French lawmakers Tuesday recommended a partial ban on any veils that cover the face — including the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women.
The ban on the “voile integrale” — which literally means “total veil” — would apply in public places like hospitals and schools, and on public transport, a French parliamentary commission announced.
It would also apply to anyone who attempts to receive public services, but it would not apply to people wearing the burqa on the street, the commission said.
The commission stopped short of recommending a full ban because not all of the 32 commission members could agree on it.
They will now recommend that Parliament pass a resolution on the partial ban. Such a resolution, if passed, would not make the wearing of a full veil or burqa illegal, but it would give public officials support when asking people to remove it.
Commission members began their work six months ago after French President Nicolas Sarkozy controversially told lawmakers that the full veil was “not welcome” in France.
Sarkozy said the issue is one of a woman’s freedom and dignity, and did not have to do with religion.
The French National Assembly assembled a cross-party panel of 32 lawmakers to study whether women in France should be allowed to wear the burqa — or any other full veil, including the niqab, which shows only the eyes. The commission also studied whether such full veils pose a threat to France’s constitutionally mandated secularism.
Commission members heard from 200 people from all areas of French society, including Muslims, though they only heard from one woman who wears a veil.
By recommending a ban on full veils in public places such as hospitals and schools and by anyone receiving public services, the commission members said they wanted to assist those working with members of the public when asking that full veils be removed. That would include school teachers who meet children’s parents or ticket agents at train stations.
A date for the vote in Parliament has not been set, though it is unlikely to happen before regional elections which are scheduled for March 14 and 21. Parliamentary majority leader Jean-Francois Cope said this week he believed the resolution will pass.
Any law directed at full veils is likely to be challenged in the courts both in France and at the European level.
More than half of French people support a full ban, according to a recent opinion poll. The Ipsos poll for Le Point magazine found 57 percent of French people said it should be illegal to appear in public wearing clothes that cover the face.
That’s despite government estimates that less than 2,000 women in the country actually wear the full Islamic veil.
France has about 3.5 million Muslims, representing about six percent of the population, according to research by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The country does not collect its own statistics on religion in accordance with laws enshrining France’s status as a secular state.
French lawmakers believe the burqa is a growing phenomenon beneath which lies a not-so-subtle message of fundamentalism.
Those who advocate the ban say women are often forced to wear full veils by the men around them — husbands, fathers or brothers — and that it is a sign of subjugation.
However, women who actually wear the veils deny that.
France already has a law against Muslim girls wearing headscarves in state schools. It sparked widespread Muslim protests when the French Parliament passed the law in 2004, even though the law also bans other conspicuous religious symbols including Sikh turbans, large Christian crucifixes and Jewish skull caps.
In 2008, France’s top court denied a Moroccan woman’s naturalization request on the grounds that she wore a burqa.
France is not the only European Union country to consider banning the burqa. Dutch lawmakers voted in favor of a ban in 2005, although the government at the time left office before legislation could be passed.
(Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/26/france.burqa.ban/index.html)
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7 Responses
Which if upheld in the courts, would allow the banning of yarmulkes, sheitels, etc. Note that the proposal is not getting support from European Jews.
Oh akuperma, and maybe you didn’t realize that it is also the standard practice in the Federal Court System here in the U.S. that anytime an Islamic woman with a burqa or niqab is being tried, she is required to uncover her face?
They should institute this rule here in America. It will make it more difficult for the Islamic women to hide explosive belts on themselves.
the french are starting to feel that the muslims are growing to fast and to many that maybe soon one day they will actually conquer over them? Well, um , ya good morning although it is a bit to late for that.
#1 wearing yarmulkahs, and sheitels dont cover up our identity. there should be support from all Jews but your right most libs could’nt care less for saftey.
#3- I know that and you know that, but the reason behind such laws (the one banning minarets in Switzerland, ones banning hallah meat in several places), is the desire to establish a legal principle that it is okay to pass a law targetting a religious minority as long as the long is written in secular non-discriminatory terms. Under American law, it is fairly hard to do that since the courts tend to look beyond the text of the law to see what the real intent was.
Under American law, such a ban would require showing a specific need (such as to identify individuals for security reasons). The European Human Rights Court might be more tolerant, and say, the law doesn’t mention Islam, who cares if the impact is only on Muslims (or perhaps, the law bans all killing animals before stunning, who cares that it only affects one group).
im not really sure what the problem is here. as far as i understand, minarets was voted on BY THE PEOPLE not just the govt. THE PEOPLE feel they dont want them. could it possibly be because they are disturbing? i would not want to hear loud calls to prayer when i would rather be sleeping. burqas and niqabs pose security threats. i dont see why either would or should be upsetting.
i fail to see how this is targeting minorities, and i also fail to see the connection to shaitels and yarmulkas.
could you please enlighten me?
Uh akuperma, you didn’t respond to ME.
Mr. YWEditor, I love the picture of the Minnie Mouse in niqab. I have seen those cartoons too on the Jihad Watch website and the Debbie Schlussel website. Say akuperma, do all of you who identify yourselves as akuperma go on those websites too? Or only this one because this is where you can control the most Jewish public opinion the best?
Ouch, guys most of you miss on the important part here. French are now scared of the Muslim practice, so they ban these in public. Who is to say that in the future they might not be scared say… by … long skirts below the knee cap or by a head cover because it is not mainstream and goes against the character of “France séculier”?