Islamic Headscarf Of Women Featured In French Election Debate
New Age Islam News Bureau
16 April 2022
•
Fierce Race In Lebanon Elections Expected With Record Number Of Women Standing
•
Director Dropped From İKSV Film Festival
Over Violence Against Woman
•
Hijab Not For Schools, Issue Raked Up By Muslim Clergy To Regain Control Over
Women: UP Madrassa Board Chief
•
Lebanese Female Candidates Stand Up To Hezbollah, Are Disowned By Families
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/islamic-headscarf-french-election/d/126805
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Islamic
Headscarf Of Women Featured In French Election Debate
Representative
Image
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Shweta
Desai
16.04.2022
PARIS
The
Islamic headscarf has emerged as a major polarizing issue during the
presidential election for allegedly being antithetical to France’s fundamental
value of secularism.
The
veil, or headscarf, has always been a highly charged issue for the French
political class and a compulsive phobia for the right.
It
has been called by some a symbol of submission, an Islamist uniform --
incompatible with French values and a way to impose Sharia on France.
French
Muslims, estimated at 6 million, are a minority but every election infuses a
new debate around the veil, in particular with politicians vowing to restore
French values and uphold gender equality by a selective or complete ban.
The
piece of clothing worn by Muslim women is featured in political debates
alongside other issues including determining the retirement age, improving
purchasing power of the French, the Ukraine war, tax cuts on energy and fuel,
health and security --- all with less than 10 days before the second round of
voting on April 24.
Right-wing
candidate Marine Le Pen has made the veil a part of her political manifesto and
promised to ban it in public spaces if she becomes president.
President
Emmanuel Macron, whose government introduced controversial legislation dubbed
the anti-separatism law, or “reinforcing the respect of the principles of the
Republic,” to battle so-called Islamist radicalism, excluded the veil from his
electoral program.
But
he has been forced to counter his opponent’s diabolical discourse by frequently
discussing the issue.
Veiled
women confront candidates
On
Friday, the finalists were challenged by veiled Muslim women about their
policies, with Le Pen maintaining that she was firm on a ban and defended the
choice of those wearing it out of free will.
In
a market in Pertuis in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region in southeastern
France, Le Pen was questioned by a hijab-wearing woman about her proposed ban.
“There
are a number of neighborhoods in which women who do not wear the veil are
ostracized. They are judged, they are isolated because they do not wear the
veil," said the National Rally candidate.
Le
Pen has called the ban “essential” and vowed to introduce a bill prohibiting
the veil in public places with a penalty for those who violate it.
Macron
said he is not “obsessed” with the headscarf as his opponent and did not
consider it a “real issue” that needed to be tackled.
“It's
(headscarf) a symptom of a tension in the society, that's why I tried to separate
the issues," he clarified on FranceInfo in response to a question by Sara
El-Attar, a communication professional in Paris, about the ostracization of
hijab-wearing women.
Macron
justified his position that during his five-year term, he strived to ensure
that Islamic “compatriots live in a peaceful way."
His
government worked to identify the root cause of the problem and target them
through the “separatism bill,” not change the laws for “everyone,” he said.
The
controversial legislation to keep a check on radical Islam and fight extremism
has been criticized for unfairly targeting the Muslim population.
“There
is no change in this policy, i.e. there is the neutrality of public services,
no veil in public services, no veil at school, college and high school with
minors,” he said, insisting that "for the rest, society is a free
society."
A
2004 law prohibits the wearing or open display of religious symbols in all
French schools, libraries and government buildings to uphold the principle of
secularism.
Despite
his liberal views, Macron’s Republic on the Move party, withdrew support for a
hijab-wearing candidate during regional elections last June after her campaign
poster with a headscarf drew criticism from Le Pen’s party.
Divergent
views
Although
Le Pen and Macron have expressed divergent views on the veil, both cited
examples of little girls who are forced to wear the veil and not allowed to
study in public schools and said such treatment is an attack on the laws of the
Republic and gender equality.
This
week, as Le Pen started to speak firmly on the need to enforce the prohibition
on the veil, Macron positioned himself as a liberal defender of freedom of
choice.
“There
is no country in the world that prohibits the veil on the public highway, you
want to be the first?” he asked while campaigning in Le Havre.
In
Strasbourg, a clip of Macron’s interaction with a young hijab-wearing woman
went viral as they both questioned if the other was a “feminist.”
After
they responded affirmatively, Macron asked her if she was wearing the veil “by
choice or is it compulsory?"
“Totally
by choice,” she said.
"Having
a young girl wearing the veil in Strasbourg who says: 'Are you a feminist?' is
the best answer to all the nonsense that I hear on the other side,” he said.
Earlier,
Macron said banning religious symbols in public is not laicite -- the term for
secularism requiring separation of church from state as stipulated by a 1905
law.
And
if Le Pen bans the veil in public spaces, then she will have to ban all
religious symbols: the Jewish kippah, the Christian crucifix as well as per the
Constitution, said Macron.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/islamic-clothing-of-women-featured-in-french-election-debate/2564972
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Fierce
Race In Lebanon Elections Expected With Record Number Of Women Standing
Consultant and business pioneer, Gistelle Semaan, is
a parliamentary candidate on Shamaluna list in the North III district.
(Supplied)
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15
April ,2022
In
a country where women comprise less than 5 percent of parliament, 118 women
candidates created cracks in the political glass ceiling, vying for a broader
representation in the 128-seat male-dominated Lebanese public office in the
general elections on May 15.
The
unprecedented number of women running for legislative seats accounted for a
staggering 37 percent uptick from the 86 who ran in 2018. It came a long way
compared to the paltry number of 12 and 4 who ran in 2009 and 2005, marking a
rising wave of interest among Lebanese women to throw their hat into the ring
and run for office.
Men
still make up the bulk of candidates on the 103 electoral lists – at around 84
percent – and evoked mixed reactions among voters and experts. Some see no
reason to celebrate, while many onlookers were urging people to hone in on the
impressive qualitative turnout rather than the numerical, which panned out
despite a substantial absence of national effort and a gender quota to support
women in politics.
“Women's
presence in today's elections is earnest, stronger, and well-balanced,
regardless of the number,” the Arab Women Organization director-general, Fadia
Kiwan, told Al Arabiya English. “This qualitative change and surge in women
candidates that I insist we are witnessing are more crucial than the numerical
change.”
Kiwan
has been examining developments in the local media and its perception of women
candidates and noticed an improved effort to give women more television air
time compared to 2018.
A
special show called 50/50 has been hosting women candidates on the local television
channel LBCI, shedding light on their electoral campaigns and providing them a
space to discuss and take political stances.
“The
stump speech of many women candidates from various electoral lists is
substantive, with strong content, and concerned with the political and social
issues in a profound way,” Kiwan signaled. “It is clear that there is an
effort, deliberation, and precision on these women's part.”
Incorporated
in the healthcare force and fighting for healthcare rights, including those of the
marginalized populations’ members, is a staple in Nuhad Doumit’s career and
activism. One of the many achievements attributed to the 64-year-old nurse is
lobbying for the Order of Nurses, established in 2002.
The
activist-turned-parliamentary candidate, is running on the Beirut Al-Taghyeer
list in the Beirut II (West Beirut) district. She first ran for the legislative
elections in 2018 on the civil society list Kulluna Beirut, but failed to pass
the electoral threshold.
“It
was a daring experience, for a woman and a nurse, to say that I am a free
person who believes in democracy and one’s competence – not gender, sect nor
age – to do what they have set out to do,” Doumit said. “My candidacy went very
well considering that I was on a list facing the traditional leaders’ lists,
with no money, no media exposure, and no support.”
Today,
she braces for a similar tough fight.
Despite
Lebanon’s reputation for being a liberal enclave within the Arab world
fostering a progressive image, the middle eastern nation, reeling from
compounding crises for the past two years, ranked 147th out of a total of 149
countries in 2018, based on the Global Gender Gap Index. It was one of the
lowest rates of women's political representation in the region.
The
number of women elected in the last five general elections, which varied
between three to no more than six out of 128 seats, tells the story of the
abysmal female representation in legislative bodies and the slow and lopsided
progress in enhancing their participation over the years.
Joelle
Abou Farhat, the co-founder of fiftyfifty, an organization that lobbies for
gender parity in all political arenas and elected councils, said that the
patriarchal and sexist mindset in certain districts deems women not cut out for
politics. Only male candidates are taken seriously, which is an issue that
requires time to reform.
“It's
a historic number to us,” Abou Farhat said. “This is the first time in the
history of Lebanon that 118 women are on electoral lists running for in the
parliamentary elections.”
“If
we see this as a political marathon, women in Lebanon are 30 years behind, and
we are telling them to run alongside men in this marathon,” Abou Farhat stated.
“For the past three decades, and even more than that, women were barred from participating
in the political life because of the wars that Lebanon experienced and all the
aggravated political problems where the ultimate decision in the country lies
in the man's hands alone.”
Women
were at the heart of and played a paramount role in the Lebanese October 17
popular uprising in 2019, which experts say has propelled this surge in women
candidates. It was in addition to demanding all-encompassing gender and human
rights, steering the narrative, and calling for landmark protests such as the women-led
demonstration marching from Ain el-Remmaneh to Chiyah – strongholds of opposing
religious factions – where people took a stand against sectarian-fueled
violence. They managed to hold decision-making positions within organizing
bodies during the protests.
Securing
fair and equal political representation for women has become a central focus
for many developing political parties and movements that emanated from the
revolution.
Having
been convinced that she could never put her political expertise to work with
any of her country’s traditional parties who would dictate what she is capable
of, consultant and business pioneer Gistelle Semaan found her place with the
National Bloc during the uprising. Founded in 1946, the democratic and secular
party refused to partake in the civil war and was revived in early 2019.
The
31-year-old candidate, who is running on the Shamaluna list in the North III
district, said that in addition to her plan to reform the economic, social and
judicial sector, she will endeavor to legislate laws governing personal status,
legal marriage age, gender quota and women's ability to pass on their
nationality upon marriage.
“I
want my successful personal career to be mirrored in a true political change,”
Semaan told Al Arabiya English. “I have the utmost belief that I can contribute
to this change and work for the benefit of my country; I am capable of
achieving anything I set my mind to.”
Out
of the 118 women candidates, only six are affiliated with a political party,
Abou Farhat said. “Political parties around the world have a vital role to play
when it comes to including women in elections, where many times they create a
gender quota within the party, but this role in Lebanon is absent today.”
A
couple of gender quota bills calling for around 20 percent reserved
parliamentary seats for women divided equally between Muslims and Christians
and coupled with at least 40 percent of women on candidates lists were developed
and then shelved by a joint parliamentary committee, citing “technical
loopholes.”
“The
political decision allowing women to participate in political life has not been
taken yet, and a high-level decision is pivotal for women’s participation in
politics,” said Nada Anid, founder of Madanyat, a local organization that
pushes for equitable participation of women, men, and youth in political and
public life.
“It’s
not something that only NGOs can achieve,” Anid added.
Both
Anid and Abou Farhat do not expect a big turnout in women becoming members of
parliament. The woman who does not make it into parliament should not be touted
as a weak candidate, Anid insisted, because she is not offered the same means
and opportunities as her male counterpart.
Barriers
such as deep-rooted bias, low exposure, and budget restrictions play a role in
blocking female candidates.
“Women
in Lebanon remain subservient to men,” Doumit said. “They still need extensive
training in empowerment, advocacy, and leadership. We need to push them to take
the lead in different matters in life, such as speaking up, establishing
financial independence, demanding their rights, and occupying political
positions that are usually male-dominated.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Director
Dropped From İKSV Film Festival Over
Violence Against Woman
April
16 2022
A
director has been kicked out of the prestigious İKSV Film Festival following
allegations that he was the perpetrator of a violent act against a woman.
Serhat
Yüksekbağ was to compete in the National Documentary Competition with his “A
New World is Born.”
However,
the festival organizer, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV),
announced on Twitter that Yüksekdağ was removed from the festival.
“We
learned that the director [of the movie] was the perpetrator of a violent act
committed in the past. We have removed the film from the festival and the
competition. We want to remind, as İKSV and the İstanbul Film Festival, that we
are against the perpetrators of violence and violence against women in every
sphere of life,” the İKSV said in a statement on social media.
In
2019, a woman wrote on Twitter that Yüksekbağ battered her for three hours.
“I
have no idea where this man, who before had put a knife on my throat, is and
what he is going to do. I have been living with this for months,” tweeted Gamze
K., the victim.
Source:
Hurriyet Daily News
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/director-dropped-from-festival-over-violence-against-woman-173016
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Hijab
not for schools, issue raked up by Muslim clergy to regain control over women:
UP madrassa board chief
13
April, 2022
On
Tuesday, the chairperson of the UP Board of Madrassa Education, Iftikar Ahmad
Javed affirmed that the hijab controversy erupted due to the flawed leadership
of the clerics. He added that the Muslim clerics stirred up the hijab
controversy in Karnataka to control the women and make them feel secondary to
the Muslim patriarchy.
According
to the reports, Javed further blamed the Muslim clerics for suppressing Muslim
women by creating controversy around triple talaq, polygamy, or hijab. He said
that the Muslim community has leadership problems and that the clerics don’t
prefer normalcy. “They always want some issues to create controversy”, added
Javed as he said that the recent hijab controversy has been used to subdue
women.
“There
is a very clear concept in hijab. The women are entitled to wear it at home,
Masjids, Mazars, weddings, and markets, but cannot claim to don it in the army,
as cabin crew, in the police force, as doctors, as lawyers, or even go to
school in hijab. This cannot work. Hijab has been used to steer women away from
the mainstream”, he was quoted as saying by a Times of India report.
Earlier,
on March 25, the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education had announced that
singing of national anthem along with other morning prayers would be mandatory
for students in madrassas. “The national anthem is sung in various schools and
we want to instil patriotism in madrassa students too so that they know our
history and culture”, Iftikar Ahmad Javed said then.
The
Hijab Controversy
The
hijab controversy in Karnataka gained momentum in the first week of January
after eight Muslim girls were denied entry to classes in a Udupi college
because they were wearing a veil. The college authorities had informed that the
veil was not a part of the uniform dress code mandated for the students.
The
Muslim girls, adamant about wearing hijab, then filed a petition in High Court
seeking permission to attend classes in hijab. They stated that wearing the
hijab was their ‘fundamental right’ granted under Articles 14 and 25 of the
Indian Constitution and an ‘integral practice of Islam’.
The
controversy spiralled as Hindu students in Karnataka came with saffron scarves
around their necks and protested against Muslim girls continuing to wear burqas
to college. Tensions also prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi,
Shivamogga, Bagalkote, and other parts, as stones-pelting and violence were
reported from various parts of the state.
The
High Court however in its verdict dismissed the petition filed by the Muslim
girls and said that wearing the hijab is not an essential practice in Islam. As
reported earlier, the students had begun to wear hijab to schools and colleges
after they had met the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student branch of the
Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI), in October 2021. The
students confessed that they had spoken with the CFI.’
Source:
Opindia
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Lebanese
female candidates stand up to Hezbollah, are disowned by families
NAJIA
HOUSSARI
April
15, 2022
BEIRUT:
A total of 155 female candidates from different sects are contesting the
Lebanese parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15.
The
only Shiite female candidate on the lists of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement is
MP Inaya Ezzeddine. The remaining Shiite female candidates are trying to win
seats previously secured by the Shiite duo.
Choosing
Ezzeddine to represent parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and the Amal Movement
four years ago, in the 2018 parliamentary elections, was a deliberate move to
establish “the movement’s openness to the importance of women's role in public
affairs,” as Berri said at the time.
But
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was very clear on “not involving
women in political life because, in Lebanon, MPs offer condolences, participate
in weddings and provide services, and we in Hezbollah do not accept that our
women carry out such duties.”
This
year might be the first time that Shiite women from Hezbollah’s entourage have
stood up to the party.
In
the Baalbek-Hermel constituency, in northern Bekaa, six electoral lists are
competing to win 10 parliamentary seats, including six for the Shiite sect.
One
list includes Hezbollah and the Amal movement, another includes members of
local clans. The others draw candidates from civil society movements that do
not seem to be hostile toward Hezbollah as their programs do not have demands
related to the fate of the party’s weapons.
But
Sarah Mansour Zeaiter, a Shiite candidate running in the Baalbek-Hermel
constituency under the Qadreen list, was subjected to verbal abuse and
defamatory remarks from her family a few days ago.
The
Zeaiter clan issued a statement explaining that she did not represent the
family and that the clan remained loyal to the current MP and candidate for the
upcoming elections Ghazi Zeaiter.
The
statement does not mention that Ghazi Zeaiter is a defendant in the probe into
the Beirut port blast.
In
the Zahle constituency, in central Bekaa, eight lists are competing to win
seven seats, including one Shiite seat.
Among
the competing lists is the Zahle for Sovereignty list backed by the Lebanese
Forces, Hezbollah's arch-rival. The list bears the slogan: “Restoring
sovereignty, liberating decision making, and direct confrontation with
Hezbollah.”
It
means that any Shiite candidate on this list is in an unenviable position,
which is what happened with the candidate Dr. Dima Abou Daya, who was disowned
by the Abou Daya family in a statement issued a few days ago.
Abou
Daya, 41, a university professor who specializes in law and business, conducts
training on anti-corruption and money-laundering and is involved in women’s
empowerment activities in Lebanon.
She
said her decision to run for the parliamentary elections was bold because
people were deprived of their voices in Lebanon.
“Running
for the elections is a right secured by the constitution and I have the guts to
exercise my freedom of opinion protected by the constitution and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights,” she told Arab News.
“Hezbollah
and the Amal Movement have always monopolized the Shiite seat. It is the first
time that a Shiite female candidate has run for this seat other than these two
parties, which has been a challenge for them, especially since I call for
sovereignty and patriotism.
“Not
all the family was behind the disownment statement. They were led by someone
who doesn’t belong to the family and who is affiliated with one of the
political parties. Half of the statement was prepared in advance. The
signatures were added later on and it was published on social media, which
exposed me to a huge number of defamatory comments. It was also featured on the
Al-Manar channel affiliated with Hezbollah and was published in many groups in
Zahle.
“This
encouraged me further to continue what I started, rather than give up and be
afraid. It made me stick to my beliefs even more. What does it mean to be
disowned by your family? Disownment in our society happens when you commit a
crime or adultery. What did I commit?
“The
logic they are fighting me with contradicts their talk about democracy. They do
not practice what they preach. The statement indeed caused a rift in the
family, but I rely on free voices rather than stolen voices.
“My
decision to run as an independent candidate in a list supported by the Lebanese
Forces is based on my personal beliefs. Moreover, its program reflects my
views.”
Ali
Al-Amin, the owner of the Janoubia website who opposes Hezbollah and had
previously run for parliamentary elections in the previous session, was
subjected to verbal and physical abuse.
“Any
electoral movement that opposes Hezbollah bothers the party. They are
expressing this by isolating the male and female independent candidates that
oppose them, whether by imposing their ideological authority or security
authority,” he told Arab News.
“Hezbollah,
which is a closed sectarian party that promotes patriarchy, decided to resort
to families and clans to exclude the female candidates, knowing that this party
had previously neglected and broken up these clans and families and used them
for their own benefit.
“At
first, they started many online smear campaigns against me and then threatened
me. Afterward, they beat me up. They can even lead their target to leave their
community. You could also be murdered, like what happened to researcher Lokman
Slim. They captivate the whole sect, kill and suffocate the society until it
becomes obedient and meaningless, suffering from misery.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2064046/middle-east
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/islamic-headscarf-french-election/d/126805