French far-right leader Le Pen calls for ban on Islamic headscarf and Jewish skullcap
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has caused a storm with a proposal to ban Islamic headscarves and the Jewish kippa on the streets of French towns. President François Hollande has accused her of tearing the nation apart and opposition politician Jean-François Copé says she if confusing secularism and the eradication of religion.
A controversial French law passed under former president Nicolas Sarkozy banned wearing garments that cover the face, such as the burka and niqab, in public.
Education Minister Vincent Peillon hit back on Friday by dubbing Le Pen “first among fundamentalists” and President François Hollande declared, “Everything that tears people apart, opposes and divides them is inappropriate.”
Le Pen’s Front National (FN) accused Hollande of “joing the herd of the élites” and “showing contempt for French people’s problems” on Saturday.
http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20120922-french-far-right-leader-le-pen-calls-ban-islamic-headscarf-and-jewish-skullcap
"Le Pen’s Front National (FN) accused Hollande of “joing the herd of the élites”'. - The good ol' right wing 'populist' elite-bashing. If the elites don't side with the banning of head scarves and kippas, they are just "showing contempt for French people’s problems”.
I suspect that 'French people's problems' are caused by more fundamental issues than Musims wearing head scarves and Jews wearing kippas. Like our far-right parties everywhere, including our tea partiers, they like to portray issues as "us" ('real' French) vs "them" (immigrant French).
The French far right must be a little giddy after winning in the Sarkozy government's ban on the burqa and niqab.
= new reply since forum marked as read