France has always and I mean ALWAYS had a history of Islamophobia...but, for those of you who don’t know what’s going on right now:
They’re trying to ban the slaughter of Halal chicken, citing animal cruelty and claiming Halal (I believe they also discussed Kosher) methods of slaughter are unethical compared to the European practice of stunning the animal (the Halal way of slaughter would be a cut to the jugular vein so that the animal feels no pain).
They then moved to ban the wearing of the Hijab (the Muslim headscarf) for girls under 18 in public places.
They also want to ban Hijabi mothers (women who wear the Hijab) from accompanying their child on school field trips.
Furthermore, they want to ban the Burkini (a swimsuit that a lot of Muslim women wear) at public swimming pools.
These restrictions (I have definitely not covered a lot of them) fall under France’s Separatism Bill which still needs to be passed by the National Assembly. France maintains that these actions are to uphold secularism (the separation of religion and state).
However, these targeted laws and the statements accompanying them...
The Hijab ban was the “prohibition in the public space of any conspicuous religious sign by minors and of any dress or clothing which would signify an inferiorization of women over men.” This is a commonly used trope about Islam and Muslim men; that they are oppressive of women which is absolutely not true...take it from a Muslim woman! 🧕🏽
Emmanuel Macron said that Hijab is “not in accordance with French ideals”. This again alludes to the misconception that Hijab is oppressive and that by taking it away, we are liberating women. I don’t deny that there are women who had Hijab forced upon them, but what France is not acknowledging is that the forcing of any religious action upon people is completely the opposite of Islamic teachings and that there are actually women out there who can make decisions about what they want to wear...Surprise! It may come as a bit of a shock to them...
...just showcase how deeply rooted these laws are in Islamophobia and how France is maximizing restrictions on daily Muslim life just to...be a white saviour?
There are five million Muslims in France right now and they are all being affected by this.
As of right now I’m trying to find ways to counteract this. @feel-like-studying has linked a petition in the replies of this post. I’ll also link it here:
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