French so-called republicans and secularists, who are actually paleo-communist Jacobins, are once again in a frenzy over the terrifying threat posed by a piece of cloth worn on women’s heads called the hijab. We should remind you that this happened about a year ago, as we reported at the time (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=37455).
This time, a scandal was caused by the participation of a hijab-wearing student in parliamentary hearings on the lives of students during the coronavirus pandemic. It is worth noting that this student, who is French by birth, deliberately chose to wear the hijab. Let’s pay attention to who protested against the presence of a woman wearing a headscarf in the French parliament, known as the National Assembly, and how they justified their action.
The protesters were members of two parties with similar names: «En Marche!» — the party of current President Emmanuel Macron, and «Les Républicains» — the party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, both of which have a history of attacking «political Islam» and «Islamic communitarianism». For example, Anne-Christine Lalande of Les Républicains stated that a veiled woman in the National Assembly undermines both feminist and republican principles to which she is committed. Pierre-Henri Dumont of «En Marche!» declared that the hijab-wearing parliamentary guest had committed an act of conscious communitarianism and violated the principle of secularism that should be respected in the National Assembly. So what does all this mean?
The word «republic» comes from Latin and usually means unity and solidarity among all the citizens of France who make up the French nation. The word «communitarianism» in turn is derived from the word «community» and refers to an ideology and practice that involves separation from the republic and the nation based on any principle, such as religion, race, etc. But how do these concepts relate to this situation?
We have already written about a girl who repeatedly causes scandals by appearing in public wearing a hijab — Maryam Pougetoux (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=34655). She is none other than the person elected by French students to be the president of the National Union of French Students. In other words, she is a girl with an active public stance who participates not only in the life of the Muslim community, but also in French society as a whole, especially among the youth. Moreover, she is a woman with an active civic attitude, whose example clearly refutes the stereotype that Muslim women are prevented from participating in public life by «Islamic communitarianism». So what are her opponents doing in this case? On the contrary, they try to exclude her from society because of her appearance or her religious beliefs, pushing her into the ghetto of forced «communitarianism».
It is noteworthy that it was the so-called republicans who finally walked out of the parliamentary committee meeting because its chairwoman, Sandrine Morch, responded to their protests by saying that there were no rules prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols during parliamentary hearings. It is clear that the outcome of this incident is not entirely typical of French society as a whole, where the ideals of republican unity are understood as envisioned by the Jacobins — French proto-communists who later inspired the Bolsheviks and enforced principles of total uniformity in society. However, as we can see, some things are gradually changing. For example, French students are no longer deterred by the fact that their colleague wears a hijab, which demonstrates her active public stance, in electing her as their representative. Therefore, their understanding of the Republic, its principles and values, is already different from the prevailing one, according to which people in religious dress have no place in it.
It is worth noting that this understanding even reaches some French nationalists today. For example, Alain Soral, who used to be associated with the National Front, left the party and criticized it not only for its Islamophobia, but also for the damage it does to the French nation. In his view, the old republicanism and secularism that repel Muslims, on the one hand, and communitarianism, or their isolation and opposition to French society, on the other, are two sides of the same vicious coin. Instead, Soral proposes to actively involve young Muslims in French affairs, without preventing them from adhering to the dictates of their religion, which would allow them to cultivate French citizenship and patriotism. It must be admitted, however, that such views are still held by a minority in France.
At least until the day comes when Mar…
At least until the day comes when Mar…