This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/4529
September 14, 2010
September 14, 2010 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Today the French Senate voted to ban the wearing of long burqa-esque veils in public. The overwhelming vote [246-1, but with abstentions] combined with a previous vote by the Assembly means that upon the signature of president Sarkozy, the ban will go into effect.
Though the new legislation could conceivably be blocked by the country's Constitutional Council, given the widespread public support for the measure that outcome seems unlikely.
Today's vote highlights a struggle playing out across the continent, pitting small "L" liberal values such as religious accommodation against demands by Islamists to force civil governments into Shari'a compliance. A key component of Shari'a is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, a theocracy.
Fines and even jail time could be imposed to enforce the new law with the most serious [nearly $40,000, see Al Jazeera, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/09/2010914184958118128.html] being reserved for men who force women to wear the veils. Fines may be accompanied by as much as a year in jail.
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http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=veil9.14.10%2Ehtm
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/4529