THE TELEGRAPH: President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that the Islamic burqa is 'not welcome' in France.
In a speech at the Palace of Versailles, Mr Sarkozy said that the head-to-toe Islamic garment for women was not a symbol of religion but a sign of subservience for women.
"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience," he told members of both parliamentary houses gathered for his speech.
He added: "It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic."
His comments follow an appeal last week by 65 French MPs for a parliamentary commission to examine whether Muslim women who cover themselves fully in public undermine the secular tradition in France as well as women's rights. >>> By The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff and Agencies in Paris | Monday, June 22, 2009
LE FIGARO - Extrait: LA BURQA, NON GRATA DANS LA RÉPUBLIQUE
S'exprimant sur la polémique qui a enflammé la classe politique française, le président de la République a estimé que la burqa soulevait un «problème de dignité et de respect de la femme». «Ce n'est pas un signe religieux, c'est un signe d'asservissement (…) Elle ne sera pas la bienvenue sur le territoire de la République française», a-t-il tranché. Il reviendra au Parlement de se prononcer sur l'opportunité d'un texte de loi. [Source: Le Figaro] | Julie Connan (lefigaro.fr) Lundi 22 Juin 2009
TAGES ANZEIGER: Sarkozy: «Burkas sind ein Zeichen der Unterdrückung»
In einer Grundsatzrede vor dem Parlament schlug der französische Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy ein Verbot des Ganzkörper-Schleiers für Frauen vor. Von der Opposition erntet er Kritik.
Zu den grossen Krisenherden der Welt nahm Sarkozy in seiner Rede nicht Stellung. Dafür sagte er den Burkas in Frankreich den Kampf an. Die Burkas seien ein Zeichen der Unterwerfung und Unterdrückung der Frau, sagte der französische Staatspräsident. Muslimische Frauen verdecken sich mit einer Burka nicht nur Körper und Haar, sondern auch Gesicht und Augen.
«Wir können nicht zulassen, dass es in unserem Land hinter einem Gitter gefangene Frauen gibt, die vom sozialen Leben ausgeschlossen und jeder Identität beraubt sind», sagte Sarkozy. Das Parlament solle die Burka auf französischem Staatsgebiet verbieten. «Das ist die beste Art vorzugehen.» Sarkozys Vorschlag kommt an einem Tag, an dem er noch am Morgen den Emir des Wüstenstaats Katar, Scheich Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, empfangen hatte. >>> oku/sda | Montag, 22. Juni 2009
BBC: French Balls!
Since this was the first time in almost one and a half centuries that a French president had been allowed to address parliament, President Nicolas Sarkozy's speech was already on course to ruffle a few feathers.
The Greens and Communists refused to attend and the Socialists left early, claiming the venue for the address - the Chateau of Versailles, which was home to King Louis XIV - smacked of monarchy and a thirst for power.
But it was the French leader's attack on the burka that really caused a stir.
He expressed his strong distaste for the head-to-toe Islamic veil, calling it not a sign of religion but a sign of subservience.
"It will not be welcome on French soil," he said." We cannot accept, in our country, women imprisoned behind a mesh, cut off from society, deprived of all identity. That is not the French republic's idea of women's dignity."
President Sarkozy's comments have not come out of the blue.
They are in response to a call last week by a group of 65 cross-party MPs, led by the Communist Andre Gerin, who wants a parliamentary commission set up to investigate the spread of the burka in France.
They want to see whether such a spread is indicative of a radicalisation of Islam, whether women are being forced to cover themselves or are doing so voluntarily, and whether wearing the burka undermines French secularism.
Mr Gerin believes the burka "amounts to a breach of individual freedom on our national territory".
Because, if the mention of monarchy triggers warning bells in France, the mention of religion triggers much louder ones.
Ban in schools
The concept of secularism or "laicite" is sacred in France.
The separation of church and state is jealously guarded by everyone from school teachers to government ministers - and the constitution states the republic "does not recognise, subsidise or renumerate any religious body".
It underpinned the French Revolution, and has been a basic tenet of the country's progressive thought since the 18th century when French Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Diderot and Montesquieu regarded religion as divisive, benighted and intolerant.
It was this same concept that was invoked five years ago to ban conspicuous signs of religion - including Islamic headscarves - from schools.
That decision sparked controversy and debate across Europe, with critics claiming it stigmatised Muslims at a time when France needed to be stepping up its fight against rife discrimination in the job market, which had caused so many youths of Muslim origin to feel forgotten by French society.
This latest call for a potential ban of the burka has prompted the head of the French Council for the Muslim Religion to warn MPs they risk stigmatising Muslims again. Sarkozy Stirs French Burka Debate >>> By Emma Jane Kirby, BBC News, Paris | Monday, June 22, 2009
