Like mother like daughter
French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent Islamophobic, human rights abusing statement calling for banning the clothing choice of certain Muslim woman seems to have caused a rift in his right wing cabinet, with the two most relevant ministers to the matter (Interior and Justice) being forced out, including the cabinet’s only Muslim member.
Sarcozy’s Islamophobic measures and his proposed legislation to curtail civil liberties through the banning of face masks in protests, coincided with his criticism of Iranian authorities for cracking down on protesters. Has he heard of credibility? Whose side is he trying to come down on here, Muslims in Iran or human rights activists in Europe?
Ayatollah Sarkozy said the Niqab was a “sign of debasement” for women. Ok, he is concerned about women’s rights and status, so what’s better approach than to force something else on them? Because they are too stupid to know what is liberating for them? May be if the Niqab is forced on them a defense is then called for, but not when these women have to dealwith so much abuse as a result of their decision to wear it in Europe that the effort rises to the status of Jihad… Or may Sarkozy is just banning Jihad?
Better yet, let’s take our advice his buddy, the Italian Prim Minister? I say nothing says liberated women than the dozens of white, female slaves lounging naked around the emperor’s pool. After all, this is Rome…
But back to France; the economy in shambles, Sarkozy failed on his social programs, massive protest of disfranchised populations kept Paris awake, and ablaze, for several weeks not too long ago, and now the president is turning to fear mongering and external threat tactics that served the Bush Administration well. Classic.
The cabinet reshuffle may be a first sign of trouble for the 5’3” president who always stands on his toes in pictures. Talk about a Napoleon complex… It would have been funnier if Napoleon were French, too. Oh, wait….
Sarkozy is increasingly stacking the cabinet with his right wing loyalists; he is antagonizing many camps, and driving them closer to each other as he consolidates authority and control, creating an ever-widening fault line. Not to mention his failures on the major social and economic problems facing France. His greatest accomplishments so far have been getting an Italian singer twice his height to marry him and keeping Queen Elizabeth out of D-Day celebrations so that he can appear in all the pictures with Obama. So you see where this is going?
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I do feel that the Niqab if forced upon anyone is wrong.
However, Sarkozy is creating an incredibly confrontational tone with the way he is carrying out his personal crusade. This forces Muslims who would normally not support the Burkha or Niqab feel as if they are in some way obligated to defend the burkha and niqab.
His tone is polarizing and I believe that's the effect he is going for.
btw ive spent a lot of time in France and I never saw a single women in a Burkha, although I did see a few Niqabi's. So, why he's bringing up this fringe issue is beyond me.
Posted by Super Sayyin | June 23, 2009, 8:51 pmI agree with pretty much everything that’s been said apart from the French economy being in a shambles. The French economy is doing relatively well, no thanks to Sarkozy though, who, if he had enough time to implement his policies, would have destroyed the French economy.
Posted by Shafiq | June 23, 2009, 3:18 pmThe French economy is just another example of economic imperialism, shitting over the world with their agricultural policy.
Posted by Moataz | June 24, 2009, 1:41 amSuch legislation only ever hurts the women they seek to protect. It treats women as the source of the problem. It also completely denies that a woman can have agency in deciding her clothing of choice. Many women are indeed forced to wear the niqab, but many at the same time are not. This is just a continuation of France's colonialist policies which failed in the Maghreb – they sought to destroy the veil then and they seek to destroy it now. Today, however, the reason is not for assimilation but to destroy the memory of failed imperialism; the defeat the French faced at the hands of the Algerians in particular. And of course let's not forget France's Laicite secularism which dictates that people have the right to be protected from the evils of religion as opposed to people have the right to religion, but politics and religion must remain separated.
Posted by SanaKF | June 23, 2009, 10:31 pmSuch legislation only ever hurts the women it seeks to protect. It treats women as the source of the problem. It also completely denies that a woman can have agency in deciding her clothing of choice. Many women are indeed forced to wear the niqab, but many at the same time are not. This is just a continuation of France's colonialist policies which failed in the Maghreb – they sought to destroy the veil then and they seek to destroy it now. Today, however, the reason is not for assimilation but to destroy the memory of failed imperialism; the defeat the French faced at the hands of the Algerians in particular. And of course let's not forget France's Laicite secularism which dictates that people have the right to be protected from the evils of religion as opposed to people have the right to religion, but politics and religion must remain separated.
Posted by SanaKF | June 23, 2009, 10:31 pmIndeed they do. you seem to forget its freedom of religion and freedom from religion as well.
Posted by Moataz | June 24, 2009, 1:12 amOf course – but there's a difference between a general secular framework and an absolutist secularist ideology, the latter is which I have problems with.
Posted by SanaKF | June 24, 2009, 7:49 amMany women are indeed forced to wear the niqab, but many at the same time are not.
So what would you suggest? Should French detectives investigate the family of every woman who wears a niqab, chador or burkha to determine whether she is doing so of her own free will? And then what should happen if it is determined (not sure how they'd make that determination since people would be expected to lie) to be involuntary? Should the husbands/fathers/brothers/whoever be prosecuted for human rights/civil rights abuses? Who would be helped by that?
This is just a continuation of France's colonialist policies which failed in the Maghreb – they sought to destroy the veil then and they seek to destroy it now.
I think it's much more likely that they want all citizens of France to be "French", and somebody who is wearing religious garb so extreme as to leave nothing but their eyes visible (if that!) is obviously making a point of separating themselves from French culture. I don't really get this type of thinking, myself, but that's my understanding of French attitudes about immigration. The really don't seem to like French-hyphen-foreign people at all. They just want French. Period. I think this law is unjust if passed for that reason. But i think it would be perfectly fine for the French to just say that they don't want anyone in France to be unidentifiable, for legal reasons.
Posted by programmer craig | June 24, 2009, 3:11 amSo what would you suggest? Should French detectives investigate the family of every woman who wears a niqab, chador or burkha to determine whether she is doing so of her own free will?
No, they should allow it and do their best to make sure a woman forced to where it reports it to the police. How is banning a burkha going to solve the problem of overbearing husbands? And what percentage of the women who wear Burkha wear it out of their own free will and how many don't?
This is not about separation of church from state, it's about freedom for people to wear whatever they want, which means they should be free to wear it as much as they are free to not wear it. I don't even see why it's been made an issue seeing as the vast majority of French Muslim women don't wear the Niqaab or the Burkha.
I understand French attitudes towards immigration but they have to come out and admit that it hasn't worked. By pretending immigrants don't exist (which is pretty much what happened) and pretending that everyone is French, they make worse the problems most immigrants have assimilating into a new culture. If they don't want multiculturalism, fair enough, but they should at least help immigrants come to terms with French culture and assimilate properly.
Posted by Shafiq | June 24, 2009, 9:24 amJoan Wallach Scott's Politics of the Veil – the best work I've read on the subject (although some of her conclusions are a little..uhh..i.e. the US as the best example). Look into it. She says it better than I ever could, and I've done extensive research on the topic. She's a great scholar, making the links between colonalist history and contemporary minority politics and foundational tenets of France. She also provides some great empirical back up and the answer to your first question.
<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8497.html” target=”_blank”>http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8497.html
Posted by SanaKF | June 24, 2009, 7:57 amhmmm I have mixed feelings about this….Turkey and Tunisia come to mind. Muslim countries.
All in all, that image of the lady in that dress-code freaks even me out, and I'm a hijabi
Posted by Lena | June 24, 2009, 2:40 amI've never understood why hijabis are also so often freaked out by niqabis or women who wear burqa – if we feel like this, then we're essentially committing the same sort of internal discrimination that those who see the hijab as something freaky do. I feel awkward around the niqab myself, as a hijabi as well, and that's not something I like since they are my sisters in faith. Unfortunate.
It's definitely a result of how we are conditioned and how the niqab/burqa has come to symbolize something more than just a religious or cultural clothing.
Posted by SanaKF | June 24, 2009, 7:54 amI might be the lonely one here
but I actually agree with Sarkozy here, niqab has no place in France
Posted by jesse | June 24, 2009, 8:37 pmWhat's your reasoning behind this position?
I'm for freedom to wear whatever you want.
Posted by Shafiq | June 25, 2009, 10:53 amSarkozy should get himself another wife… upto four possibly.
Posted by BuJ | June 25, 2009, 2:48 amI do believe Sarkozy was referring to the burqa not the niqab. Honestly, we need clarification for everyone involved.
I am going to make a bold, generalized statement here. In supposedly western cultures (whatever that may mean), hiding ones face is considered rude. To cover your face, or speak to someone with your sunglasses on without removing them in conversation, tells the recepient you have something to hide. Humans use facial cues to read one another.
Let's reverse the gender shall we? How would we feel if we had just men roaming the streets in ski masks? People usually cover their faces for nefarious reasons here. The last time I checked, Paris doesn't experiences sandstorms in the middle of July.
Lastly, if I were to visit a conservative country I know the drill. I'm not going to be walking out the door in a low cut mini dress. If I don't like it, I have a choice to visit/live there or not. If one is leaving such a country in the hopes of better opportunities in the west, don't come crying the blues about your human rights being violated, because you want to be covered head to toe. When in Rome.
Posted by Fed up | June 26, 2009, 8:49 pmIsn't a Niqaab a veil?
Everyone uses the term 'When in Rome' but there is one minor flaw to this argument, France isn't Rome and neither are other Western countries – most Western nations have modelled themselves as lands of freedom, freedom to do whatever you want as long as it doesn't impinge on the rights of others. Wearing a veil doesn't in my opinion, so it should be allowed.
Posted by Shafiq | June 26, 2009, 10:22 pmI agree with 'Fed Up'. Can we please focus on our own Muslim countries that have banned Hijab as well before we start blaming colonoliasm? Which Muslim country lets its people dress however they wish? In Islamic law, you don't have that freedom, period. And if you insist to dress in shorts and tight clothes then you shouldn't live there. If a whole bunch of Westerners living in a Muslim country were to rally up against a law that outlawed women wearing shorts then I'm sure the general Muslim consensus would be 'then move!'
IF France insists – and perhaps if the majority of the French people support the idea then why not go forth with it – then yes, women that want to look like blankets should live in more welcoming environments like Yemen or Saudia.
I think its fair.
Posted by Lena | June 26, 2009, 11:02 pmEXCELLENT POINT!
Posted by big-e | June 28, 2009, 11:49 pmBurka and Niqab are essentially the same thing. They are just different variations. Some cover their hands as a supplement to their covered faces. Some cover their eyes. some leave on eye covered (which personally I find really scary) and the traditional burka leaves a net for the viewing area. A more Islamic term is khimar…which could even include a hijab (it's a really big subject)
Posted by Lena | June 26, 2009, 11:04 pmAnd just to put it in perspective, during the Prophet's time (SAW) the niqab/hijab/bukra phenemonan was prevalent among the Muslims and Non Muslims so there wasn't an attempt to single out the Muslims as far as appearance wise. I remember when we used to watch the MESSAGE in Islamic school, it was often confusing to know who are the good guys (the Muslims) and the bad (the non-Muslims).
Posted by Lena | June 26, 2009, 11:09 pmThe French should just surrender to the Islamisation of their country. It is the will of Allah. They have no right to remain French.
Posted by big-e | June 28, 2009, 11:45 pm