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:]`af\ l`] :mjiY :Yf The French Senate passed legislation by a vote of 246 to 1 on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, making it illegal for individuals to cover their faces in public. The bill now waits for approval from France’s top court, the Constitutional Council, which has one month to rule before the bill can be signed into law by President Nicolas Sarkozy. It passed with overwhelming support in France’s lower house, the National Assembly, last July. Although the law does not specifically reference Islam, it will affect Muslim women who wear the burqa or the niqab, two articles of clothing which completely cover the face and body. Under the new law, women can be required by police to show their face, and if they refuse, they would face a fine of approximately $185. The law also makes it illegal to force any woman to wear a burqa, and this act carries a penalty of up to 1 year in prison and a fine of $38,400. The proposal has drawn widespread backing from the French public to ban the burqa, with a Pew Global Attitudes poll reporting that in April and May 80% of the French public backed the ban. The approval of this bill reflects the worry that many French citizens have about the growing visibility of Islam in French society. There is a “re-veiling” trend among a younger generation of girls, and many French citizens are concerned that this is due to the manipulation of Islam by
zealots. The ban on the burqa is promoted as a way to discourage fundamentalist Islam from taking root in France. In a telephone interview with The Hill, Amara Bamba, chief editor of Saphir News, a paper for Muslims in France, said that that the re-veiling trend points to a “search for identity for the Muslim youth” and does not mean that Islam is being corrupted by extremists in France. He explained that French institutions are built against religion, and this is why the newest religion in France has been encountered so much resistance.France is a country with deep-seated secularist sentiments, as seen by the law passed in 2004, which mandated that all prominent religious signs, including the burqa, be banned from state schools and other public buildings. This is based off the stern French belief in laïcité, a complete separation of church and state. The burqa also poses a security concern. Supporters of the ban have said that there are certain instances, such as picture IDs, voting, marriage, medical treatment, or exams, that require an unveiled face. Admission to banks, jewelry shops, sports events, consulates, and airports may also require an identifiable face. Many prominent French politicians have spoken out as the burqa confining the freedom of women. President Nicolas Sarkozy has also said that the “full veil is contrary to the dignity of women”. He
called for respect for Muslims in the same speech. Potential backlash for the law is great. It is estimated that there are 1,900 women who wear the burqa in France, a country with a Muslim population of 5-6 million. Some of these women wear the veil for genuine religious beliefs; however, there are others who wear it because it is the only way they would be permitted to go outside. This leads to fears that the burqa ban may confine women to their home, and for this reason, many in the feminist movement and the political left reject the ban on the burqa. There are also fears that the law may stigmatize French Muslims. Many liberals are uneasy about a direct encroachment on personal freedom, saying the ban would strengthen suspicions in the Islamic world that Europe discriminates against Islam. Law enforcement would also be difficult, as there would be challenges in proving that a woman is wearing her burqa under the order of a man. If the bill is not challenged by the Constitutional Council, it will come into effect in six months, granting citizens time to learn what the ban entails. Judicial challenges are expected by the European Court of Human Rights and by the Council of State. Most of the opposition to the bill in the National Assembly came in the form of abstentions by the Socialist Party, with the sole opposing vote cast by Daniel Garrigue, who fears that “To fight an extremist behavior, we risk slipping toward a totalitarian society.” Radhika Kshatriya is an undeclared sophomore.
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