After announcing his bid for next year’s presidential election this week, Mr. Sarkozy ramped up his immigration rhetoric on Thursday (August 26).
Advertisement
Fifteen French towns had banned the full-length swimsuit, which covers the whole body except for the face, hands and feet.
CFCM president Anouar Kbibech requested an urgent meeting with Cazeneuve after pictures that showed French police surrounding a veiled woman on a beach in Nice went viral on social media.
The Nice court said burkinis can be viewed as “erasing” women from the public eye and “a lowering of their place”.
“There could be no better recruiting sergeants for the Islamic State than the mayors who are enforcing the burkini bans on the beaches of the French Riviera”.
“I will be the president that re-establishes the authority of the state”, Sarkozy told a crowd of more than 2,000 packing a sports hall in Chateaurenard, a Provence town where his Les Republicains beat the far-right Front National (FN) in regional elections previous year. “There must be a law to ban it throughout the republic’s territory”, he said.
On Thursday a “Wear What You Want” demonstration was held outside the French embassy in London in a bid to force the French government to repeal the “oppressive” ban.
Mayor of Cannes David Linsard was the first to introduce restrictions on the burkini, a full body garment worn predominantly by Muslim beach-goers who wish to preserve their modesty.
“A genius came up with #motorkini in solidarity with Muslim women banned from wearing #burkini on French beaches”, tweeted Yasmin Khan, director of women’s charity Staying Put UK.
This is why, for instance, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressed his opposition to the bathing suit in nothing less than the language of human rights: the burkini, he said, was a means of “enslavement”.
The ruling, due at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT), is likely to set a precedent for around 30 French towns which have banned the burkini, mostly along the sun-drenched southeast coast.
Burkinis pose a dilemma for the French left, a staunch defender of women’s rights.
As Rowling points out, labeling a burkini “a provocation” unjustly places blame on women’s shoulders and scrutiny of their bodies, which is something that women of all religious backgrounds have experienced.
Women in Muslim countries wear a range of swimwear, from bikinis to full-length garments, reflecting their personal tastes and understanding of their faith.
“They perceive it as political”, Yardena said.
Burkinis are rarely seen in France, where you’re more likely to spot women sunbathing topless. These questions highlight that the broad bans have thus far seemingly only targeted Muslim women.
BRITAIN will not introduce a ban on the “burkini” as it “sees no need” to dictate how people dress, the government said today.
Advertisement
In the case of women who wear burkas, they are also punished with taking on a financial burden. In Egypt, some resorts, elite clubs and restaurants ban veils entirely and the wearing of burkini-style outfits in swimming pools.
