News Agencies – December 18, 2010 Almost 40% of the French agree with National Front Marine Len Pen’s statements on Muslim prayer in the streets, according to France Soir. The vice-president of the Front National compared Muslim prayer to occupation. Among voters of Sarkozy’s UMP, 54% agree with Le Pen. In total, 61% of the…
A French council has lodged a complaint against a fast food chain that serves only meat that conforms with Islamic dietary laws at a local branch. The mayor of Roubaix, in northern France, said the halal menu constituted “discrimination” against non-Muslims. The Roubaix branch is one of several restaurants at which the chain, Quick, took…
Lawmaker Jean-Francois Cope, head of President Sarkozy’s UMP party suggested he would submit a bill to have the veil banned not just from public buildings but also in the streets of France. “We want a ban in public areas,” Cope said. However, the speaker of the lower chamber, Bernard Accoyer, said he felt his UMP…
Christophe Caresche, PS (Socialist Party) deputy of Paris, has positioned himself against a law banning headscarves in public places, seeing it as an arm which could accelerate “an already marginal phenomenon.” While claiming that wearing the burqa and niqab “call into question women’s dignity in the public sphere,” a ban being pushed by UMP deputies…
The national parliamentary commission investigating niqab and burqa-use in France will receive testimony from Tariq Ramadan on December 2nd. Le Figaro reports that according to André Gerin, there is increased division among the UMP on the importance of a law banning their use. The report is expected to be made public in January 2010.
