NEWS JUNKIE POST
Jan 27, 2010 at 8:41 amFrance: Is Banning The Burqa A Good Idea?
On Tuesday, the French parliament called the burqa “a challenge to national values”, and backed the ban of the full Islamic veil from public places such as schools, hospitals, government offices and transport systems. The 200 pages report, put together by a parliamentary committee, was made public on Tuesday.
“The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our Republic. This is unacceptable,” said the report. The debate about the garment was started last June by President Sarkozy, when the French leader said that “the burqa is not welcome in France, and is a symbol of the subservience of women that was not in line with the French Republic’s core value of equality.”
The latest poll indicates that most French voters support a ban on the burqa. The burqa ban has been a divisive issue among French politicians. On the left, some say banning the full veil from public places doesn’t go far enough, while others say any ban would stigmatize and further antagonize France large Muslim community. On the right, the current leader of the ruling UMP party, Jean-Francois Cope, said he would propose his own bill which would provide for a complete ban with an “on the spot fine for offenders”.
The burqa is a controversial issue in France because of the symbolic behind the full veil, but in reality only about 1,900 women wear a form of the all covering veil in France. Despite what is usually reported by the US media, a large majority of the 5 million Muslims residing in France are secular. Most French Muslims live in the areas around Paris and Lyon, and France has around 1,900 Mosques or prayer sites with only 20 of them sporting minarets. According to a recent poll, only 23 percent of French Muslims go to the Mosque on Fridays, the Muslim holy day.
However, the French parliament’s decision, if it is finalized in a law, could increase tensions between the Muslim community and other communities in France.
“The ban is about sending a message to the Muslim community. The message is clear to the average Muslim woman. If you want to go down the route of practicing your religion here is how we are going to treat you in the future. Also most French citizens, Muslims included, are for freedom- the freedom to practice your religion, the freedom to dress however you want to dress, whether that be a miniskirt or a burqa. This will reduce the overall freedom of French citizens,” said French Muslim author, Marwan Muhammed in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Bah. I hate burqas too, I think they’re disgusting. But the reality is that a law like that would really be crossing a line… telling people what they can and cannot wear. Not good.
People have the right to frown upon burqas all they like, but enforcing laws to ban other people from wearing them is immoral. A big part of what people like about the western world is that the authorities generally avoid making attempts to control people’s lives, right? As in, we *don’t* act like the taliban and enforce dress codes, etc.
thats not Important you hate it or not….Imp is…What Muslim Women think….Find out here …
http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/what-does-being-muslim-women-mean-to-you/
I agree with this decision 100%! It isn’t just about that the Burqa represents a symbol of the subservience of women, but covering a woman’s face with a mask is just plain creepy and this practice should have died out long ago.
I guess the middle eastern culture believes that if you bury a woman in clothing nobody can admire her natural beauty which could potentially lead to feelings of jealousy which ultimately leads to violence (so lets just hide them from public view).
Women should be respected and treated equally as men. It’s time to force them to leave their backwards thinking behind and join the French culture and value of equality. The rest of the world should follow.
Well, we can certainly agree that they’re creepy, and that they should have died out long ago… but does that give us the right to *force* people not to wear them?
And if so, then what’s next? Baggy pants? Underwear peeking out the top of pants? Pink hair dye? Piercings? Speedos?
Do not forget that also part of french culture is the idea that people are free to dress as they please, and conduct their business as they see fit, provided it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others. How does a woman wearing a burqua infringe on yours?
The problem is that they are forced to wear them by OTHERS, so this would be like freeing them from oppression.
O Really .
Wake up buddy….
They wear it becoz they are muslims,there might be few….approx 10% but 90% wears becoz its order of God Almighty…
Read What they Say
http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/what-does-being-muslim-women-mean-to-you/
So, cover men in clothing too right? That’s what we are going for?
Burqas are no more “challenging to national values” than payos (side curls) that are worn by Hasidic Jews. Wearing a burqa is an expression of religious and cultural beliefs. France will come to regret this decision.
Burqas upset the French because it feels like their European world is changing. European values might be diminished, mosques might start spreading into neighborhoods that were classically Christian. It feels like an attack.
But what is important to remember is that the idea of culture is not a stable thing. What the French consider their values now have not been a constant for 500, 100, or even 50 years.
This attack by the French on Muslims for wearing burqas is an overreaction of nationalism, which is itself an irrational idea to cling to as much as culture because it is not a constant thing. It changes.
And if the French wanted the Muslims who wear burqas in France to adopt French “culture”, they have to provide opportunities to acculturate their immigrants with jobs and education. Whether France wants to admit it or not, they have put their Arab and African immigrants in a subservient position without opportunities. In such a situation, how could immigrants to France be faulted for not adopting the host “culture” when they are not allowed access to the opportunities that Europeans have in France?
Law says I cannot walk into a shopping centre or bank with a Balaclava or motorcycle helmet on. Or any other clothing that conceals my identity.
Why should people be allowed to wear a Burqa in crowded public places?
In Context KKK religion believes wearing a mask is freedom of speech.
Dress rules, are everywhere… I see nothing wrong with being able to identify visually who you are talking with,and interpret facial expressions to help the emphasis on the language.
In Canada we have dress laws against obscuring a person’s identity such as balaclava’s and snow mask’s in public places. Image what a photo ID would be worth… if you could just wrap yourself up.
Dude, France, what the heck?
While I find the niqab and burqa difficult to get used to, I wonder what will become of these women if their chosen dress is outlawed. While some may change to less conservative dress, others may wear them anyway, still others may migrate outside of France, an some may be forced by their husbands to stay at home.
Wearing the niqab as a form of civil disobedience and protest would be ironic. On the one hand, protesting against the establishment for greater freedom is very French. On the other hand, if the freedom you are fighting for is the right to wear the niqab or burqa, then the irony is clear.
Migrating elsewhere doesn’t really pacify the problem, but merely displaces it. If they migrate to other countries in Europe, it can cause tensions between France and those countries. If they migrate back to their home countries, where would they find jobs?
What if husbands, out of fear of harassment by the French officials, force their wives to stay at home? Clearly in this case, this law will not only restrict their freedom to dress as they choose but also restrict their freedom of movement.
France should consider all possible effects this new law might have on their minority community. Moreover, they should consider whether this law actually helps women wearing traditional Islamic dress or if it perhaps either hides the problem or causes them more problems.
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An all-out ban is a little excessive. Instead of judging the symbolism behind the veil, why not mandate reasonable instances when wearing a veil is not appropriate, such as when you’re getting a photo taken for an id, going through security, or at schools?
I fully agree. In the case of security, France could follow the example of countries with large Muslim populations, such as India, where women are security scanned always by other women and behind a privacy screen.
Sad to say but eventually the religion of Islam will become strange, so much so that people will come to hate it. There about 1.3 billion Muslims in the world today. If you think you can get rid of Islam, you would first need to get rid of Muslims… good luck.
What the Hell…Why not asking Muslim Women….there are cmnts…related to Hiaj/naqab
http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/what-does-being-muslim-women-mean-to-you/
All to many women are beaten or even murdered in Islamic countries for not wearing the full Burka. The full Burka is a method of Religious oppression of women and France is being very progressive to ban them. I applaud France for doing so.