Mes Nouvelles

Who's affraid of veiled woman

I'm happy to finally be able to spare some time to write my blog. Especially this is my first one. Today I ate with a long time collegue who brought up this subject.
"Alors, qu'est-ce t'en penses de la loi contre le voile?"
"So what do you think about the law against the headscarf?"
This is the proposed law of the Staci Commission, that was asked by the French President, concerning the ban on any religious symbols, such as the headscarf, the crucifix or the Jewish skullcap, at schools and public institutions. The work of the Commission was a result of the "Affaire Aubervilliers", a case that caused a big stir in the media. In the first week of October, two sisters who wear the headscarf were suspended from their school in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers. What makes this case so unusual is that the girls come from a family of atheists. Their father's origins are Jewish, while their mother is a non practicing muslim Algerian, but both parents say they have no religious beliefs.
Often, the girls who choose to cover up are French-born children of immigrant parents - unable to understand their parents' values, but unable also to achieve acceptance among their classmates. Some thus turn to Islam as a symbol of identity and of belonging.
The majority of French are in favor of the law. They see the veil as a symbol of woman's oppression, which is often the case in some arab and muslim countries. It is true that the problems in the Middle East, the war between the United States and Iraq and the rise in terrorism have had consequences on the community. The French has all the right to ensure the "preservation of secularism".
For some critics, the headscarf is a also sign of the government's failure to integrate the country's immigrants. "It is a question of tackling the problems of integration, discrimination, gender equality and social and economic inequality. And it is not with a new law that such problems can be solved."
The entire debate on religious freedoms in France has become irrelevant. Not to mention the role of the Media that could help to calm down. "Saddam Hussein has been captured, the European Union has broken down, the world economy is slow to recover, unemployment is taking root, but France chooses to debate secularism!"
The veil is not only to cover the head but also to cover up more important problems. So why do we fear of the veiled women ?

posted by Miss L @ 11:59 PM