:salam2:
I HATE this law!! Its stupid and wrong!! Bravo to the property owner for helping to pay fines, etc. May Allah bless him with the highest place in Jannah!! Ameen!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42528909/ns/world_news-europe/?gt1=43001
PARIS — France's new ban on Islamic face veils was met with a burst of defiance Monday, as several women appeared veiled in front of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral and two were detained for taking part in an unauthorized protest. A third was reportedly arrested in the city of Avignon.
France on Monday became the world's first country to ban the veils anywhere in public, from outdoor marketplaces to the sidewalks and boutiques of the Champs-Elysees.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
set the wheels in motion for the ban nearly two years ago, saying the veils imprison women and contradict this secular nation's values of dignity and equality. The ban enjoyed wide public support when it was approved by parliament last year.
Though only a very small minority of France's at least 5 million Muslims wear the veil, many Muslims see the ban as a stigma against the country's No. 2 religion.
About a dozen people, including three women wearing niqab veils with just a slit for the eyes, gathered for the protest outside Notre Dame. They said the ban is an affront to their freedom of expression
and religion.
Much larger crowds of police, journalists and tourists filled the square.
One of the veiled women was seen being taken away in a police van.
Protest unauthorized
A police officer on the site told The Associated Press that the woman was detained because the protest was not authorized and the woman refused to disperse when police asked her to. The officer was not authorized to be publicly named.
The Paris police administration said another woman was also detained for taking part in the unauthorized demonstration.
It was unclear whether the women were fined for wearing a veil. The law says veiled women risk a $215 fine or special citizenship classes, though not jail.
People who force women to don a veil are subject to up to a year in prison and a $43,000 fine, and possibly twice that if the veiled person is a minor.
Authorities estimate at most 2,000 women in France wear the outlawed veils. France's Muslims number at least 5 million, the largest such population in western Europe.
The ban affects women who wear the niqab, which has just a slit for the eyes, and the burqa, which has a mesh screen over the eyes.
Kenza Drider, who lives in Avignon and wears a niqab, called the ban racist. She was planning to attend Monday's protest.
Right before the ban came into effect, she said she would continue to go "shopping, to the post office
and to city hall if necessary. I will under no circumstance stop wearing my veil."
"If I am warned verbally and must appear before the local prosecutor.... I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
," she told AP Television News.
The veil, for her, "is a submission to God," Drider said.
The Connexion newspaper reported a woman wearing a full veil was arrested at Avignon train station Monday morning. She said the ban was an "attack on my European rights, my freedom to come and go, my religious freedom," according to the English-language newspaper.
Story: 'Islam is regarded as the biggest threat to Europe for many Europeans' Story: Islamists raise fears of violent 'clash of cultures' in Europe
Many Muslims have also felt stigmatized by a 2004 law that banned Islamic headscarves in classrooms.
'Civil disobedience'
A Muslim property dealer was urging women to engage in "civil disobedience" by continuing to wear the veil if they so desire.
Rachid Nekkaz, the property dealer, said in a webcast he would help pay fines and was putting a property worth around $2.9 million up for sale to fund his campaign.
"The street is the universal home of freedom and nobody should challenge that so long as these woman are not impinging on anyone else's freedom," he said. "I am calling on all free women who so wish to wear the veil in the street and engage in civil disobedience," he said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
I HATE this law!! Its stupid and wrong!! Bravo to the property owner for helping to pay fines, etc. May Allah bless him with the highest place in Jannah!! Ameen!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42528909/ns/world_news-europe/?gt1=43001
PARIS — France's new ban on Islamic face veils was met with a burst of defiance Monday, as several women appeared veiled in front of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral and two were detained for taking part in an unauthorized protest. A third was reportedly arrested in the city of Avignon.
France on Monday became the world's first country to ban the veils anywhere in public, from outdoor marketplaces to the sidewalks and boutiques of the Champs-Elysees.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
set the wheels in motion for the ban nearly two years ago, saying the veils imprison women and contradict this secular nation's values of dignity and equality. The ban enjoyed wide public support when it was approved by parliament last year. Though only a very small minority of France's at least 5 million Muslims wear the veil, many Muslims see the ban as a stigma against the country's No. 2 religion.
About a dozen people, including three women wearing niqab veils with just a slit for the eyes, gathered for the protest outside Notre Dame. They said the ban is an affront to their freedom of expression
and religion. Much larger crowds of police, journalists and tourists filled the square.
One of the veiled women was seen being taken away in a police van.
Protest unauthorized
A police officer on the site told The Associated Press that the woman was detained because the protest was not authorized and the woman refused to disperse when police asked her to. The officer was not authorized to be publicly named.
The Paris police administration said another woman was also detained for taking part in the unauthorized demonstration.
It was unclear whether the women were fined for wearing a veil. The law says veiled women risk a $215 fine or special citizenship classes, though not jail.
People who force women to don a veil are subject to up to a year in prison and a $43,000 fine, and possibly twice that if the veiled person is a minor.
Authorities estimate at most 2,000 women in France wear the outlawed veils. France's Muslims number at least 5 million, the largest such population in western Europe.
The ban affects women who wear the niqab, which has just a slit for the eyes, and the burqa, which has a mesh screen over the eyes.
Kenza Drider, who lives in Avignon and wears a niqab, called the ban racist. She was planning to attend Monday's protest.
Right before the ban came into effect, she said she would continue to go "shopping, to the post office
and to city hall if necessary. I will under no circumstance stop wearing my veil." "If I am warned verbally and must appear before the local prosecutor.... I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
," she told AP Television News. The veil, for her, "is a submission to God," Drider said.
The Connexion newspaper reported a woman wearing a full veil was arrested at Avignon train station Monday morning. She said the ban was an "attack on my European rights, my freedom to come and go, my religious freedom," according to the English-language newspaper.
Story: 'Islam is regarded as the biggest threat to Europe for many Europeans' Story: Islamists raise fears of violent 'clash of cultures' in Europe
Many Muslims have also felt stigmatized by a 2004 law that banned Islamic headscarves in classrooms.
'Civil disobedience'
A Muslim property dealer was urging women to engage in "civil disobedience" by continuing to wear the veil if they so desire.
Rachid Nekkaz, the property dealer, said in a webcast he would help pay fines and was putting a property worth around $2.9 million up for sale to fund his campaign.
"The street is the universal home of freedom and nobody should challenge that so long as these woman are not impinging on anyone else's freedom," he said. "I am calling on all free women who so wish to wear the veil in the street and engage in civil disobedience," he said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
