservience; his answer is to encourage a legally enforceable ban on women from wearing the veil. Sarkozy does not appear to be reticent about dealing with Saudi Arabia, where the full veil is predominantly worn and expected. According to an article in November 2009 in the Saudi Gazette, "King Abdullah paid an official visit to Paris in July 2007 and President Sarkozy has visited the Kingdom in January 2008 and again this month. France has been a considerable source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the oil-exporting Gulf region in the past decade. FDI flows into Saudi Arabia from France surged five-fold between 2000 and 2008 to 1.41 billion euros in 2008, according to data of France's central bank, Banque de France"
Whether it be in Saudi Arabia, Iran or France, the decision to wear the burqa or full veil must be the choice of the woman and hers alone; Governments, wherever they may be, have no place and should have no role in such matters. In fact, no one should coerce or otherwise seek to influence a woman's choice of clothing, women are more than capable of making such decisions for themselves. Princes, Mullahs, little emperors, and French parliamentarians, kindly take note.
The manufactured issue of the full veil in France has nothing to do with concerns about woman's freedom and has everything to do with typical attempts by French politicians bereft of principles or ideas to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria to further their political objectives. Let us not forget that in the first round of the French Presidential election in April 2002, the fascist candidate, Jean Marie Le Pen polled 17% of the popular vote coming second to Chirac's 20%. So shamed by the first round outcome, the French voted in droves for the politically damaged Chirac in the second round, and he romped home with 82% of the vote.
We can only hope that the French electorate will feel equally shamed by this latest example of xenophobia and follow Le Monde's advice and reject the parliamentary commission's blatantly repressive proposals to ban the veil. Vive la liberté.
3 comments:
An EXCELLENT post! Really, really good. This should be in the newspaper. Also, great references to back up your argument!! Great pictures as well.
It would be good to get it in a French newspaper! Glad you liked the post.
Most of the women who wear full veil, do it against their own will. They are forced by their husbands or father or brothers to do so. Think about it: why would a woman voluntarily want to cover her whole face except her eyes? I am in no favor of any religion but this is sure not by choice and definitely not what Islam says. This is what Muslim chauvinist men want.
Personally, I think they should be banned from wearing full veil. One can never know who is behind that veil. One can't even say if it's a man or a woman.
I stick to the most important part: Most of them are forced to wear full veils.
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