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Protest against France’s Niqab ban - Defend freedom of religious and cultural expression - No to Islamophobia

D 11 avril 2011     H 19:16     A     C 0 messages


Monday 11 April, 6pm
Outside the French Embassy
58 Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7JT
(nearest tube Knightsbridge)

Called by

Unite Against Fascism and One Society Many Cultures

Supported by

British Muslim Initiative / Islamic Forum of Europe / Islam Expo / Enough Coalition

The ban on the niqab (full face veil) is due to come into force in France today. This denies Muslim women freedom of religious and cultural expression and the right to choose what they wear. Free and democratic societies should allow people to express their faith and culture, and women to dress however they choose.

The only beneficiary of this ban and the Islamophobic campaign that has accompanied it is the fascist Front National, which recently polled 36% of the vote where it stood candidates and 11% across the country, in France’s regional elections. There is a danger that FN leader Marine Le Pen could finish second in next year’s presidential elections.

Although there are no proposals to introduce such legislation in Britain, the ban on the niqab in France has provoked Islamophobic discussions and campaigns here. UKIP and the BNP have called for a ban on the burqa and niqab. There have also been racist attacks on Muslim women wearing head scarves and face veils.

Click Here for Facebook group

The Observer article :
Liberté, égalité, fraternité – unless, of course, you would like to wear a burqa
Viv Groskop writes in The Observer that the ban is "...just a form of Islamophobia. In France the ban already feels unworkable, fatally divisive and, frankly, pathetic."

Click here to read the full article
Evening Standard article : ’Its not that you wear the burka but your right to wear it.’

Sebastian Shakespeare’s article describes the ban as " politicking of the worst kind, pandering to anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe ... It would make more sense to ban the burger than the burka. After all, methane gases emitted by cows are a major factor in global warming. This debate is pernicious and misguided and smacks of hysteria."