Burqa dispute reveals French Islamophobia

France has turned down the naturalisation application of a Moroccan man because he forces his French wife to veil her face and body. The Tageszeitung finds the French government's position regarding the burqa ban - that it is doing so in the name of women's rights - to be disingenuous: "Unfortunately, Nicolas Sarkozy's government only invokes women's rights when it suits them. It tolerates without compunction the fact that women earn about 20 percent less than men. Or that the rights to contraception and especially to abortion are seriously challenged when, because of budget cuts, many women's advice centres must close. It is therefore scarcely in the position to present feminist arguments. ... One would almost be inclined to agree to a prohibition if it would help the fight against submission and violence in the family. But behind the progressive rhetoric against the burqa and niqab is a noticeably thinly-veiled Islamophobia."

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Migration, » Integration, » Minorities, » France
All available articles from » Rudolf Balmer

» To the complete press review of Thursday, February 4, 2010