07 April 2011 By Adam Johnson Karima has a plan. If police stop her for wearing a
veil over her face, she'll remove it – then put it
back on once they're out of sight. If that doesn't
work, she'll stay home, or even leave France. For Muslim women who cover their faces with veils,
it is the moment for making plans. Starting April 11,
a new law banning garments that hide the face takes
effect. Women who disobey it risk a fine, special
classes and a police record. The law comes as Muslims face what some see as a
new jab at their religion: President Nicolas Sarkozy's
party is holding a debate Tuesday on the place of
Islamic practices, and Islam itself, in strictly
secular but traditionally Catholic France. The increasing focus on France's Muslims – who
number at least 5 million, the largest such population
in western Europe – comes with presidential elections
a year away and support for a far-right party growing.
A recent palpable rise in tensions has also been
boosted by fears of a mass migration of Muslims due to
disarray in the Arab world. Interior Minister Claude Gueant put it bluntly
Monday. "This growth in the number of (Muslims) and a
certain number of behaviors cause problems," he said
in remarks carried on French radio. "There is no
reason why the nation should accord to one particular
religion more rights than religions that were formerly
anchored in our country." France's challenge is evident in the Paris suburb
of Trappes. It has a large Muslim population and is
one of the few towns in France where veiled women are
occasionally seen on the streets. At the town hall, the subject of the impending
crackdown is taboo. Some predict police will turn a
blind eye to any veils to keep things tranquil. "I have a choice to take it off. I choose not to,"
said Karima, 25, shopping at the outdoor market in
this town of 29,000 southwest of Paris. Karima is forthright, though she refuses to provide
her full name because of her defiant stance on the
ban. Others are not so willing to talk. Two women
veiled in black scurried away when approached. "The problem of veils and so on become public
issues because people are afraid," said Farhad
Khosrokhavar, a noted expert on Islam in France. "It's
a process of scapegoating and it works beautifully." The topic of Tuesday's roundtable by Sarkozy's
conservative UMP party is officially secularism, a
foundational value of France. However, the talks are
expected to take up distinctly Muslim social issues
like halal food in school cafeterias or demands by
some for separate hours for women at public swimming
pools. Its backers say debate is needed to address
evolutions in French society – such as a growing
demand for mosque building and Islamic butchers –
since the country's 1905 law formally separated the
state from the Catholic Church. Detractors, however, see a sheer political ploy to
lure potential voters as Sarkozy's popularity keeps
sinking and the extreme-right National Front is
getting a second life under its new leader, Marine Le
Pen, the daughter of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.
While Le Pen's party performed well in local elections
in March, Sarkozy's party suffered a drubbing. Muslims have felt stigmatized by the 2004 law
banning Islamic headscarves in classrooms and again
during the intense debate that preceeded the face veil
ban. Muslim leaders are now so irked they have refused
any role in the roundtable. France's top religious leaders – Catholics,
Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims and
Buddhists – published a joint statement last week
saying the debate could add "to the confusion in the
troubled period we are traversing." Sarkozy fired his adviser on integration,
Abderrahmane Dahmane, last month for castigating party
leader Jean-Francois Cope, who is organizing the
talks. "Cope's UMP is the plague of Muslims," Dahmane said
in an interview. Dahmane is a controversial figure who has called on
French Muslims to wear a green star Tuesday, similar
to the yellow star that Jews were forced to wear under
Nazi occupation. Prominent Jewish figures in France
have bristled at the comparison. Another longstanding UMP member tore up his party
card in a rage at the Paris mosque. Abdallah Zekri, a
member of the High Council of Mosques of France from
the southwestern city of Nimes, says Arabs are being
targeted. "Muslims will always be scapegoats," he said at a
Paris news conference. "We no longer talk about
immigrants. We talk about Muslims." In unusual terms for a secular leader, Sarkozy
extolled the virtues of his country's "Christian
heritage" during a recent visit to Puy-en-Velay, the
starting point of a famed medieval Christian
pilgrimage route. "Without identity there is no diversity," the
president said. "The (French) republic is secular. It
belongs to each citizen without any distinction." Muslim women who choose to cover their faces with
veils may doubt that they belong. The measure banning the veil forbids women to hide
their faces in public places, even in the streets. It
punishes those who defy the law with a fine of euro150
or a citizenship course of both. Anyone discovered
forcing a woman to cover her face risks a year in
prison and a euro30,000 fine – doubled if the veiled
person is a minor. Authorities estimate at most 2,000 women in France
wear the outlawed garment. But for each of them
removing the filmy cloth would be an exceptional act. "Behind this is spirituality," said Karima, a
doctoral student of history with Algerian-born
parents. "This law will keep women at home." Khosrokhavar predicts that, despite the ban, the
status quo will quietly continue for many women, with
local authorities turning a blind eye. The French "have lots of lofty abstract principles"
like secularism, he said. "But when it comes to
dealing with it concretely, you cope with it." Comments 💬 التعليقات |