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Paris - Al-Qaeda Eyes Revenge For France Veil Ban |
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President Nicolas Sarkozy had said earlier this month that the burka, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country.
"Yesterday was the hijab (the Islamic headscarf long banned in French schools) and today, it is the niqab (the full veil)," the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Abu Musab Abdul Wadud was quoted as saying.
"We will take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters against France and against its interests by every means at our disposal."
The group also called on Muslims to retaliate for what it called French " hostility" against the community and its attempt to obstruct Islam's practice on its territory.
"For us, the mujahedeen ... we will not remain silent to such provocations and injustices," Abdul Wadud said without elaborating, according to SITE.
"We call upon all Muslims to confront this hostility with greater hostility, and to counter France's efforts to divide male and female believers from their faith with a greater effort ... (by) adherence to the teachings of their Islamic sharia."
He said Muslims in France, who are estimated at around 5 million, are " increasingly concerned about the practices of French politicians and leaders and their harassment".
On June 22, Sarkozy said the burka wasn't a symbol of religious faith but a sign of women's "subservience," adding that the head-to-toe veil was "not welcome" in staunchly secular France.
The French National Assembly set up an inquiry into the rising number of Muslim women who wear the burka.
France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community and faces a dilemma between accommodating Islam and maintaining secularism. In 2004, it passed a law banning headscarves or any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in schools to uphold a separation between church and state.
Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri criticized the law, saying the decision showed "the grudge the Western crusaders have against Islam."
France is the only state in Europe to have such a ban.
It isn't known how many women wear the burka in France.
The majority of Muslim clerics around the world don't regard wearing the burka, unlike the head cover, as a religious obligation under Islam.
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Read Comments (12) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 30, 2009 at 05:38 PM Anonymous Says:
There we go again, to burka or not to burka............
2
Jun 30, 2009 at 05:29 PM The Litvak Yid Says:
How does banning the burqa affect anyone else? Does the burqa force other women in society to cover their face? NO... It should be a persons right to practice religion anyway they like until it hurts another person. As a Torah Jew I am very concerned that next we will be told that Torah Jews cannot wear a schtriemel or a yarmulke in public. Next we wont be able to have a mechitza etc... In so called "enlightened" european countreis they are talking about forbidden circumcision until the age of 13. So dont tell me I am paranoid. Think about what I am saying...
3
Jun 30, 2009 at 05:28 PM Monsey Man Says:
The French are going about this the wrong way! They should require Muslim MEN to wear burqas too.
4
Jun 30, 2009 at 05:22 PM Anonymous Says:
it's either a free country or it's not - French can't have it both ways.
5
Jun 30, 2009 at 06:34 PM Anonymous Says:
like the crazy fanatics need an excuse to start bombing france eh?!anytime anyone says anything against islam they go off their head with voilent talk.where are the moderates to shout them down??
6
Jun 30, 2009 at 06:12 PM Anonymous Says:
“ How does banning the burqa affect anyone else? Does the burqa force other women in society to cover their face? NO... It should be a persons right to practice religion anyway they like until it hurts another person. As a Torah Jew I am very concerned that next we will be told that Torah Jews cannot wear a schtriemel or a yarmulke in public. Next we wont be able to have a mechitza etc... In so called "enlightened" european countreis they are talking about forbidden circumcision until the age of 13. So dont tell me I am paranoid. Think about what I am saying... ”
I am listening to what you are saying. The say that they should be allowed to wear the burkas "until they hurt someone". Interesting.
7
Jun 30, 2009 at 07:29 PM Babishka Says:
“ How does banning the burqa affect anyone else? Does the burqa force other women in society to cover their face? NO... It should be a persons right to practice religion anyway they like until it hurts another person. As a Torah Jew I am very concerned that next we will be told that Torah Jews cannot wear a schtriemel or a yarmulke in public. Next we wont be able to have a mechitza etc... In so called "enlightened" european countreis they are talking about forbidden circumcision until the age of 13. So dont tell me I am paranoid. Think about what I am saying... ”
There is a valid reason to prohibit wearing the burqa and niqab in public. There have been ROBBERIES committed by criminals wearing burqas so they won't be identified. Criminals have escaped from crime scenes while wearing a burqa.
8
Jun 30, 2009 at 07:18 PM sluve Says:
You people don't understand that wearing a burka is a safety issue, anyone can just hide behind it! France is becoming a muslim country, pretty scarry!
9
Jun 30, 2009 at 08:26 PM Anonymous Says:
Banning the burqa is not discrimination its strictly a safety issue. can you imagine a drivers license or passport picture with a burqa.you cant take a passport picture with a ski mask. Ski masks should also be forbidden in the streets.
10
Jul 01, 2009 at 08:24 AM THANK YOU 7,8 & 9 Says:
why was it so hard for the rest of you to think of the obvious!!! NO the French don't give a darn if your wearing a yarmulka or cap for yiras shamayim or frankly because you like to...but burkas? Hello? That's the easiet way to disguise oneself "for religious purposes". Even people who abide by covering their entire head for religious purposes, you can still distinguish between "suspicious or not". Andnot take advantage of this safe haven.
11
Jul 01, 2009 at 10:56 AM Raphael Kaufman Says:
“ it's either a free country or it's not - French can't have it both ways. ”
France is not a "free country" the way we Americans understand the term. There is much more government inteference and control of citizens' private lives than we would put up with.
12
Jul 01, 2009 at 06:27 PM Anonymous Says:
This is bad. It is terribly rude, mean, impolite, and really a not nice way to treat some really good people.
If a few bad folks used a niqab or burka to commit crimes, that should not take away the good people's right to wear them.
We ought to show solidarity with our Muslim cousins, by having Jews dress like that .... fight for religious freedom.