Sarkozy Hiding Behind the Burqa

PARIS- It's been almost three weeks since French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that burqas imprison women and would not be tolerated in France. In a speech at the Palace of Versailles, Mr. Sarkozy said that the head-to-toe Islamic garment for women, the burqa, "is not a sign of religion", but rather "a sign of subservience."

The burqa is the most concealing of all Islamic veils as it covers the entire face and body, leaving only a mesh screen to see through. It should not be confused with the niqab which is a face veil that sometimes leaves the eyes clear and is sometimes worn with a separate eye veil.

French legislators in Paris had recently begun to look into the spread of Muslim women wearing these full-body robes and veils, such as burqas and niqabs, with a debate ensuing ranging from an immediate ban to a gradual one. Sarkozy's statement served to escalate the debate into a burqa polemic with politicians and analysts all over Europe weighing in for and against it, effectively eclipsing a multitude of other issues of more immediate concern in France, such as the economic crisis, rampant unemployment and a bloated system of social services. Human Rights Watch, and several Muslim groups and clerics have criticized the ban and asked Sarkozy to reconsider his statements citing that the proposal "stigmatized" Islam.

France is home to Western Europe's largest Muslim population of about 6 million.
In 2004 the country passed a controversial law purportedly introduced to support the Republic's principles of Laïcité, with which France insures separation of church and state. This argument was considered a disingenuous one whose real purpose was to forbid female Muslim students from wearing headscarves, designated to be a "conspicuous" display of religious affiliation, while other symbols, such as the wearing of crosses and stars of David were seen as "discrete" and therefore exempted from the ruling's enforcement. As a result, Muslim students were overwhelmingly impacted.

By framing the wearing of burqas and other body veils under the guise of showing concern for women's rights, Sarkozy has also found a roundabout way of targeting Muslims and putting them in the human rights' defendant's seat, engendering another religious debate. The number of French Muslim women who wear the burqa or the niqab is minuscule, and one would have to go out of his way to visit les banlieues (Paris's poor suburbs) to spot one or two. So why is Sarkozy proposing the ban and stirring all these emotions?

Many critics to Sarkozy's proposal claim that he deliberately initiated a burqa polemic to distract from his low approval rating of 32 percent down from 60 percent for the six months following his election. The burqa is Sarkozy's nationalistic prop, and its emotional appeal temporally outweighs his unfulfilled promises on such issues as guaranteeing workers five weeks of paid leave annually and the 35-hour workweek which Sarkozy had to get rid of once the economy started to sink. All the while maintaining a flashy lifestyle, which have earned him the title, "le Président Bling-Bling."

"It is my choice alone," said Aamina (her name was changed per her request), "when did I ask Sarkozy to liberate me?" she added.

Aamina, a soft spoken Afghan widow, immigrated to France in 2005 to join her brother who works as a janitor in the Métro after her husband was killed in an attack by the Taliban. She said that she had not expected that her burqa would become the subject of controversy in France.

"Ou est la Liberté, Égalité, et Fraternité?"
"Sarkozy has turned me into a freak of nature...that I'm not" she sobbed.

Many Muslim women have been complaining that these new laws have been driven by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments. In June 2008, the Council of State -- the country's highest administrative court -- refused to grant French citizenship to a Moroccan woman wearing a burqa, because it went against "the values of a democratic society and the principle of equality of the sexes."

Meanwhile, Huda Benkaran, a French Algerian social worker who has been involved in helping Muslim women to integrate in France thinks that outlawing the burqa is a "stupid proposal" made by a "an imbecile."

"What does Sarkozy think? Outlawing burqas is going to make these women walk outside in a sundress? They just won't leave home as often. He is sentencing them to prison!" Benkaran says in anger.

 

Follow Jamal Dajani on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamaldajani

Comments

[ReyLoo]

Supposedly his call against the Burqa is about FREEDOM...but actually he is calling for the POLAR OPPOSITE of FREEDOM with his deformed perspective on the Burqa. How about this simple principal Mr. Sarkosy...let people choose their attire as they please...let them color their hair, pierce their body, wear cheap clothes or very expesive clothes, tennis shoes or dressy shoes...just let people choose what they want to wear...nobody can force them to wear it under the laws of your nation...so why even be concerned about this. From my point of view Mr.Sarkosy you owe a very public, and hopefully sincere apology to those individuals who choose to wear Burqa's...such a narrow minded thing to suggest on your part...as well, the non-muslim citizens of FRANCE also should be standing up in solidarity with their fellow countryman....since this suggestion by the President at its very ROOT when understood is a clear attack on FREEDOM...silence in this will potentially reflect that this backwards sentiment is shared by the majority of French citizens.

[newsjunkie5]

Although I do not agree with the whole premise of a burqa and why it was imposed on women, I appreciate the way this article handles the topic. Thank you Mr. Dajani for another fantastic article.

[Daughter2]

Until men learn to control their lust, I guess they will compel women to do it for them. If there was a burqa available in the '60s when I was wearing miniskirts, I'm sure my Dad would have made me wear it. Of course, it would have promptly come off while I was out with friends! Ah youth. Anyway, I digress. How is this very stand-out mode of dress any different than the women of the Dunkard and Pennsylvania Dutch faiths?

[stardust835]

A woman (or man) ought to be able to wear or not wear what she wants to without the government telling her what to do wherever she is. A woman should also be able to choose what she wants to do with her own body without the government telling her what she can & cannot do.

Outlawing a headscarf or burka is plainly anti-Muslim. I'm not Muslim, but used to wear scarves on bad hair days, and nobody was "offended". Give me a break. I have also had employees I supervised who wore headscarves and dressed modestly and it did not in any way negatively affect the quality of their work or anybody else's. (Yes, they were Muslim.)

If I wanted to wear a veil, I should be able to. It certainly can't any more potentially disturbing than the the rolls of flesh I get to see each summer here in the southern US. How I respond to that display is MY problem just as how people who respond to an absence of flesh is THEIR problem.

Sarkozy is a politician and is behaving like one in the worst sense.

BTW-Thanks to Mr. Dajani for his reports and anlaysis.

[cohen238765]

The burqa is a tribal dress that pre-dates Islam. It is not a religious requirement.

[stardust835]

So?

[joz22]

That's right. A lot of dress codes etc. are ancient custom that pre-date Islam.

[ReyLoo]

i don't think it is even relevant as to the origin of the attire...Islamic or not...a person should be able to choose their attire without governmental restriciti­on..PERIOD­!!!

[Jalaledin]

Ah, Paris - the city of haute couture! Politics aside, perhaps culturally one can understand how the burqa is such an affront to Parisian sensibilities about fashion and dress. As a Muslim, I find the Burqa a symbol of male chauvinism not a symbol of feminine choice, but then again I am a male. Even so, I know that women in Afghanistan and Pakistan do not not always have that choice and that is a fact.

[jad114]

The Burqa may be oppressive for women but it is just as oppressive to dictate on them what to wear or not.

[newsjunkie5]

I recommend that men walk in women's shoes for a day or two, like wearing the Burqa under a hot baking sun in the middle of the desert.

[Atcha]

First it's not Sarkozy who started this discussion on the Burka but a communist congressman who proposed a study group in the House of representatives, second the outlawing of the veil in schools is not a disgeneous way to discriminate muslims as kippah and yarmulke and visible crucifix are also outlawed and the 2004 law was aneeded reminder but the law that outlaw ostantacious religious symbols in schools dates from 1905 and was intended against catholic proselytism.

As for being 2 or 3 women wearing Burkas in the suburbs, there is a study group that is formed to evaluate what conditions and pressure there are, but it's certain that if the phenomenum was that marginal there wouldn't have been a law proposal in the third place.

And finally the issue from a french point of view is the dignity and position of women in society and the fact that people are shocked to have to deal with women whose faces and expressions are concealed. Why should religious practices and values trump the accepted local value and practice when the two are in contradictions? It seems that for some people if there is a conflict between social values and religious ones the religious reasons should trump the social ones by the value of their sheer irrationality

[ReyLoo]

the function of law is not to protect your social values or norms against something foreign or abnormal...they should be created and put in place as a protection from your human rights being violated by any individual or group...and furthermore, no matter how different your social values may seem compared to someones religious values...these difference do not imply some sort of automatic state of CONFLICT..­..conflict is infused when one tries to oppose a particular viewpoint with their own...there is a time and place when two seemingly different viewpoints need to be placed in conflict...this however is not one of those instances. The fact that a small yet fair amount of people can't seem to discern the difference and can't objectively acknowledge the blatant inappropiate suggestion of Mr Sarkosy as wrong is a sad reflection of our understanding of Justice.

[Neal Jansons]

People that are angry at Sarkozy for this are like those who get angry at cops for interfering in domestic violence..."But it's not their business, the husband will just be more angry and punish the wife"...yeah, right. Condemn the men who won't let them out of the house, who threaten them with violence and subjugate them, who brainwash the daughters and legally rape the mothers, not the law of the land that would challenge the entire system.

For those of you who are trying to say this is a cultural issue...do you really believe that values like human rights and women's equality are cultural quirks, like preferring ketchup to mayonnaise on your fries? If you do, then you do those ideals a great disservice. If you do not, then stop helping those that would use these notions to tie the hands of anyone who would interfere in their atrocities.

Misogyny and the systematic oppression of women doesn't somehow become moral because it is old or because the person acting on it was indoctrinated into it rather than coming up with it themselves. I applaud Sarkozy and wish every civilized nation in the world would confront the religions and traditions that institute, aid, and abet the abuse and oppression of people.

[stardust835]

Don't put more laws on women that restrict their choices in the name of freedom.

[newsjunkie5]

WHY ARE ALL LAWS WRITTEN BY MEN? WHY ARE RELIGIONS CONTROLLED BY MEN?

[ReyLoo]

while this cultural dress may be a valid reflection of some form of ill or unhealthy perspective about man/women relationships in these various cultures..­.Sarkozy's suggesting is still blatanly WRONG, inappropiate and childish...it is like attempting to fix my malfunctioning computer with a sledgehammer and a shovel...F­RUITLESS!!­!

[ReyLoo]

not all people suscribe to your man made notion of nation based borders...some people operate from the factually based perspective that they were born not merely in FRANCE or IRAN...but in fact were born and raised on PLANET EARTH...and should have the right to live or travel where they please and dress and live their life as they please...obviously with a healthy dose of consideration for their fellow earthlings regardless of the latitude/longitude point they entered this material plane at...these are peoples using their FREE WILL to make a choice, a choice that is not causing you or anyone else any bodily harm...if you think they should change that choice there is this thing called "CONVERSATION" when you can converse with people about issues that do not have a nature that violates HUMAN RIGHTS...you may or may not convince them of your viewpoint on an issue...but this is the way to handle issues of this nature...not through LAW...law is for issues of indivduals or groups making choices or taking actions that actually harm the lives of our fellow HUMANS.

peace, reyloo(los angeles)
"Do not use fire to water your plants...they may remain thirsty and die"

[Paul Henry Eche]

"In Rome do what Romans do. " Thats quiet simple.
If you seek refuge in a house, you have to follow the rules of the owner not try to impose yours. If you are not agree, you can still go back to your barbaric country, nobody forces you to stay in France.
That said, I have a message for all the bunch of "American God Fearers": you dont like the French manage religion in their own country ? Neither do the French like the fact that you legally murder your convicts in the US.
Does that keep you from sleeping ?
Neither from they !.

[jad114]

The Romans actually allowed some sovreignty for people in their own countries. Can't say the same for colonial powers especially France (i.e. Alegeria)

[joz22]

Then next time when you travel in the Middle East you should dress like they do. France has extarminated more than a million Algerians...who's barbaric ?

[ReyLoo]

not all people suscribe to your man made notion of nation based borders...some people operate from the factually based perspective that they were born not merely in FRANCE or IRAN...but in fact were born and raised on PLANET EARTH...and should have the right to live or travel where they please and dress and live their life as they please...obviously with a healthy dose of consideration for their fellow earthlings regardless of the latitude/longitude point they entered this material plane at...these are peoples using their FREE WILL to make a choice, a choice that is not causing you or anyone else any bodily harm...if you think they should change that choice there is this thing called "CONVERSATION" when you can converse with people about issues that do not have a nature that violates HUMAN RIGHTS...you may or may not convince them of your viewpoint on an issue...but this is the way to handle issues of this nature...not through LAW...law is for issues of indivduals or groups making choices or taking actions that actually harm the lives of our fellow HUMANS.

peace, reyloo(los angeles)
"Do not use fire to water your plants...they may remain thirsty and die"

[justice2008]

Sarkozy is yet another MAN who wants to control women!

[S1m0n]

If Sarkozy was willing to let islamic women to dress him, maybe they'd feel better about letting him tell them how to dress.

[alexa07]

"Many critics to Sarkozy's proposal claim that he deliberately initiated a burqa polemic to distract from his low approval rating of 32 percent down from 60 percent for the six months following his election. The burqa is Sarkozy's nationalistic prop, and its emotional appeal temporally outweighs his unfulfilled promises on such issues as guaranteeing workers five weeks of paid leave annually and the 35-hour workweek which Sarkozy had to get rid of once the economy started to sink."

I vote for Sarkozy's critics. If only a very few Afghan women in France actually do wear burqas, why make it an issue unless there is a hidden agenda about how to distract the French voters from his unfulfilled promises? If so, he won't be the first politician to use scapegoats to bolster himself, considering his popularity has plummeted from 60% all the way down to 32%.

[jhamm1]

Talk about "hiding behind the Burqa"! It seems as if this article is merely beating around the bush by alleging "misplaced priorities" or a "popularity contest" in order to conceal the true chauvanistic diatribe that propels Dajani's article.

"Aamina, a soft spoken Afghan widow, immigrated to France in 2005 to join her brother who works as a janitor in the Métro after her husband was killed in an attack by the Taliban. She said that she had not expected that her burqa would become the subject of controversy in France."

Sorry, but that's not gonna work either, for history has long since demonstrated the mentality of those who supposedy relish their own oppression, merely on account of having been excessively brainwashed or simply having never known a lifestyle that differs.

Many of us remember historical examples, such as slaves who became reluctant to leave the plantation following the end of the American Civil War. Yet, that in and of itself symbolized not "freedom of choice", but merely the result of being driven into believing in the lack of one's worth while fearing a lifestyle that differed so radically from one which they had known since childbirth.

And as much as I hate to quote television shows in relation to current events, I respond to the insistence on one's "right" to don the Burqa with a relevant quotation from Magnum PI, in that:

"It rather defeats the purpose of freedom if one "freely" chooses to be enslaved.

[leonardox1]

jhamm1- Your language reminds me of orientalsts writings...as if you know what's better for Afghans or Muslims. I think Mr. Dajani provided an honest account based on his interviews and the people he spoke to in France.

[alexa07]

What a breath of fresh air! I have seen the comments of many American Muslim women discredited by other posters who purportedly have their very best interests at heart, but don't want to read what the women actually have to say about scarves, veils & the like. Or they want to refute, debate with the Muslim posters. It's orientalism, exactly as Edward Said described along with many axes to grind against Muslims. These posters might benefit from viewing Jamal's "Mosaic" on Link TV where one sees mostly uncovered female anchors from the various countries in the region; a variety of covered & uncovered women sitting in parliament assemblies (more so, in the case of some countries than in the US Congress) as well as many varieties of female clothing on the streets of Beirut, Cairo, Ramallah et al.

[EricStrobes]

Western society has various standards. One is that we do cover our gentials. Another is that we do not cover our faces.

I personally do not care what people wear but I am exceedingly uncomfortable when I can't see someone's face because they are wearing a mask. I don't want such a fashion taking hold as it is a breech of my cultural norms. It also discriminates against people who rely on lip reading.

[jad114]

How about someone wearing a motorcycle helmet?

[EricStrobes]

LoL - very funny!

[ReyLoo]

i think you said it yourself..."my cultural norms" is how you said it...exactly!!! They are YOURS...so don't push them on OTHERS...let OTHERS choose their own cultural norms...so long as it is not causing you any bodily harm...why is it even your business to tell them to stop their cultural norm. I swear!!! People need to start putting themselves in other peoples shoes before they spout off about others.

[Bluedogdemocrat8650]

Do women have to observe Islamic law when in the Middle East, yes. Then observe French law!!