The ban, to be voted on Tuesday in the Senate, making it far less controversial than France's 2004 ban on Muslim headscarves in classrooms, which proliferated in heavily immigrant neighborhoods. However, many Muslims believe the latest legislation is but one more blow to France's second religion, and risks raising the level of Islamophobia in a country where mosques are sporadic targets of hate.
The proposed law was passed overwhelmingly by the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on July 13. The expected green light from the Senate would make it definitive once the president signs off on it - barring amendments and an eventual decision by dissenting lawmakers to seek the opinion of the Constitutional Council. At least 60 lawmakers are needed to ask the council to decide whether the bill meets constitutional muster.
The measure would outlaw face-covering veils in streets including, those worn by tourists from the Middle East and elsewhere. It is aimed at ensuring gender equality, women's dignity and security, as well as upholding France's secular values - and its way of life.
Backers insist it is not anti-Muslim but is aimed at getting all Muslims to integrate fully into French society. Ironically, the measure may keep some women cloistered in their homes to avoid exposing their faces in public.
"I won't go out. I'll send people to shop for me. I'll stay home, very simply," said Oum Al Khyr, who wears a "niqab," which hides all but the eyes.
"I'll spend my time praying," said the single woman "over 45" who lives in Montreuil on Paris' eastern edge. "I'll exclude myself from society when I wanted to live in it."
The law banning the veil would take effect only after a six-month period.
The Interior Ministry estimates the number of women who fully cover themselves at some 1,900, with a quarter of them converts to Islam and two-thirds with French nationality.
The bill calls for euro150 ($185) fines or citizenship classes for any woman caught covering her face, or both. It also carries stiff penalties for anyone such as husbands or brothers convicted of forcing the veil on a woman. The euro30,000 ($38,400) fine and year in prison are doubled if the victim is a minor.
It was unclear, however, how authorities planned to enforce such a law.
source : http://www.abna.ir
