(NAME-MCE) A Jewish voice against the "burqa ban"

[Bill Howe]

Note: interesting perspective

 


A Jewish voice against the "burqa ban"
Joshua M. Z. Stanton

  

New York, New York - Even as a Jew in New York, I know what it is like to be
Muslim in France. 

While studying abroad in the French city of Strasbourg in 2007, I decided to
grow a bushy beard. Little did I know that in France only traditional Jewish
and Muslim men don anything but the most finely trimmed moustache or goatee.
Since I did not wear a yarmulke or other head covering, people who saw me on
the street assumed that I was Muslim. 

I felt that police officers and passersby treated me with suspicion, and
even on the crowded rush hour bus few chose to sit next to me if they could
avoid it. On one occasion someone followed me home and tried to start a
fight, only to find I was a bewildered American, not a French Muslim. 

Never before, and never since, have I experienced disdain of this sort. On a
daily basis, I was made to feel badly because of my appearance-and what was
presumed to be my corresponding religious affiliation. So when I read of the
impending effort by parliamentary leader Jean-François Copé and his
supporters to criminalise the burqa (and other garments that fully cover a
woman's body, head and face) in France, I understood it to be far more than
a measure to protect women's rights or preserve the concept of a secular
society, on which the modern French state is built. 

In my opinion, it is easy to see how the "burqa ban" might be misused as a
part of a broader effort to stigmatise a religious population, one that
already perceives itself to be on the margins of society.

Admittedly, I am fundamentally opposed to any garment or religious
practice-including those found in my own Jewish tradition-that suggests
women hold a different or subservient position than men. But the burqa ban
in France will not achieve the aim of gender equality. If anything, it will
strengthen religious conservatives in France's Muslim population by
convincing members of the moderate majority of Muslims that the rest of
French society will never accept them. 

While there are said to be only 2,000 women who wear burqas in all of France
today, the entire Muslim population, estimated to be around five to six
million, will take umbrage at another measure that singles out their
community. 

If we assume that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is genuinely motivated by
the belief that burqas are a "sign of subservience, a sign of debasement,"
according to the 16 January edition of The Economist, his best response
would in fact be to enact measures welcoming Muslim citizens more fully into
French society. Such affirmations would undercut efforts by the small
minority of religiously conservative Muslims to gather a following among
disaffected coreligionists who feel unable to overcome anti-Muslim
prejudice.

The need for the French government to treat religious minorities with
respect is bolstered by its own history. In 1781, the enlightened German
thinker Christian Wilhelm von Dohm made what at the time was a revolutionary
suggestion: "Certainly, the Jew will not be prevented by his religion from
being a good citizen, if only the government will give him a citizen's
rights." 

But it was the French who first put Dohm's prophetic vision into action. 

In 1806, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte emancipated French Jews by
passing laws to improve their economic and social status. He invited them to
live anywhere they pleased, as opposed to confinement in crowded city slums
and frequent itinerancy in the countryside. He also officially recognised
their religion and affirmed its permanent place within the private sphere of
French life. 

Through these acts of profound tolerance over 200 years ago, France set an
example for all of Europe and proved that its open-mindedness was more than
rhetorical.

Modern France would do well to follow its own admirable example and truly
treat Muslim citizens as equal participants in society. Foregoing the burqa
ban would be a sensible first step. 

###

* Joshua M. Z. Stanton is co-editor of the Journal of Inter-Religious
Dialogue (www.irdialogue.org) and a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union
College in New York City. This article was written for the Common Ground
News Service (CGNews).

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 26 January 2010,
<http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=47jfDNlsNdYVVZOdQj0yZdT
C6ssp7cWk> www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

 

 

Bill Howe

Personal Website -    <http://www.billhowe.org/> http://www.billhowe.org
Travel Blog -   <http://billhowe.org/BillBlog/>
http://billhowe.org/BillBlog/
Multicultural Dimensions -  <http://www.multiculturaldimensions.org/>
http://www.multiculturaldimensions.org
Multicultural Education Blog -  <http://billhowe.org/MCE/>
http://billhowe.org/MCE/
Travel to China and Hong Kong July 10-24, 2010 
- <http://www.billhowe.org/China2010.htm>
http://www.billhowe.org/China2010.htm