An attack on French Muslims
IN THE midst of the most severe global economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, you'd think that leaders of major world powers would be busy pursuing policies aimed at alleviating the suffering of their citizens. In the case of France's center-right President Nicolas Sarkozy, you'd be wrong.
Sarkozy recently took time out from waging war on France's working class--he has consistently blamed an overly "generous" social democratic welfare state for France's economic woes--to set his sights on a favorite target: French Muslims.
In a recent speech before the French Parliament--the first such address by a sitting president of the Republic since 1875--Sarkozy rose (or rather sank) to the occasion in grand racist fashion. "The burqa is not a religious sign," he declared, referring to the garment worn by some Muslim women. "It is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission, of women." He then added, to fulsome applause, as the New York Times reported, "I want to say solemnly that it will not be welcome on our territory."
He even graciously offered to lend guidance to women seeking an end to their "subjugation." "When we meet women who wear it, we try to educate them, and explain to them that moderation is a better choice," he said. And then there was this chestnut: "We cannot accept in our country women imprisoned behind bars, cut off from social life, deprived of identity."
Strange words indeed from the head of a country that did not officially recognize a woman's right to control her own body until 1975, and that, to this day, prohibits women from obtaining an abortion past the 10th week of pregnancy without the approval of two independent physicians.
Since 1994, the French state has imposed itself even more forcefully in the lives of French women: French law stipulates that a panel of experts must be convened in order to determine which birth defects are serious enough to warrant abortion after the 10th week of a woman's pregnancy.
In a nation that contains the largest Muslim population in Western Europe--5 million--Sarkozy's rants carry a special significance. This is an attempt to shift the focus from his own failed agenda and deeply unpopular social and economic policies, Sarkozy's attack on the burqa needs to be seen for what it actually is: an attack on all Muslim women, and on Islam itself.
Confronted by growing opposition to his program of neoliberal austerity and (ruling) class warfare, Sarkozy is desperate for traction. He has made it clear where he will make his gallant stand: on the backs of Muslim women in France.
James Fiorentino, Amherst, Mass.
