tagged w/ Burqa
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A commission established by the French Parliament stated that the burqa offends French national values. And this commission reccomends a law to ban the Islamic veil in some public offices. But how the rest of Europe behaves?
http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/franciaburqa260110.htmlA commission established by the French Parliament stated that the burqa offends French... more
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A French parliament report called Tuesday for a ban on the full Islamic veil, saying Muslim women who wear the burqa were posing an "unacceptable" challenge to French values.
After six months of hearings, a panel of 32 lawmakers recommended a ban on the face-covering veil in all schools, hospitals, public transport and government offices, the broadest move yet to restrict Muslim dress in France.
"The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable," the report said. "We must condemn this excess."
The commission however stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw the burqa in the streets, in shopping centres and other public venues after raising doubts about the constitutionality of such a move.
"The wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg," said communist lawmaker Andre Gerin, the chair of the commission, who presented the report to the parliament speaker.
"There are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil," said Gerin who vowed to fight the "gurus" he said were seeking to export a radical brand of fundamentalism and sectarianism to France.
READ MORE AT LINKA French parliament report called Tuesday for a ban on the full Islamic veil, saying... more
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Spend some time with a group of brave Afghan lawyers and their young clients, the girls who have so far been hidden under the blue cloth, and watch them challenge the legal system to gain back their legal rights.Spend some time with a group of brave Afghan lawyers and their young clients, the... more
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You can hate me for in but i love the French they approach politics with a certain honesty, bluntness. Traits that were once considered American .....
Excerpts from the article:
PARIS - France's immigration minister on Sunday proposed a national debate on French "national identity," saying it should not include face-covering Muslim veils.
"For me, no burqas on the street," Eric Besson said on LCI television, referring to the all-encompassing veils such as those worn in Afghanistan. But he didn't directly suggest a ban, saying it was up to lawmakers to decide whether that would be the most effective measure.
"The burqa runs counter to national values," he said, saying such veils are an affront to women's rights and the French commitment to equality.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has said the burqa imprisons women and is not welcome in France, and a parliamentary commission is holding six months of hearings that could lay the groundwork for a law banning Muslim women from wearing head-to-toe and face-covering veils in public.
Besson suggested a 2 1/2-month-long "great debate on national identity" on the theme "What does it mean to be French?" The idea is "to reaffirm values of national identity and pride in being French," he said.
"In France, the nation and the republic remain the strongest ramparts against ... fundamentalist tendencies," Besson said. "France is diversity, and France is unity."
Debate on French identity
Besson said foreign residents in France should speak better French and that French schoolchildren should have more opportunities to sing the national anthem, La Marseillaise.
The idea of a national debate on French identity is likely to rankle immigrants' and minority rights groups who say Sarkozy's government is too intolerant of outsiders. Himself the son of a Hungarian immigrant, Sarkozy has sought to crack down on illegal immigration, focusing on skilled immigrants instead.
The head of France's largest Muslim body, Mohammed Moussaoui, told the parliamentary panel earlier this month that the full-body veil — worn by a small minority of Muslims in France — is an "entry way" to radical Islam, but that the national debate over whether to ban it is stigmatizing the entire Muslim community.
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I feel that it is important to note that thou the article states that Muslims are the second largest religious population in France this fact is true, but misleading according to the Eurobarometer Poll *
34% of French citizens responded that "they believe there is a God".
27% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".
33% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".
so 60% of France does not believe in God
("Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11")
But interest enough........ a January 2007* poll found that
51% of the French population describe themselves as Catholics (and only half of those said they believed in God),
31% as atheists,
4% as Muslims,
3% as Protestants
and 1% as Jews
*{(Romanian) Franţa nu mai e o ţară catolică (France is no longer a Catholic country), Cotidianul, 2007-01-1}
So the "second largest religion" pretty misleading huh? only 4% leaving 96% who have absolutly no religious reason to wear a burqa...
You could hide a bomb under a burqa, and it would be impossible to see who you are. I'm just saying, no one mentioned it, had to be said.....
Even with that said i cant see making a religious piece of clothing illegall.... period... no matter how oppressive it was.Of course it also goes without saying that no one should be forced to where that.......anywhere!
-ksutherland27
ksutherland27@aol.comYou can hate me for in but i love the French they approach politics with a certain... more
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Whether the muslim women actually want to wear it or not, the move to ban these symbols of ultra conservative repression is gaining momentum in Canada, France and even Egypt where the debate on whether out-lawing this garment in public is causing a lot of fuss.
Most muslim women say they want to wear it, however i feel they have been conditioned to think like this, and another reason they state is to stop men looking at them and being harassed on the streets, if this is true then we need to go a bit further than banning a peice of clothing.Whether the muslim women actually want to wear it or not, the move to ban these... more
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“The burka is a prison, it’s a straitjacket”
French Urban Affairs minister, Fadela Amara
The burqa, always a sensitive religious symbol, is making headlines once again as governments around the world begin taking carefully constructed steps towards a full or partial ban on the controversial clothing.
As with everything, there are two sides to every story, while the burqa is seen by some as a sign of subservience, a piece of religious repression that is not mandatory in the Koran, instead serving to deface women from the role of human being to shrouded servant. Others argue that religious freedom, whatever that entails is one pivotal law that must remain in place for concern of offending not just Muslims, but people of all religions who consider religious expression through certain clothing a vital part of their religious freedom.
How can a woman be truly free if there is a barrier placed before her that prevents her from interacting with fellow humans, how can you truly relate to a person if you cant see her smile or frown? Our faces are possibly the most important parts of our bodies, excluding the mind, the face allows us to see who we are talking to, the starting point for our connections as humanity, not forgetting the health risks that a person’s skin needs to be exposed to sunlight.
Quotes by Muslim women who are pro burqa simultaneously have the same correlation, that by wearing the burqa they will not get harassed by men in the street, instead of creating a law that mandates women should be fully covered, is it not more logical to create some sort of law that enforces restraint on behalf of the males?
One thing Britain prides itself on is the acceptance of other cultures and religions, which has allowed this country to become a very ethnically diverse and equal place, British people, past and present have fought for too long to guarantee rights such as equal pay in the workplace and votes for women, and it would be an insult to the memories of these people, most notably the suffragettes if we allowed other persons to enter our country and abuse our rights under the guise of religious expression, when in reality, the burqa holds no place in the Koran and therefore in Islamic law.“The burka is a prison, it’s a straitjacket”
French Urban Affairs... more
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Following an imbroglio in France in late June when President Nicolas Sarkozy declared the burqa to be unwelcome and against French values, al Qaeda is threatening retaliation. According to CNN, the extremist group has listed threats on extremist Islamic websites that include:
"We will not tolerate such provocations and injustices, and we will take our revenge from France ... by every means and wherever we can reach them ... Our Muslim brothers in France in particular and in Europe in general are increasingly troubled by the practices of the French politicians and their leaders, and their constant harassments of our people regarding the burqa issue"
The statement was signed by one Abu Musab Abdul Wadud who claims to be the "commander of al Qaeda in North Africa [Islamic Maghreb]." CNN notes that it is unable to authenticate the statement.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was originally a militant Islamist movement against Algeria's secular government in the early 90s. It has since spread its geographic and political influence. According to the Council on Foreign Relations:
Terrorist activity in North Africa has been reinvigorated in the last few years by a local Algerian Islamist group turned pan-Maghreb jihadi organization: al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). A Sunni group that previously called itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), the organization has taken responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks in the region, declared its intention to attack Western targets, and sent a squad of jihadis to Iraq. Experts believe these actions suggest widening ambitions within the group's leadership, now pursuing a more global, sophisticated, and better-financed direction. Long categorized as part of a strictly domestic insurgency against Algeria's military government, AQIM claims to be the local franchise operation for al-Qaeda, a worrying development for a region that has been relatively peaceful since the bloody Algerian civil war of the 1990s drew to a close. European officials are taking AQIM's international threats seriously and are worried about the growing number of Europe-based cells, states this Europol Report.Following an imbroglio in France in late June when President Nicolas Sarkozy declared... more
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Faiza Silmi, 32, moved to France from Morocco in 2000 after marrying her French husband Karim, who is of Moroccan descent. French law allows non-native spouses of French nationals to acquire citizenship two years after marriage and in 2004, Faiza petitioned for nationality. She didn’t give it a second thought; it seemed only natural that her request would be granted. After all, she was married to a Frenchman, spoke perfect French and had already given birth to French children. Besides, her brothers and sister, who also lived in France, had obtained French nationality with no problem.
However in 2005, the government denied her petition. In disbelief, the family appealed to the Conseil d’Etat (the Council of State – a judicial body that has final say on disputes between individuals and the public administration), which three years and many interviews later confirmed the ruling on June 27, which was then disclosed by a report in French daily Le Monde. According to the report, Silmi had “adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with the essential values of the French community, and particularly with the principle of sexual equality”.
Faiza says that had she known her petition would create such uproar she would never have appealed.
“I mean, it’s just a bit of paper. We live our lives and we are very peaceful people. We didn’t want this fuss.”
But what was most upsetting to the couple were the lies printed about them in the French press.
“We don’t know where the lies originated – whether they were in the original report or whether it’s all been manipulated in the press. They made so many errors – they said I had three children. I have four. They said I was treated by a male gynecologist – as if that had any importance. I wasn’t. I was treated by a female gynecologist. Like lots of women, I prefer to consult a woman. But the last time I went into hospital to give birth I was attended to by a male doctor. I didn’t care. I’m not going to put my baby’s life at risk.”
More damaging for Silmi, however, were what she claims to be the inaccuracies compiled in the formal report by Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave, based on interviews carried out with Faiza by the social services and submitted to the Conseil d’Etat.
“She has no idea about the secular state or the right to vote. She lives in total submission to her male relatives. She seems to find this normal and the idea of challenging it has never crossed her mind,” stated the report. It added that Faiza did not wear the burqa when she lived in Morocco, but adopted it at her husband’s request. She wore the veil out of habit, rather than conviction.
“She lives virtually as a recluse, disconnected from French society,” continued the report. “She has no concept of laïcité (the secular state) nor the right to vote. She lives in total subservience to the men in her family.”
Her husband says she was very depressed after she learned about the decision and realized the consequences it held. But today she is indignant.
Faiza Silmi, 32, moved to France from Morocco in 2000 after marrying her French... more
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