niqab - Fausta's Blog

June 23, 2009 By Fausta

Sarko and the burka, part 3

Today’s NYT illustrates how significant the setting and the speech (that I posted about yesterday) are:
Sarkozy Backs Drive to Eliminate the Burqa

Mr. Sarkozy gave his speech, a sober, wide-ranging address, in the first presidential appearance before Parliament since Charles Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte’s in the 19th century.

Presidents had been barred from entering Parliament since 1875, to protect the independence of lawmakers. But reforms carried out last summer through Mr. Sarkozy’s party opened the way for him to speak to Parliament.

Mr. Sarkozy entered through rows of French guards with raised swords, then delivered an American-style state-of-the-nation address that sketched out his view of France’s future.

Here’s the photo:

Sarko is setting French policy on a course; as you may remember this particular discussion on the burqa was ignited by Obama’s Cairo speech. Unlike Obama, however, Sarko is unequivocal:

Mr. Sarkozy said that “in the republic, the Muslim religion must be respected like other religions.” But he declared, “the burqa is not welcome in France.” He added, “We cannot accept in our country women imprisoned behind bars, cut off from social life, deprived of identity.”

You can watch the whole speech (in French) at the official Elysee website (right now it’s their featured video but once that changes, please search under Discours de M. le Président de la République devant le Parlement réuni en Congrès), but here is the part on the burqa (video in French):

As you can appreciate from his speech, Sarko has made a principled stand for democratic values and human rights.

His words were received with applause.

Joshua Muravchik, writing at Commentary, speculates on The Abandonment of Democracy, and quotes Obama’s speech at Strasbourg, France:

Obama seems to believe that democracy is overrated, or at least overvalued. When asked about the subject in his pre-inaugural interview with the Washington Post, Obama said that he is more concerned with “actually delivering a better life for people on the ground and less obsessed with form, more concerned with substance.” He elaborated on this thought during his April visit to Strasbourg, France:

We spend so much time talking about democracy—and obviously we should be promoting democracy everywhere we can. But democracy, a well-functioning society that promotes liberty and equality and fraternity, does not just depend on going to the ballot box. It also means that you’re not going to be shaken down by police because the police aren’t getting properly paid. It also means that if you want to start a business, you don’t have to pay a bribe. I mean, there are a whole host of other factors that people need . . . to recognize in building a civil society that allows a country to be successful.

Whether or not the President was aware of it, he was echoing a theme first propounded long ago by Soviet propagandists and later sung in many variations by all manner of Third World dictators, Left to Right. It has long since been discredited by a welter of research showing that democracies perform better in fostering economic and social well being, keeping the peace, and averting catastrophes. Never mind that it is untoward for a President of the United States to speak of democracy as a mere “form,” less important than substance.

I will post more on this article later, but for now, let’s ponder how a French president – instead of the American president – is the one taking a stand on democracy and human rights.

Previous posts on this thread:
Part 1: France: Obama’s Cairo speech provokes new debate on burqa
Part 2: Sarko says No to the burqa

Post re-edited to enter text that was omitted

June 22, 2009 By Fausta

Sarko says No to the burqa

Following up on the French burqa story, Sarkozy says burqas are ‘not welcome’ in France (emphasis added)

President Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out Monday at the practice of wearing the Muslim burqa, insisting the full-body religious gown is a sign of the “debasement” of women and that it won’t be welcome in France.

The French leader expressed support for a recent call by dozens of legislators to create a parliamentary commission to study a small but growing trend of wearing the full-body garment in France.

Sarko didn’t make this statement in a passing conversation – he made a big gesture in an historic ocasion:

In the first presidential address in 136 years to a joint session of France’s two houses of parliament, Sarkozy laid out his support for a ban even before the panel has been approved—braving critics who fear the issue is a marginal one and could stigmatize Muslims in France.

“In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Sarkozy said to extended applause in a speech at the Chateau of Versailles southwest of Paris.

“The burqa is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement—I want to say it solemnly,” he said. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.”

The French understand symbolism, and by his making this statement – a clear and unequivocal statement that is not symbollic at all, but specific and concrete – while addressing both houses of Parliament, the country knows for certain where he stands.

Earlier last week Sarko had denounced the Iranian government’s “brutal” reaction to demonstrators.

At least one president knows what he stands for.

UPDATE
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June 20, 2009 By Fausta

France: Obama’s Cairo speech provokes new debate on burqa

Apparently President Obama’s speech in Cairo has encouraged hundreds of French Muslim women to wear full veils, and French lawmakers are considering a new law banning those veils.

France had banned the use of all veils in public schools in 2004, and the country has now enacted a new law banning the hiding of one’s face during public demonstrations. At the same time, there is now a new debate on the burqa.

First, the new law banning the hiding one’s face during public demonstrations:

News agency EFE and Le Monde have the news: According to Le Monde, the law imposes a fine of 1,500 euros for voluntarily hiding one’s face for the purpose of not being identified during acts against the public order:

“le fait pour une personne, au sein ou aux abords immédiats d’une manifestation sur la voie publique, de dissimuler volontairement son visage afin de ne pas être identifiée dans des circonstances faisant craindre des atteintes à l’ordre public”.

However, the law provides an exception for “conforming to local use, or when hiding the face is justified by a legitimate reason.”

A casual observer from abroad may argue that the new law might be interpreted as banning the use of all facial coverings, such as burqas (the full-body covering with only a mesh screen over the eyes) and niqabs (a full body veil with slits for the eyes), but the French government says this law applies only during demonstrations.

The burqa issue is different, and more involved. The French government is studying the new trend of burqa wear and may end banning it. Voice of America’s headline is France Moves to Impose Ban on Burqa while AP says French government supports study of burqa wear. The second headline refers to a study,

France wants to study the small but growing trend of burqa wear, with an eye to possibly banning the Islamic garment from being worn in public, the government’s spokesman said Friday.

Luc Chatel told France-2 television that the government would seek to set up a parliamentary commission that could propose legislation aimed at barring Muslim women from wearing the burqa and other fully covering gowns outside the home.

“If we find that use of the burqa was very clearly imposed (on women) … we would draw the appropriate conclusions,” Chatel said. Asked whether that could mean legislation banning the burqa in France, he responded “why not?”

And now for the unintended consequences part – The Independent reports that it was President Obama’s Cairo speech that provoked the new debate on the burqa, because after hearing it many Muslim women decided to start wearing full-body veils:

The debate was re-opened by, of all people, President Barack Obama, who said in his speech in Cairo last week that Western nations should not impede the practice of Islam within their frontiers.

This comment was endorsed by M. Sarkozy but criticised by some French politicians, of both right and left, as an attack on France’s “headscarf law”. André Gerin, a Communist MP who represents a poor, multiracial area in the suburbs of Lyons, tabled a motion this week calling for a commission of inquiry into what he said was an explosion in the number of women wearing full-length veils in France. He said that this was a “direct response” to President Obama’s remarks.

At first, M. Gerin’s proposal seemed likely to go nowhere but his action was praised on Thursday by Fadela Amara, a left-wing crusader for Muslim women’s rights who joined the centre-right French government in 2007. Ms Amara, Minister for Urban Renewal, said she was “in favour of the total prohibition in France of the burqa … this coffin which kills the fundamental rights of women.”

She added: “You only have to go to certain markets, such as in the suburbs of Lyons, to see that there are more and more women wearing the burqa … These are women who are the prey of oppression, from masculine domination to fundamentalistic Islamic indoctrination.”

Earlier this month Aayan Hirsi Ali had deplored that Obama’s speech let down moderate Muslims. She addressed the issue of the veil:

I think he was just appeasing the Muslim world because they perceive–they have these notions that Muslim women in Western countries–are not allowed to wear the headscarf or cover themselves. I mean you can wear whatever you want in the United States.

In Egypt where he spoke, women who do not wear their veil in public are subjected to very obscene remarks on the street and even sexual assault. Nowadays, even if they are covered they become victims of the same things: That is, in public, in Egypt, as a woman, you run 80% of the time the risk of being assaulted simply because you are a woman walking down the street. They are forced into marriages; their testimony in countries where Sharia is law is just half of that of a man. They can be divorced with no rights. They need guardians, a married guardian or they cannot sign any legal papers. The President simply did not address Sharia or Islamic law in relation to women.

The 2004 French law applied only in schools and included all religious symbols; the new legislation would ban the wearing of full veils anywhere in public.