Sarkozy says burqa 'not welcome' in France

Posted by: Wildwine Saturday, 9 January 2010 11:44 AM[UAE]

@tariq - good idea cancel all Airbus orders and divert to Boeing, but then US has started body scanning; cancel Boeing deals as well. For the time being Emirates will buy planes from China and Russia....how silly!!! @UAE National Woman - I agree with you and certainly this is not "fair", from your perspective. But fairness is a very subjective term, what you perceive as "not fair" can be perceived as "fair" by somebody else. Sarkozy is the President of France (and if I am not mistaken he is an Executive President) and he feels it is "not fair" and he definitely has a right to take such decision! If you don't like it stop holidaying in France, I think that is the most you can do. But I don't think even if the entire GCC population stops holidaying in France (which is most unlikely) anything would happen! The fact is there are many things we don't like in this world, we have to learn to live with those realities.

Posted by: tariq khan Friday, 8 January 2010 9:53 PM[UAE] - canada

effective immediately travel ban to FRance and stop doing any business with them ......pecially i would ask emirates airlines to cancel all future airbus orders....

Posted by: UAE National Woman Wednesday, 1 July 2009 10:11 AM[UAE] - UAE

France decided to be a secular state - so why is it now bringing religion back into politics? Of course it has to do with religion. Specifically, Islam. If Sarkozy feels that Muslim women who travel to France on their holidays or live in France for work/eduction are being suppressed by "the evil of Religious bigotry," he's wrong. If he feels he must free the Muslim women of this "burden," then why not "save the nuns or men who follow Sikhism?" Why stop at the burqa? I do agree with you on the point you posed regarding the Dark Ages. But my fear is that these days are the darkest of ages is yet to come.

Posted by: Charlie Tuesday, 30 June 2009 9:34 PM[UAE] - Philippines

Perhaps we have to look back where Western Europe generally and France particularly comes from. There was a time in western civilization called Dark Age. It was the era of Religious bigotry perpetuated by Roman Catholics is Rome. It took centuries before Western Europe was emanciapated from Religious bigotry and gain Freedom from abuse by the Papacy in Rome. It is for this reason that Western Europe wanted so much to be secular, separation between the state and religion because Western Europe knows the evil of Religious bigotry. And France for that matter, will see to it that no more will religion supress the Freedom that the forefathers of Western Europe fought so hard to gain. This is more on understanding civilization and acceptance of the uniqueness that each civilization has offered to humanity. It has nothing to do with Religion.

Posted by: UAE National Woman Monday, 29 June 2009 9:49 PM[UAE] - UAE

I find it hard to believe that some of the comments I have skimmed through have mentioned that the burqa is forced upon women and it symbolizes submission by the Muslim women. I will not deny that there are some men that abuse their women in the name of Islam. However, that is not Islam and in our religion, they are not regarded as true Muslims. Islam requires women to cover their hair and body in modest clothing. That is a requirement. What a Muslim woman can do in addition to the basic requirements is cover her face. The basic requirements of Islam are clear and have never/will never be changed. Living in the UAE, we have had to "become a world citizen" and allow foreign men and women to dress as they please and act as though they were not in a Muslim country. I'm sure Sarkozy would not approve a law in the UAE that would arrest women for not wearing the hijab or abaya. The idea that has been adopted from the West that empowerment of women means posing nude for a magazine is ridiculous. Muslim women have all of their rights secured (I must re-state that I do understand that there are women that have been abused "in the name of Islam" - but again, in Islam, the offenders are not complying with the religion) under our religion. Sarkozy does not have the right to speak on behalf of Muslim women. He should not be able to pass a law like this. However, I do understand the comment previously made "When in Rome, do as the Romans & if you don't want to, don't go to Rome." It is a known fact that the summer season where the women of the GCC head to cities like London or France, is the "high season" for the shopping/tourism sector of those countries. In a time where "the light has been turned off at the end of the tunnel" regarding financial markets, let's just wait and see what impact this has on France's economy and political future.