About 2000 women, of France's estimated 5 million Muslims wear the Islamic burqa. Yet, this micro-minority so alarms the fractious politicians of France, that they have united to fight it..
On July 13,2010 the National Assembly passed a draft law (335 to 1) declaring no one in a public space may wear clothing to hide the face, no matter what religion.
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They are bullies in number. Not one the the 2000 women were asked if she felt oppressed, they were not asked anything. It was just decided for them.
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The worst of the intolerance came from Jean-Francois Cope, the Assembly Majority Leader, who said, " How can you establish a relationship with a person who, by hiding a smile or a glance...refuses to exist in the eyes of others?"
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To which Bobby Ghosh, author, replied," If veiled Frenchwomen are forced to reveal their faces, will people like Cope hide theirs, in shame?"
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While the work I do requires me at times to live an insular life, I have simply neglected thinking about injustice in the world around me. My wake up call was last week. I may wear my heart on my sleeve, but I feel alive again.
xoSherry
4 comments:
This is so sad that the National Assembly has passed this draft law. Especially in this day and age when tolerance should be more common. I actually love how mysterious Muslim women look with only their eyes showing. It is beautiful.
Exactly. I did a lot of reading about this prior to writing the post.
Since when was freedom of religion abolished and an attempt to legislate intolerence enacted?
Oh, by the way, intolerance and vitriol in comments will not be let through.
It's my blog and it is not a democracy.
Prior to moving overseas for my husband's job, I never really gave much thought to injustice and I've worked with people from all backgrounds and have enjoyed learning about different cultures and religions. But I was surprised at the comments made by others overseas who were really against foreigners living and working in their country, and particularly once the economy was hit hard and many had to resort to unemployment benefit payments from the government to make ends meet. The reaction by nationals was that foreigners shouldn't be entitled to benefits and should return to the countries they came from even though during the big boom they were there to work and contribute through their taxes to the growth. It boggles my mind that this type of thinking is out there. I felt like I had stepped back in time.
Women are never asked- just decided for. I think that's the part that makes me the most outraged!
Giving thought and expression to injustice done to ourselves and others is important and transforms us all. It is always better to know than not to know, even if it is painful. Thank you for sharing your passion, Sherry.
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