Veiled Values: Islam, Polygamy, & Equal Rights on Crash Course in France
A routine traffic stop in the western French city of Nantes has exploded into a national controversy over gender, women's rights, marriage, religion, and citizenship. The French government is currently seeking to ban the burqa and niqab, arguing that the voluminous, identity-hiding garments worn by some Muslim women constitute a violation of equal rights for women, are contrary to Western values, and pose a national security risk. Islamic groups and even members of the French judiciary say that such a law would violate the freedoms of religion and expression guaranteed by the French constitution. The traffic stop and its fallout have escalated the debate to a fever pitch in recent days.
On April 2, police officers pulled over a woman who appeared to be driving erratically. The 31-year-old woman was given a ticket for 22€ ($30) for her driving, but before the end of the traffic stop, the police officers also gave her a verbal warning about her attire. The woman, a Muslim, was wearing a niqab, a traditional veil that covers the face (except the eyes). During the encounter, the unnamed woman complied with all police directives, including handing over her identification and removing the niqab for verification of her identity. However, the officers warned that she could be cited in the future for wearing the veil while driving because it restricts her field of vision and thus constitutes a public danger. The woman responded that the officers' warning amounted to discrimination and lodged a complaint with the city:
«Et là, le policier m’annonce qu’il va me verbaliser à cause de ma tenue vestimentaire. Je lui dis alors qu’il n’en a pas le droit, que c’est de la discrimination pure et simple», a-t-elle poursuivi.
From www.20minutes.fr via clp.ly
As the case received more and more media attention, officials began to investigate the woman's domestic situation, particularly her 30-year-old husband, Liès Hebbadj, whom, it has been alleged, has ties to militant Islamic groups. Mr. Hebbadj was born in Algeria and became a French citizen through marriage in 1999. However, the investigation into Mr. Hebbadj's political and religious affiliations has uncovered that he maintains at least four different households with four different women and multiple children. Each of the women receives welfare payments from the French government to support themselves and their children by Mr. Hebbadj. This finding has led investigators to allege that Hebbadj is a polygamist, which has led to official charges of both polygamy and welfare fraud against him. If convicted, Hebbadj faces up to a year in prison and a 45,000€ fine ($60,000).
On Friday, April 3, Minister of the Interior Brice Hortefeux announced that because of the allegations of polygamy and the attendant implications of welfare fraud, he would attempt to strip Mr. Hebbadj of his French citizenship. Since Article 25 of the French civil code does not stipulate either charge as a valid reason to deprive the man of his citizenship, Hortefeux has asked Minister of Immigration Eric Besson to look into the matter and, if necessary, seek judicial and/or legislative action to revoke Hebbadj's French nationality. In addition, Hortefeux will investigate further to determine whether the man's alleged polygamy dates prior to his naturalization, which, the Minister argues, would constitute legal grounds for stripping him of his citizenship.
Speaking through his attorney, Franck Boëzec, Hebbadj denies both charges; however, he freely admits to having ongoing relationships with the four women in question. He claims they are merely his "mistresses" and not his "wives." He noted in a statement released to the press: "If one is stripped of one's French nationality for having mistresses, then many French men can also be stripped of it. Mistresses are not prohibited by Islam, perhaps by Christianity, but not in France as far as I know."
"Si on est déchu de sa nationalité française parce qu'on a des maîtresses, alors beaucoup de Français peuvent l'être, les maîtresses ne sont pas interdites par l'islam, peut-être par le christianisme, mais pas en France que je sache", a-t-il déclaré à la presse.
From www.lepoint.fr via clp.ly
The affair has certainly added more fuel to the fire that has ignited recently over the French government's attempt, with the full support of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, to outlaw the burqa and the niqab. Politicians across the spectrum of France's multi-party system have weighed in on the controversy, with some conservatives fully supporting Hortefeux's actions while many liberals point to this being the tip of the iceberg of crisis should the veil become illegal. Still others, like extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen and the centrist president of France François Fillon, have taken a more guarded view of the situation, suggesting that it is becoming a double-edged sword of a case in which the government will be "damned if it does and damned if it doesn't" with regard to revoking Hebbadj's citizenship. Fillon has said that this controversy actually weakens the argument against outlawing the burqa and the niqab.
Likewise, many Islamic groups in France are seeking to defuse the situation while also asserting their rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression as guaranteed by French law. While the moderate groups contend that the majority of Muslims in France abide by French laws against polygamy, they do admit that there are those that have imported the tradition of having multiple wives to their new home in Western Europe. However, the majority of these groups decry what they see as the "instrumentalization" of Islam by the French government as it seeks to outlaw certain aspects of their religion and culture. Some have even gone so far as to accuse Hortefeux of "betraying French values" in his bid to banish Hebbadj.
Seemingly in response to the controversy, there was a wave of violence and vandalism over the weekend directed against mosques and Islamic community centers throughout France. More than 150 incidents, ranging from grafitti to gun shots being fired, were recorded since Friday.
It appears that the veil has restricted the vision of more than just the driver of that car in Nantes. All of France seems to be blinded in one sense or another.
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