While studying abroad in the
French city of Strasbourg in 2007, I decided to grow a bushy beard. Little did I
know that in France, only traditional Jewish and Muslim men don anything but the
most finely trimmed mustache or goatee. Since I did not wear a yarmulke or other
head covering, people who saw me on the street assumed that I was Muslim.
I felt that police officers and passersby treated me with suspicion,
and even on the crowded rush hour bus, few chose to sit next to me if they could
avoid it. On one occasion someone followed me home and tried to start a fight,
only to find that I was a bewildered American, not a French Muslim. – Joshua Stanton
By Joshua
Stanton
Even
as a Jew in New York, I know of what it is like to be Muslim in
France.
While
studying abroad in the French city of Strasbourg in 2007, I decided to grow a
bushy beard. Little did I know that in France, only traditional Jewish and
Muslim men don anything but the most finely trimmed mustache or goatee. Since I
did not wear a yarmulke or other head covering, people who saw me on the street
assumed that I was Muslim.
I
felt that police officers and passersby treated me with suspicion, and even on
the crowded rush hour bus, few chose to sit next to me if they could avoid it.
On one occasion someone followed me home and tried to start a fight, only to
find that I was a bewildered American, not a French
Muslim.
Never
before, and never since, have I experienced disdain of this sort. On a daily
basis, I was made to feel badly because of my appearance -- and what was
presumed to be my corresponding religious affiliation. So when I read of the
effort by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his supporters to criminalize the
burqa (and other garments that fully cover a woman's body, head, and face) in
France, I understood it to be far more than a measure to protect women's rights
or preserve the concept of a secular society, on which the modern French state
is built.
In
my opinion, it is easy to see how the "burqa ban" might be misused as a part of
a broader effort to stigmatize a religious population, one that already
perceives itself to be on the margins of society.
Admittedly,
I am fundamentally opposed to any garment or religious practice -- including
those found in my own Jewish tradition -- that suggests that women hold a
different or subservient position. But the burqa ban in France will not achieve
the aim of gender equality. If anything, it will strengthen religious
conservatives in France's Muslim population by convincing members of the
moderate majority of Muslims that the rest of French society will never accept
them.
While
there are said to be only 2,000 women who wear burqas in all of France today,
the entire Muslim population, estimated to be around five to six million, will
take umbrage at another measure that singles out their
community.
If
we assume that Sarkozy is genuinely motivated by the belief that the burqa
"hurts the dignity of women and is unacceptable in French society," according to
an April 21 article in the New
York Times,
his best response would in fact be to enact measures welcoming Muslim citizens
more fully into French society. Such affirmations would undercut efforts by the
small minority of religiously conservative Muslims to gather a following among
disaffected coreligionists who feel unable to overcome anti-Muslim
prejudice.
The
need for the French government to treat religious minorities with respect is
bolstered by its own history. In 1781, the enlightened German thinker Christian
Wilhelm von Dohm made what at the time was a revolutionary suggestion:
"Certainly, the Jew will not be prevented by his religion from being a good
citizen, if only the government will give him a citizen's rights." But it was
the French who first put Dohm's prophetic vision into
action.
In
1806, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte emancipated French Jews by passing laws
to improve their economic and social status. He invited them to live anywhere
they pleased and recognized their religion, affirming its permanent place within
the private sphere of French life. Though he did renege on several of his early
commitments, Napoleon's efforts ultimately enabled Jews to become a full part of
French society.
Through
these acts of profound tolerance over 200 years ago, France set an example for
all of Europe and proved that its open-mindedness was more than
rhetorical.
Modern
France would do well to follow its own admirable example and truly treat Muslim
citizens as equal participants in society. Foregoing the burqa ban would be a
sensible first step.
The author is Co-Editor, Journal of Inter-Religious
Dialogue
This
article, now updated, was originally published by the Common
Ground News Service.
10:42 PM
Sultan Shahin
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