The Clash of Fashions

Emmanuel Navon

www.navon.com

Could it be that the "Clash of Civilizations" predicted by Samuel Huntington two decades ago is turning into a legal spat between Islam and the West over dress code? What Muslims wear is becoming a matter of concern for many Westerners – whether it's underpants on US flights or headscarves in French schools. Jean-François Copé, the parliamentary leader of President Sarkozy's conservative party, recently submitted a bill that would forbid the wearing of outfits or accessories "whose effect is to hide the face" in places "open to the public." Ski lovers who slide down the French Alps with balaclavas would technically be among the offenders, but the draft law is obviously not directed at them. It is meant to outlaw what the French call the burqa, which is actually a niqab, the head-to-toe covering that leaves a narrow space for the eyes.

The niqab is seen in the Gulf, and it was unknown to North African immigrants, who constitute the bulk of France's Muslim minority. And yet, an estimated 2,000 French Muslim women wear it. Most women wearing the niqab in France are under 40. Two-thirds are French nationals, half of them second or third generation immigrants, and nearly a quarter are converts. Clearly, women who wear the niqab in France are not from the Gulf. They are motivated by ideology and influenced by salafism, an ultra-puritan branch of radical Islam, which is foreign to the culture of North African Muslims. This phenomenon points out to the radicalization of many post-immigration Muslims in Europe.

In Iran, policemen arrest women who do not cover their head. French policemen may soon be seen doing the opposite. The clash, however, is not only about fashion.

guest Comment:Many Muslim women wear burqa, which is actually a niqab, the head-to-toe covering that leaves a narrow space for the eyes. The niqab is mostly seen in the Gulf, and it was unknown to North African immigrants, who constitute the bulk of France's Muslim minority.

The French Government has called to out law the niqab which an estimated 2,000 French Muslim women wear. But please pay attention: most women wearing the niqab in France are under 40; two-thirds of them are French nationals, half of them are second or third generation French descendants of immigrants, BUT nearly a quarter of them are converts to Islam. It is clear that women who wear the niqab in France are not a new arrival from the Gulf; rather they are motivated by ideology and influenced by salafism, an ultra-puritan branch of radical Islam, which is foreign to the culture of North African Muslims. There is a very strong radicalization of many post-immigration Muslims phenomenon in Europe.
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Shalom, Nurit