Belgium moves to ban burqa and niqab in public

It seems that Belgium is not following suit (France, the Netherlands) to ban burqa and niqab in public. 

According to The Guardian, the Home affairs committee of Brussels federal parliament voted unanimously to ban partial or total covering of faces in public. 

"It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and enclose an individual. Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society."

If the vote is ratified in April, as expected, Belgium will become the first European country to ban the burqa and niqab in public.

Major Development, France: PM against total Islamic veil ban

On Tuesday, the French Prime Minister advised the government that any total ban on face-covering Islamic veils could be unconstitutional. (I am in complete agreement here. The ban encroaches on human rights.) 

According to BBC, Prime Minister Francois Fillon asked the State Council for a legal opinion before drawing up a law on the subject. The State Council said a ban could be justified in some public places. Moreover, those drafting the legislation could ignore Tuesday's ruling, which stipulates that any law could be in violation of the French constitution as well as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

What do you think? Should the law be passed or not?

Has the Islamic debate in France crossed the line?

It seems that the debate over French identity and I believe the concern over religion in France, Islam in particular has turned a corner. Though, when I say “turned a corner”, I do not mean in a good/positive way by any means.

The French are now debating over halal burgers?! I mean really. After disputing burqas and Muslim rights and France’s national identity, French politicians are actually taking on the burger.

The French fast food chain, Quick, has decided to serve only halal meat in eight restaurants (Please note that this is 8 out of 362 in neighborhoods that are predominantly Muslim.) with a strong Muslim clientele. This has seemingly “sparked a wave of criticism from politicians decrying the step as unacceptable”.  The whole idea of a business like this is to serve the customer, no? I.e., create good business?  While the rational side of me can slightly grasp the idea, I am not sure I understand how or even why this is unacceptable.

According to The Christian Science Monitor, “to many Frenchmen, a halal Quick seems odd and perhaps not quite right in a society where religion should not stand out in ordinary life, under the strictly secular principles of laicite, or separation of church and state. As with the burqa question, support for secular France are found on the socialist left and strongly on the right, as well.” According to socialists, this new policy is discriminatory. “Quick customers should be able to order what is on the menu”, said socialist mayor of Roubaix, Rene Vandierendonck. Luc Chatel, the Sarkozy government spokesman in Paris, said he opposed halal Quicks since they supported ‘communitarianism’, a French term for identifying with a particular ethnic or religious group rather than egalitarian principles of the republic.

Al-Kanz.org, a Muslim consumer website, shot back, saying that irrespective of the merits of the case, Muslims were being unfairly targeted: "Would there have been as many media reactions if, instead of halal, Quick had chosen another niche, like bio [or organic whole foods]? Would a theme Quick with only Mexican or Chinese menus get such media reaction? No, of course not.”

In a statement issued Thursday, Quick France says the decision to go pork-less “is not religious” and notes that the eight restaurants are not authentically halal, since beer is also served there. In the eight, smoked turkey is substituted for bacon in what would ordinarily be a bacon burger. Note that Kentucky Fried Chicken apparently already sells halal chicken in France, though does so with no advertising.

I really just wonder if they are going too far this time. That is my concern.

A Need to Tread Carefully

In light of my recent post on the banning of veils in France, I thought I would write a follow-up piece on the far reaching consequences of this ban, or potential ban. It is more than just an issue of human rights.

It seems that in Pakistan, Conservative Sunni activism has ‘reemerged in the heart of Pakistan’. The Washington Post reports that “In recent weeks, even as conservative Sunnis have targeted Muslim minorities, they have also launched a high-profile campaign against Western European laws and practices that they allege are anti-Muslim. They have held peaceful rallies in downtown Lahore, met with journalists and sent delegations to the provincial legislature. Their movement opposes recent bans on veils in Denmark, a prohibition on new minaret and the republishing of controversial.” 

While I do not seek to address this movement, I do mean to insinuate that these actions by Western governments are forms of discrimination against minority Muslim communities. Moreover, they can potentially feed Islamic extremism.  

"We are against terrorism and the Taliban, and we don't want any conflict with other religions, but the West is playing with our emotions and trying to destroy the peace. They are the real terrorists," said Asim Makhdoom, a cleric from the Jamiat-e-Islami party, who preached against the cartoons and other European actions at a mosque one recent Friday.

"We believe this is the right time for Muslims across Pakistan and around the world to stand up and show they will not tolerate disrespect," Khalid Hafiz, a political adviser to cleric Hafiz Saeed, the spiritual leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said in a recent interview; the group is affiliated with the anti-Indian insurgent militia known as Lashkar-e-Taiba and was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and banned by Pakistan several years ago.

According to the Washington Post, “In raising alarms against anti-Muslim discrimination abroad, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its allies have chosen a distant cause that resonates with Pakistanis nationwide. People here were outraged when a Danish newspaper first published the offending cartoons several years ago, and a TV talk show recently featured two veiled women calling for European governments to "respect civil liberties" and curb "Islamophobia”.”

There is a need to tread carefully.